Danny Higginbotham: Premier League’s new clubs will stay up if they stick to core values – like Newcastle, Brighton and Huddersfield have
SunSport's analyst tips Championship winners Wolves to be fine and says Cardiff must retain battling style
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It’s no great surprise that Newcastle, Brighton and Huddersfield stayed in the Premier League at the first time of asking.
And I have a good feeling that Championship winners Wolves, who turned the town gold and black on their celebratory parade, will do the same next year.
As I do for Neil Warnock’s Cardiff, despite their style seen as less suited to the Premier League by some observers.
The secrets to last year’s promoted clubs survival were the same for all three: Identity and continuity.
Just look at their most recent games.
Eight of Newcastle’s starting 11 played in the Championship last year, as did seven for Huddersfield and seven for Brighton.
They came up with specific core values, and however tempting it may to abandon those with new found riches, they did not – and they’ve reaped the rewards.
Yes, you can’t just stick with the exact same team that got you up.
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But you need to look at what got you promoted, stick to your principles and add just a splattering of quality to supplement what has already been successful for you.
There is so much more to a team and its success than the 11 players on the pitch.
You need to ensure a strong dressing room, that the character of incoming complement what you already have, and that there is as little unrest as possible.
If you change too much too soon you lose that togetherness and spirit.
But if you stick with a core group, the manager already knows what they are all about – their characteristics, strengths, weaknesses, and how they are able to cope with adversity.
Look at Burnley when they went down.
They didn’t sell many of their players, kept their values, got back up straight away and are now in Europe.
At Stoke we had a very simple mind set for our first season in the Premier League in 2008/09 – If we can have a better identity than three other teams, we will stay up.
We worked out that we could be better than others in terms of physicality, set-pieces and home form.
We only won two games away from the Britannia stadium all season, but we stayed up without a problem.
And if you look at Brighton and Newcastle, they have done exactly the same.
Both of them had a strong defence as the basis of their game in the Championship, and instead of looking to change the way they play, they stuck to their guns.
This year only six teams have conceded less than Newcastle, while only seven have let in fewer than Brighton.
And things couldn’t be more different for the three relegated teams this year.
Stoke forgot all about their identity that had taken them so far – their home form was absolutely atrocious and their defensive values completely disappeared.
West Brom chopped and changed and ended up having three different managers.
I was relegated twice in my career and both times I had three bosses – you have polar opposites of style and it’s very hard for players to constantly adapt.
And the success of last year’s three promoted sides clearly shows that the gap between the bottom eight of the Premier League and the top of the six of the Championship is getting smaller and smaller.
The Championship is incredibly competitive and there are teams who play in a variety of different ways.
And those who are successful are sticking with their own style, as they’ve worked out there is no need to change in order to be successful in the Premier League.
Wolves have been excellent all year and they have a fantastic opportunity to carry on an upwards trajectory.
They have a number of top, top players who will have no problem adjusting to life in the top division next year.
They don’t need to change, and I think if they started next season with the same 11 then they would be absolutely fine.
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Cardiff may not be as easy on the eye as other teams in the Championship but they have a bit of old school Stoke in them and they could surprise a few.
There is very little physicality left in the Premier League – and that’s one thing Neil Warnock’s side will not be lacking!
They have some good ball players in the final third, and if they can have a better identity than three other teams then they’ve got a great chance of staying up.
