Ipswich Town return to the Premier League for the first time in 22 years next season. As a promoted side, the battle is first to survive and then thrive. So what lessons can Town learn from Brentford, a side promoted in 2021, who have managed to defy the odds since?
Author and Brentford fan Greville Waterman shares his thoughts....
Ipswich supporters doubtless looking forward to the new season - their first back in the promised land of the Premier League for 22 years – with a combination of fear and anticipation, can have taken no comfort in the identity of the three teams relegated back to the Championship at the end of last season.
Luton Town, Burnley and Sheffield United all participated in a deadly game of snakes and ladders which saw them promoted with hosannas in 2023 only to be relegated straight away with ignominy the following season.
You will be delighted to learn that this depressing statistic which seemingly highlights what appears to be a vast chasm in quality and finances between the Championship and the Premier League is a total anomaly as the last time all three promoted clubs were relegated the next season was way back in 1997/98 when Barnsley, Bolton and Crystal Palace failed to stay the course.
That indeed was the only other time since the formation of the Premier League that all three promoted teams were instantly relegated.
There is certainly hope for Ipswich Town – none of the teams promoted in 2021/22 were relegated at the end of the following season - and all three – Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest have since survived a second season.
Indeed, 57% of teams promoted from the Championship managed at least a second season in the top division and in a study conducted recently by the University of Leicester, at least one newly promoted team should expect to stay in the English Premier League for between two and five seasons 95% of the time.
Rather than accentuate the negatives, let us put a positive spin on things and explore how a promoted team such as Ipswich Town can maximise its chances of at least surviving – if not flourishing – next season.
I would suggest that you use the likes of Brighton and my own club, Brentford, as blueprints for how to establish yourself as a Premier League team – bearing in mind the caveat that it is a truism that bar the top eight who are literally in a league of their own, any one of the bottom 12 is always at potential risk of demotion - it is just how things are!
Let me reflect back on Brentford’s promotion and what they did to maximise their chances of surviving in the top flight.
You really haven’t had too long to wait as it is only a couple of decades or so since Ipswich last graced the Premier League whereas Brentford’s promotion – sealed by a victory over Swansea in our first ever Playoff success in 10 attempts, was a mere 86 years, one month and seven days – or 31,449 days in total, since their last – and only – promotion to what was then the first division on Easter Monday, 22nd April 1935.
So, what steps did Brentford take before they faced their Premier League debut before the eyes of the world in a televised clash against Arsenal?
The first thing was to breathe a sigh of relief when the fixture list was released. No game in the Premier League is easy but our first five games of Arsenal (h), Crystal Palace (a), Aston Villa (a), Brighton (h) and Wolves (a) could have been far, far worse and at least gave us a shot at getting acclimatised to the new level, not get hammered by anyone and perhaps even pick up a few confidence raising points.
Compare and contrast that with Championship title winners Norwich who had the start from hell facing the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City, Leicester, Arsenal and Watford in their five opening matches which were all lost.
You have the daunting prospect of facing Liverpool and Manchester City in your opening two matches, but the next three games against Fulham, Brighton and Southampton are much more winnable.
Brentford have prided themselves on being united and having a clear strategy that is followed from top to bottom throughout the club with the core values of Togetherness, Respectfulness and being Progressive by taking calculated risks.
Having bright people who are aligned with each other has enabled a club that began the 2008/09 season in the bottom division to rise to the top in only 12 years and then stay there for what is about to become our fourth consecutive season in the Premier League – an incredible achievement given that our attendances, budget and income are certainly in the bottom three of the division and dwarfed by most of our rivals.
Head coach Thomas Frank also highlighted the club’s point of difference: “The thing that we maybe do differently to more or less every other club is that our owner, our two sporting directors and me are all sensible, calm people who take good, sensible, calm decisions and stick to them, and never stress.”
Frank has played a key role in building success and follows four pillars which symbolise the Brentford ethos and way of doing things.
He says: “Hard work in every aspect of life is crucial. It is all about performance and how we analyse and measure it whether it be in the gym, on the training pitch or during matches.
“Attitude is key and we are confident but humble. But most important is togetherness as we need to have a unique togetherness both on and off the pitch - as we create a competitive environment in a nice atmosphere.”
The club also adheres to a much vaunted 'No d*ckheads' policy and Frank reiterates that “everyone knows that it is very important for our culture that we only get good characters in.”
'No d*ckheads' can perhaps be interpreted as not having any prima donnas who think predominantly about themselves in the club, everybody is equal and working together towards a common goal.
No one is bigger than the team and individual brilliance does not automatically lead to outstanding results. There is also a leadership group of senior players who help to run and police the dressing room.
Star striker Ivan Toney, when interviewed during the Euros, also spoke highly of the work of Brentford’s exceptional sports psychologist, Michael Caulfield, in helping the players to control their emotions and stay on an even keel.
Norwich, Burnley and Sheffield United all began their last Premier League seasons by weakening their team rather than strengthening – total madness!
Of course, finances might dictate that your best players will become attractive to other predators, but they are the ones that got you promoted and they need to be protected.
At the end of their third Premier League season Brentford still had eight members of their 2021 promotion team, including the entire midfield of Mathias Jensen, Vitaly Janelt and Christian Norgaard playing regularly in the first team - which demonstrates just how astute their buying had been and the importance of squad retention whilst drip-feeding in new talent as required.
It used to be the case that players such as Neil Redfearn, who were considered to be too good for the Championship and not quite up to the standard required in the Premier League, would move from a relegated team to a promoted one but that is a strategy that rarely works.
Brentford now rely upon their own bespoke and proprietary analysis data and algorithms to identify prospects from the boggling 85,500 players that they cover who are then whittled down through physical scouting to a top four per position until there is a consensus about who to try and sign.
No one person has the final say and decisions are made by owner Matthew Benham, Director of Football, Phil Giles, Technical Director Lee Dykes and Frank, who is of course heavily involved in the process.
Before promotion the Bees were phenomenally successful in buying low and young, developing and honing the players and then selling them on for vast profits.
Ollie Watkins was a £1.8million purchase who was sold for £33 million and David Raya has just been sold to Arsenal for over ten times his purchase price.
Since promotion things have changed and Brentford still try and outsmart their richer opposition, but are not afraid to spend big when necessary and their record purchases have increased from £8-30 million - but they are not afraid to walk away from a deal if the figures begin to get too eye wateringly expensive.
Ideally every major purchase has a likely resale value augmented by more experienced good influencers such as Ben Mee.
It is notable that no Brentford player had ever started a Premier League match before the opening game of the 2021/22 season and the club saw this as a positive given the team spirit and bond between the young, hungry players already in situ as well of course their ability to rise to the higher level – which almost without exception, they all did.
Perhaps the most crucial change that Brentford made when facing the challenge of the Premier League was to their playing style.
In the Championship they were praised for their high possession, expansive attacking football where they generally dominated the ball and created chances seemingly at will.
Unlike Norwich and Burnley who tried to play Premier League-style football with mainly Championship calibre players and came badly unstuck, Frank realised that something had to change and he set the following targets:
“As far as the team is concerned, I want to win the next game and we want to end up as high in the table as possible.
"We want to attack the league, and to be the best defensive side promoted to the Premier League in terms of goals conceded.
"We want to be the best set piece team in terms of our goal difference between goals scored and conceded, and I want us to be one of the three fittest teams in the division.
"We must always still attack and play forward and if we nail that one then we will do very well and be an asset to the Premier League.”
The final requirement is to be flexible and adapt your formation and game plan according to the strengths – and just as importantly – the weaknesses, of the opposition you are about to face.
How Brentford did this is best summed up by media pundit Adrian Clarke: “Thomas Frank has changed the tactics according to the opposition.
"In the Championship they were pretty much an attack minded, possession team with lovely build up play who used the wings. They are now disrupters and they are brilliant at it.
“They’ve become a side that isn’t really that bothered about building up play or keeping possession for long periods.
"They focus on shape and working hard to close down the opposition, force mistakes and then when they get the ball back, they go long to Toney and Mbeumo, who are a massive handful.
"They’ve pretty much ripped up their old Plan A and have gone for a new Premier League Plan A. It’s brilliant and Brentford have adapted to the level.”
All the above has worked for Brentford and, given the quality of players and management at Ipswich Town, I see no reason why you cannot match or even surpass our achievements and also become an asset to the Premier League.
Good luck to you all!!
Greville Waterman is an author and long-term Brentford supporter who has written extensively about the club.
His book “Just a Bus Stop in Hounslow” covering Brentford’s first season in the Premier League is available on Amazon.
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