Two weeks ago I was convinced the 3 clubs promoted to the Premier League in May would be going straight back down. Huddersfield falling like a stone, Brighton slipping, Newcastle limping on with – basically – the same team that brought them up.

You have to go back to the 1997/98 season to find the one, and only, time that the three clubs promoted to the Premier League went down. Bolton, Barnsley and Crystal Palace were the fall guys who set that precedent in the Premier League. And I thought we were heading for a similar situation.

But Rafa Benitez continues to work miracles with a “championship” side, and yesterday’s defeat of Manchester United was well earned and the product of brilliant organisation and a phenomenal work-rate.

Huddersfield under David Wagner have that knack of pulling out crucial wins. There is a total belief in the Wagner philosophy among the players and their record January signing Alex Pritchard starred in a 4-1 win over in-form Bournemouth that did for my accumulator on Saturday. I just didn’t see it coming.

Brighton, under Chris Hughton – one of the nicest guys in football who has been too negative in the past – is also squeezing every ounce out of his squad. I’ve rarely seen so many last ditch defensive tackles as at Stoke for their 1-1 draw and the previous home win over West Ham kept their heads above water.

Fans of those clubs will probably know the statistics but only twice have all three promoted clubs stayed up. In 2001/02 Blackburn, Bolton and Fulham did it. And in 2011/12 QPR, Norwich and Swansea repeated that feat.

But chances are that at least one of the current trio will go if you consider that, in the Premier League era, at least one of those promoted clubs has taken the drop in all but two seasons.

But I am loving the battle to stay up this season – I calculate there are 11 clubs still in the mix. It is certainly more absorbing than the title race.

My trade as a media trainer has been brought into disrepute if what Troy Deeney claims is true. The Watford striker is clearly a talisman for his club, a leader on the pitch and he was famously outspoken revealing they had bullied Arsenal into defeat earlier this season. Having just escaped retrospective punishment from the FA for alleged middle finger gestures during last Monday’s momentous defeat of Chelsea, he is no stranger to controversy. Those 3 and 4 game bans earlier this season were for his brutal on-field behaviour.

But having got away with a warning from the FA this time (and a third ban of the season) he said: ‘I’ve kept quiet because I realise talking gets me in trouble.” It’s a comment I have a big problem with.
It suggests he’s not in control of what he says. He is! And I’d hate younger players at Watford and elsewhere to think they should keep quiet to avoid trouble.

Media training is not about teaching players to be bland. It is not about teaching them what NOT to say. We as supporters want players to have opinions, to give insight – but there are ways of doing that. If the lines are blurred on what they can and can’t say that’s where we would help. But would you say something that would wind up your opponents for the next encounter? Probably not. Give them another reason to raise their game? Antagonise your manager? Criticise the fans or the club owners? Of course not!

Strangely enough I think Troy Deeney could be an engaging pundit on TV down the line because he has opinions. But he has to learn from this experience and make his statements and interviews positive pro-active experiences. He’s actually a pretty good Premier League player, but he has a lot to learn about the laws of communication.

Am I the only person who was really impressed with Wayne Rooney’s debut on Sky’s Monday Night Club last night?

Perhaps it was a case of low expectations because of his bland interviews over a 15-year career in football, but credit to him.
Sky obviously prepped him well and he’d also done some homework so he could interact with Jamie Carragher alongside him.

What I like to hear from pundits is insight! The feeling that they know what’s going on in the dressing room, what managers say.

How interesting to hear a former England captain how much Harry Kane hates to lose; how he is now seen as the leader in the England dressing room. And most interesting of all, why trophies could be the key to his future at Tottenham. He wants to win – and he wants trophies to show for it.
Rooney also looked the part, and spoke with some authority. He obviously has the Premier League credibility for viewers and while he has opinions that make us sit up and take notice he may well have a career as a pundit.

I honestly never thought I’d say that!

Don’t you think it’s interesting that when it rains at Premier League matches – or at any televised football match these days for that matter – no manager ever uses an umbrella. I swear by mine! It’s in my bag permanently in case of a downpour and stops me arriving for my University lecturing looking like a drowned rat. But in football the rules are different.

We know who’s to blame. It’s all because of Steve McClaren. When his England tenure was coming to a disappointing end it was “The Wally with the Brolly” comments that were ultimately his downfall. That image of him under an FA umbrella keeping dry was damning it seemed. Now we see managers of our teams wearing scant headwear when it rains. They would actually prefer to get soaked than to risk the wrath of the fans, and put the brolly up.

Predictably Pep Guardiola has a natty hooded number he wears and a lot of managers are using this technique.

But what’s really wrong with the brolly and why is it despised so much? When it rains, it actually pours for managers in 2018. I can’t agree that using an umbrella reflects their tactical ability. I talk all the time about avoiding bad first impressions, protecting a club’s image. Now there’s a challenge for the fashion designers, a brolly that protects the image of a manager and stops you getting soaked too.

I wonder if there is such a thing!

I always say that whenever I’ve trained anyone in one-to-one or group sessions they are officially “one of mine”. A lot of my pals tease me that I claim them as one of my own… but that’s genuinely how I feel.

So when Kyle Edmund made it through to the Australian Open tennis semi finals I was celebrating even more than most. This is a lovely young man I met five years ago, at the age of 18. His agents hired Capricorn Media to run a media training session with him and we chose Wimbledon as the perfect venue, given this was where he would surely make his name one day.

Kyle listened and took the advice and we worked on scenario interviews and talked about what would happen when he had a breakthrough like this. He took it all on board, a mature head on young shoulders then.

While I would love to have done more than one session with Kyle, that is often all managers and agents think is required to tick that “media training” box. I obviously wouldn’t agree because circumstances are changing all the time and interview scenarios and subject matter changes, so an outsider like me coming in gives a different perspective.

But the point is it is better that young footballers, tennis players, golfers, cricketers etc get the benefit from at least one session, whether it’s me or one of the other very good media trainers out there. It gets them thinking about their audience, how they will be perceived, their body language, their social media activity and of course gives them a wealth of tricks of the trade.

So just like I did with Adam Lallana, Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale, Andrew “Beef” Johnston, Lucas Bjerregaard, Andy Sullivan and many others when they made that breakthrough, I am celebrating about Kyle today, unashamedly.

Teenagers – before they hit the big-time – are like sponges soaking up knowledge and this is the time for managers, agents, parents alike to get their young starlets trained up. It is effectively investing in their future and as I always say: great communication aids great performance.

Kyle Edmund is reaping the rewards, as we speak.

This has been a difficult week for football fans on Merseyside. Liverpool suffered a rare – and heavy – defeat at the hands of top six rivals, and Everton shipped five goals at home to Arsenal. The only Toffees supporters still at Goodison Park come the final whistle we’re there to boo Ronald Koeman!

So after two damaging results, why was it Koeman who suffered the managerial axe while Klopp escaped, with Liverpool 9th and way off the title pace.

Well the answer – as I’ve mentioned before in this blog – is around communication. Klopp has a great rapport with fans and players alike – Koeman seemed to have none.

Much of the image of these two managers comes down to basic communication skills. Koeman never smiled, no humour to defuse difficult questions, no brutal honesty, he was not humble but arrogant. He also looked like he disliked his job, it was an ordeal. Many felt his tweets and social media stream suggested this was just a stepping stone to the. Barcelona job. But when the fans don’t feel their leader has a connection with their club, it is so much easier to dump him in hard times.

True there are some managers who have that passion but not the technical and tactical ability to go with it. But how many bosses have we seen go because there was no rapport, no connection. People like Bob Bradley, Frank deBoer, Claude Puel …uh oh, the ex Southampton boss has just been appointed by Leicester to the dismay of the fans!

Jurgen Klopp looks like he relishes his task even in the face of calamity. He like Antonio Conte will come under pressure because expectations are so high. But what people like they do is buy themselves time with their style of communication.

When Jose Mourinho changed at Chelsea he ceased to be the media darling who had charmed us and the supporters. He became a misery guts and fans hate that in their leaders. We all do! Everton’s Bill Kenwright the theatre impresario knows how we empathise with characters on stage and screen. The Everton board should be mindful of that before they make their next appointment. And looking across Stanley Park may not be a bad place to get some clues.

There has been reams of copy written this week in the build up to Liverpool v Manchester United about the two-year anniversary of Jurgen Klopp at Anfield – and whether it has been a successful reign so far.

There have been loads of statistics to fight both sides of the argument. Did you know that if Liverpool lose on Saturday, they will have taken 12 points from 8 games, the same tally that led to Brendan Rodgers being sacked?

And yet Klopp’s record in top six clashes since August 2016 puts Liverpool 8 points clear of nearest rivals Chelsea in that mini league that includes City, United, Spurs and Arsenal. And in 45 games in charge, Klopp has taken 88 points – exactly the same record as Jose Mourinho at Manchester United.

There is a further negative – 54 goals conceded compared to Mourinho’s 31 – but you could say Liverpool offer better entertainment value. Obviously not right now!

However, the reason I think Klopp is not under pressure in the way Brendan Rodgers was, is more about communication, body language, demeanour, attitude, man management and a score of other soft skills that should never be taken for granted. Rodgers actually scores highly in a number of those and I am pleased he’s rebuilding his career at Celtic and still knows he came as close as anyone in this generation to win the league title.

But Klopp is passionate. He wears his heart on his sleeve, he talks analytically but he also talks as a fan. The supporters feel he is one of them.

Klopp is inspiring. Part of a manager’s role is to inspire his team, in whatever field they work, and players, fans, staff alike will tell you this man is charismatic, someone you want to do well for.

Klopp praises his team. So often the German will deflect any plaudits at his door and hand it on to the players and fans and staff. Only a strong manager can do this, someone comfortable in his own skin.

Klopp smiles. Never underestimate the value of a manager who looks like they love their job.

The effect of all these great qualities is that fans particularly, but players also, buy into his attitude and culture. They are drawn in and inspired in equal measure. They feed off his passion and enthusiasm.

Sitting in seventh place in the Premier League, seven points behind the two Manchesters, I get why the debate is happening. But Jurgen Klopp is not a man to be underestimated, already a giant among managers and one that a lot of fans would love to have as their own.

Pressure? What pressure|! Anfield expects.

Now ok you may say I’m biased here, having done some media training over three consecutive years with Adam Lallana as a teenager at Southampton. But you could tell then there was something about him and I really admired the loyalty he showed to Saints despite the drop down to League One, sacrificing his own personal goals for the team. He led them back to the Premier League of course.

It puts into context what I believe about Lallana and his impact on both Liverpool and England. As has been blatantly clear in the last two internationals, England lack a creative force, someone who does-different and that is our Adam. He takes risks, he tries things, he gets beyond defenders, he has an eye for goal and he is a man for the team. He WILL make a difference when he returns from injury for club and country and he should be fit and firing come Russia 2018.

Harry Winks did well tonight, he was a breath of fresh air on a pitch that favoured five-a-side football more than the real thing and there were other bright moments for people like Harry Maguire and Jack Butland – both of whom I have been championing this season.

But it is the creativity that is lacking and that is where Lallana can join the dots between midfield and attack. The clamour for Jack Wilshere is wishful thinking. In Lallana we already have a stunning talent and one who will shine next summer if he can stay fit. I wish he were fit in time for the Germany and Brazil internationals in November because we would see that imagination from him. Sadly he won’t be back in time, but come the spring you can hang your hat on him being in Gareth Southgate’s starting line-up.

I like Kane and Rashford up front – I like Alli, I like the 3 at the back plan IF those players get practice playing together and learn that one or two of them can commit the opposition midfield occasionally and advance forward rather than give a square pass. Dier or Henderson could sit (one or the other) and Alli, and Lallana can do the rest.

What I have learned watching football is that there is no substitute for intelligence – Adam Lallana has it in spades on and off the pitch and HE is England’s missing link.

A little while ago on this blog I posed the question above and used it to promote my vision of what good media training should be. However, recent events have led me to believe that while there is a lot of media training going on behind the scenes in sport, the message is not getting through.

I am a firm believer that being a member of a team for your country, your club, you are representative of your flag or badge. You are an ambassador, and must act as such.

Only yesterday I attended a fascinating presentation by the sports agents Beswicks which included discussions on players’ image rights. When they play for clubs they are helping their clubs sell shirts and become a marketing vehicle for their employer. David Beckham was the perfect example when he went to LA Galaxy to raise the profile of the MLS for £124m – although his marketing value probably outweighed even that cost.

So back to my point of why bother with media training. And I stress here that Sir Ian Botham was my sporting hero, along with Kevin Keegan when I grew up. I remember a few “scandals” around “Beefy” and Keegan’s Charity Shield bust up with Billy Bremner so neither were immune to front page tabloid headlines. As a sports-mad teenager I didn’t much care – they were characters, passionate and inspiring on the field of play.

And I am guessing many of you reading this will see Ben Stokes in the same category. You may also have seen the Sun video that was made public of him lashing out at 2.30 in the morning after an England victory over the West Indies. Whatever the mitigating circumstances, we all know that England’s contracted cricketers are media trained to the nth degree. Some are better than others but for many the personality is drained out of them, the story-telling is lost, for fear of slipping up. Ben Stokes – in his interviews – also tows the party line and we don’t see the real him. But that media training must extend to behaviour off the field. He is a role model and must act accordingly otherwise that media training cost is truly wasted.

I know people say: “well… he’s a human being, we all make mistakes, he’s still a young man” etc etc. Well this is not the first time it has happened to Stokes representing England.

Another name I will throw into the mix is Daniel Berger, a rookie golfer on the PGA Tour who helped America crush the Internationals in the recent Presidents Cup. His soundbite towards the end of day 2 went viral… how he wanted to grind the International team’s noses into the ground in the singles: “I want to beat them even worse”. PGA Tour rookies are also usually well-media trained to extol the virtues of the tour. Berger let down himself and the game’s dignity with a comment that had BBC broadcasting legend Peter Alliss scolding him on Twitter, rightly so.

So is the media training working? Maybe those media trainers are saying the wrong things. Maybe if we are all “just human”, or “making mistakes” we shouldn’t bother.

My final word on this is Media Training is about being yourself, showing emotion, telling stories, protecting your team, being proud of your club or country – and when you do make those mistakes, hen you are disrespectful, or violent on a night out or the heat of battle you apologise quickly and fully.

I’ve heard nothing yet!

As I await my last feature to voice for Premier League Preview, it’s good to see my pre-season title tips Man City and Spurs going well. I still believe that Spurs will push City come May, especially if the Wembley hoodoo they appeared to crush in the Champions League against Dortmund, stays crushed. City are full of goals but there are cracks at the back and Spurs have the best defence of the two. Man United are the popular choice but Stoke proved they are fallible and Paul Pogba’s absence until the end of October could knock them out of their stride.

As for the bottom, I’ve already thrown doubt on my own suggestion that Swansea will drop this season. They look dogged under Paul Clement despite a defeat last time out. I think Roy Hodgson is a sensible and pragmatic choice for Crystal Palace and he will help them escape the bottom three. Despite good recent results, I still think Brighton and Newcastle will struggle and surely West Ham’s lowly league position is temporary given the talent they have in their squad.

Watford have been the biggest surprise. Marrying 15 different nationalities is no mean feat and a home game with City could be illuminating. Still unbeaten they have players like Will Hughes still to make an appearance in the Premier League.

One prediction that looks a bit wayward at this stage but one I’m sticking to…. Leicester City will finish above Arsenal. I know it doesn’t look good now, but Craig Shakespeare’s Foxes have met a lot of top sides so far and they are in a false position. They have the feeling they had under Ranieri I feel, and I have faith. My faith in Arsenal’s lack of leaders, lack of driving force in midfield and porous defence is less robust. We’ll see.