THE WAY I SEE IT

There is a recipe to make step up without the cash

- By Mike Pejic

HERE is always a lot of talk about money in football and, looking at which teams win promotion from the Championship every season, you can see how much of a difference it can make but there is a common theme for those that succeed without deep pockets.

I read this week that 70 per cent of the teams who have gone up since Stoke came back into this division have been in receipt of the parachute payments from the Premier League that help them pay the biggest fees and biggest wages to get the best players.

But you look at the clubs who have fought their way to the top without parachutes in that time and it's Chris Wilder's super-fit Sheffield United in 2019, Marcelo Bielsa's super-fit Leeds United in 2020, Thomas Frank's super-fit Brentford in 2021, a super-fit Luton Town in 2023 and a super-fit Ipswich Town in 2024.

You still need good players, of course, and a good manager who can set up a team well and make the right choices and changes between and during games. But it is not a coincidence that these were teams that could run the legs off their opponents, scored more late goals than the rest and made the right decisions more consistently because they were not gasping for air.

Mark Robins must have been privately shaking his head when he came into Stoke City in January and had to talk about fitness levels. It made me wonder what on earth had gone on before he had arrived, particularly during the pre-season period which is always so crucial.