DEAN: IT’LL BE HARDER FOR US TO REACH TOP
BRENTFORD boss Dean Smith fears it could be now or never for the Football League’s less glamorous clubs to win promotion to the Premier League.
Because of surges in parachute payments, concerns are growing that the already huge payouts for clubs relegated from the top flight will soon become impossible to compete against.
Thanks to the new £5.1bn Sky Sports and BT Sport Premier League TV deal, it is believed that clubs who crash-land in the Championship will come down with around £87m to spend over a three-year period.
Their first year down could now see clubs pick up £40m, with £33m and £14m to follow in the next two years.
Before, clubs had been pocketing £64m over four years.
Clubs who have yet to sample the Premier League pound have long criticised the procedure, with Millwall CEO Andy Ambler suggesting to The
FLP last year that it won’t be long until the three clubs who are relegated return instantly every season.
Now Brentford manager Smith, 45, has had his say – and warned that the clock could be ticking for a repeat of, for example, Bournemouth’s shock rise to the Promised Land.
“It’s a very important year. The longer it goes on, the harder it is going to be to get into the Premier League, that’s for sure,” he said.
“The money involved in is massive already, but it’s about to get a whole lot bigger. The clubs who come down have a wealth of riches already, and it’s only going to get harder as the new TV deal comes in.
“But if it was all about money, we may as well go home now. We don’t believe it is, we think certain areas exist where we can be better than some of these clubs that are coming down like Villa and Newcastle.
Former Brentford player and ex-QPR boss Ian Holloway isn’t Mr Popular with some clubs in the Championship after offering his projected league table.
The Sky Sports pundit tipped the Bees to be relegated and, although Smith didn’t get as angry as Aston Villa owner Dr Tony Xia who reacted furiously after he predicted Villa would finish 16th, he did poke back.
“It’s his job to give his opinion but it’s not opinion we agree with,” the Griffin Park boss said.
“We ended last season so well and I’m hoping we can take that forward into the new campaign.
“There’s not been a massive turnover of players. I’ve lost the captain Jake Bidwell to QPR, and our keeper David Button (to Fulham) but we’ve recruited well. I would say we have signed three of the best players in League One last season (Dan Bentley, John Egan and Romaine Sawyers). They’ve got durability. The thing with the Championship is that you get a lot of games in a short amount of time.
“There’s no frustration in having to go down the divisions to buy. The Brentford model has always been to look to the lower leagues where there is bundles of talent.”