Is the gap between the Championship & Premier League too big?

Last season's top three in the championship are now the bottom three in the Premier League. All winless with just one point each, Sluten of course finally getting off the mark at the weekend. So between them that means that they have just three points from a possible 48. They've lost 13 of 16, conceding 41 and scoring just the 12. The elation of promotion at the end of last season, I think it's fair to say, is long gone. Ryan, you're up there with Preston towards the top of the championship at the moment. These three sides last season racked up 272 points between them. Does this demonstrate that the gap between the championship and the Premier League is maybe bigger than it's ever been? Yeah, it's massive. We were talking about it upstairs before, weren't we, how big it is. I think the teams that are there deserve to be there because they were the best in our league last season. Staying there is probably the hardest part. Can they find the formula to do that? It's looking a little bit dour at the moment. I think with the three very good managers, I know Paul's getting a bit of a stick now, but he's a fantastic manager. There's no reason to change, he's got them where they are. Fins and Company is another one and obviously Rob. I think the three of them have been outstanding servants for the club so far. It would be nothing better for me and Gaz to see them type of managers sustain in the Premier League. But I think the golf in it and the players they're coming up against, it's massive drills. As fellow managers, we're all rooting for them managers to stay there and consolidate like the Bournemouths have over the years. Burnley were up and down over the years, but I think the teams that can get up there and stay there is a big benefit for the championship and for championship managers. It can be done, but statistically this is the second worst start ever by three promoted sides in the Premier League era. The worst was back in 2004, that famous year when Norwich and Palace both went down. But you might recall the great escape of West Brom putting off on the final day to stay up in the Premier League. Gareth, we're still only a few games in, we should carry out it with that, they're still settling in. But when does it go from a slow start, still finding your feet, to maybe a bit of panic starting to set in? Yeah, the more the games go. Me and Tim were talking earlier about this, unless you shove loads and loads of cash at it to guarantee yourself staying up, and even then that doesn't happen. But why would the chairman do that? Why would they do that? I think people are quite happy doing the parachute thing, down, up, down, up. Bolton did it for years, Burnley, as you say, doing it. We mentioned Forest, didn't we, upstairs, and they signed 25 different players last year or something. A whole squad changed, a lot of money, and it worked. But it doesn't always work, and what if it doesn't work? You've shelled out all that cash and you're not getting the Premier League money again. It's a gamble, it really is a gamble. But as you've seen, the Bournemouths, they did spend as well when they got up there. So it's tough, very tough, and I think the gulf is just going to get bigger and bigger with the cash that's in that league. I think the good news, guys, and Lloyd, is that for the teams like Everton and Bournemouth, teams like that, who could struggle, Fortnight and Forest, and we know they spent a lot of money, it's the easiest league to stay in now, if you're going to struggle, because you've got the free-promoting sides who look like they're going to be up against it all until the end. So if you are an Everton this year, it's almost a get-out-of-jail-free card. Jules is pausing me there! But it is, but you don't have to throw too much at it. I agree with Gaz, you throw the money at it. Marinac is a different story, I mean, fruit absolute fortunes at it, but they've managed to sell Brennan Johnson for an awful lot of money to top them, so it balances the books a little bit. And they're great business. I really believe that they're capable of staying up. I think that no-one even questions now whether they get relegated or not, but they should, they should still be in that throw. But like I say, with the teams who are struggling down there at the moment, I'm not sure if it's... you can change the manager all you want, it's the players, it's the group of players and the amount of quality in numbers, what you have, and they're all struggling to score goals, and you struggle to score goals, obviously you can't win football matches. It's great to see, by the way, Luton, they've got players who played in League 2 against, when I was at Wickham, you know, still got players in the team that were... So what a fairytale story. Back to the issue of the three promoted teams in the Premier League. We talk about the money, Clinton, and giving it a good go financially. I mean, of the three, you look at the sort of money they've spent, Burnley, £94m net they've spent this summer, which is more than quadruple what Sheffield United and Luton have spent so far. They've played it more cautiously. So are Burnley therefore under the most pressure and have the most to lose there? Yeah, of course they have, because they've spent the money. You see there, Luton haven't spent a lot, and neither has Sheffield United, but Burnley have spent quite a bit. That's net spend, by the way. Yeah, I know that's net spend, but what I would say about Burnley, I tipped them at the start of the season to survive. I'm still going to say they will survive. I saw them against Man Utd. The problem with them is they play very attractive football, but the biggest problem is scoring goals, and that's the hardest thing to do in football, is put the ball in the back of the net. So you need to centre forward. I know they had the boy Foster out. I saw them against Norton Forest, I thought they should have won the game. They were unlucky. Zanderberg, it's not a handball for me. It's his momentum takes him, and Foster pull it in the back of the net. So they have kind of been unlucky. I was at the Sheffield United game as well on the weekend, and when it goes 3-0, I'm looking around the pitch, and I'm watching, and I'm thinking, who in that team is going to galvanise that team to say, let's get tight and not get beat 4 or 5? And it just didn't happen. It just didn't happen. They kept going forward, going forward, and it was easy. Kieran Chipper never had a game like that. Like three assists, eight different goal scorers. I know if I'm – me and Lowey are centre forwards. I'm looking away, wishing I'd come away with the match ball. I spoke to him after the game. He was like, he's kind of devastated he had to come off, and Isak came on and obviously kind of got his goal because he thought there was loads of goals in it, but they were all over the place. Even here, Davis should clear his line. He plays Isak in. Great finish, to be fair. He sits the defender down. It's a brilliant finish, but that's going to be – I don't know as a manager, but I lost Tim and Gareth and Lowey. If you lose and get – or the game's going like that, three or four on the touchline, what do you say to yourself? Before we do that, as a player, how does it feel when you get a heavy beating? I don't know, 7-1 against Huddersfield in 1999. How does that feel? Yeah, it's not good, and it was ages ago, but I scored the goal, so I done my job. So at the end of the day, I scored the goal. Come on, Jack. No, I'm only joking. I've done my job. No, it can do. It can hurt. Of course it can hurt. That's a big defeat that we got, and I do remember it. It does stick, and you're only waiting until the next game and think, can I put it right? And definitely, you don't want to be – because they always say you're only as good as your last game. Obviously, losing that amount, we had to bounce back. We know we didn't turn up as a group of players, but I'm looking at it, and there it's different. This is the Premier League. It's different. You're free, no down, and that was years ago. How are you going to galvanise and get your squad together? I didn't see it on the pitch. How does he do it, Ryan? Paul Heckingbottom this week. How does he start picking up the pieces? I'm sure he will. He's a good coach. He's a fantastic coach, and he's a good man-manager, and he will break it down into pieces, and he might change a little bit. I think the lads who were in the Premier League, like Rob, they will have to change away and find a way, and Vincent Kompany is the same, because they all play good, exciting football. If you look at the way Burnley played last season, they were fantastic in everything they did. Sheffield United were the same. They were the two, by far, the best teams, footballing teams. I think what they will do is look at the fixtures, as you see there, and they'll look at teams who they think they can beat. Tim mentioned teams before, who I won't mention, because I might not be able to get back into Liverpool. But the fact of the matter is, they'll be looking at them type of teams and think, I can get points off these. But, listen, as a coach and a manager, I'm sure their managers who are in the Premier League now will look at what they can do better, and they'll do all the dirty bits to make sure they do things properly, and I think they'll have a group of lads that will be itching to want to stay in the Premier League, because financially gains and everything that comes with it. I'm not writing the three of them off just yet. It is tough for them at the moment, but other teams are going to go through. You know what I'd say, Joe? Watching the first 10, 15 minutes, Sheffield United were really good. You're just thinking, can they score that early goal? I'll tell you one thing, McAtee is a top player, causing problems. They've got Hamer and they've got Archer, so they've got three people that can create chances. But their biggest problem at the moment, speaking to a lot of them, when I was coming out of the ground, the fans, is defensively. It's not good enough, they're conceding too many goals. They've got to work harder than everyone else. Yes. They're not going to have the quality, they're not going to have the superstar. Burnley, the other day, they controlled the football match. But it was the best players beat the best team on the night. Yes. Because of Bruno Fernandes, a wonderful pass from Johnny Evans and the volley was brilliant. Yes. They wasn't the best team, Man United, they've got the best individuals. When you come up and you can't afford that superstar, then you have to be stronger, you have to be more together and you have to be resolute. You have to try and find a way. You can't open up the game against these superstars because they'll rip through you like they did. Newcastle have got very good footballers and they're well drilled. So, I think it's going to be a real struggle. But they knew it was going to be a struggle. It's not a surprise for any of these managers. They knew it would be a struggle and success is staying in the division. Yes. And I say, you keep changing managers, it doesn't help. It doesn't help. You ain't got a magic wand. If you change the players, you will do it. But you can't possibly do that. So, you have to change the man at the top, unfortunately, and the buck stops with the manager. Yes. Where did you get that stat from, anyway, in 1998? Us losing to Huddersfield. I can't believe that. I put that out of my mind. Huh? 1999, he said. I don't care when it was. I put it out of my mind. What happened in the next game? I think we won the next game, I think. I hope so. We're going to check it. For a man who doesn't care, he seems to be quite a bit bothered by it, wouldn't he? And actually, that Sheffield United performance, after the Spurs' inevitable performances, there was no sign of that coming, particularly. We've spoken about Burnley, who had chances against Manchester United. Luton as well. Clinton, I'll come back to you. Got their first point against Wolves at the weekend. At home, though, against a side that was playing with 10 for over half of the game. Was that a missed opportunity with the chances they had? Yeah, it was. Tim actually was watching the game. He watched the game on the weekend. I was speaking to him. And obviously, Wolves took the lead, even though they went to 10 men. Neto scored a superb goal. We have to credit Luton. The penalty? I don't think it's a penalty. We had a big debate here. I don't know much what you can do to a Wolves player when it hits his finger. I know his arm's out and it goes there, but credit to Carlton Morris. He tucked it away. And then I think Luton could have gone on and won it. And that's when I thought they were going to be the first team to get three points because it's going to be hard. The thing with these teams, if you want to stay in the Premier League, your home form's going to be so important. Kennewith Road, the fans play a big part in that and they got behind them on the weekend. I know Edwards said his team played well when it was 11 v 11. I didn't watch the game because I was concentrating on my game, but obviously I saw the highlights of it and they did do quite well. And it could have gone either way when it went 1-1. So, as I say, credit to Luton. It's going to be difficult for all them teams, but you don't want them to be cut adrift by Christmas because the Premier League becomes boring. You want them to stay in it. So I hope three teams do well and they can fight it right until the end of the season.