This has been a big week for laughs in the Premier League. Remember Antonio Conte’s deflection of media questions about Diego Costa by getting a fit of the giggles. It was a clever, calculated move to take the pressure off the situation which has damaged his camp. The heat is off after the subsequent win over Spurs at Wembley.

And this morning I saw yesterday’s Jurgen Klopp press conference and how he absorbed the questioning over Phillippe Coutinho and hit back with a funny line about how he would welcome the Brazilian back into the fold if the Barcelona move does not go through. He did it with humour, with a smile, with a clever line… and you cannot help but like that guy.

Klopp does what Jose Mourinho used to do when he was winning everything at Chelsea. The smile is genuine, the smile is powerful and it draws your audience in. There is no doubt that Jurgen Klopp has received a kinder press because of the relationship he has with the media. He is likeable, loveable even!

You may say to me that Mauricio Pochettino, Ronald Koeman etc don’t need to smile or laugh their way through media grillings. Not yet, but the time will come when there is controversy for both to deal with, and they would do well to take a leaf out of Conte and Klopp’s book.

As people, we admire those who are human, normal, like you and me. It’s not natural to be so straightforward, businesslike all the time. I think of some of the most charismatic business people I admire like Sir Richard Branson and the smile is his trademark. How great is it when you see managers, CEOs, players even, looking like they love their job – and that is what a laugh or a smile does. It also softens difficult questions, it draws in the audience.

This is why some of my past golf clients Andrew “Beef” Johnston and Andy Sullivan are so respected in the media – good or bad round, they interact with the fans, they smile, they know they are lucky to be golf pros and they look like they are appreciating the fans spending hard earned cash on watching them. Beef rarely lets down any requests for a selfie, or an autograph. He has become a trailblazer for the European Tour and their quest to grow the game with youngsters.

Smiling or laughing does not mean you are not professional. It’s a key to communication and this is a trick I will continue to coach in my workshops… because it is so effective. Whatever your business, sport or not, try it in team meetings, management focus groups, speeches, presentations. You will be amazed the effect it has.

One of the main teaching points in all my training workshops is that “First Impressions Count”. In my media training players, managers, administrators need to look the part so as not to create distractions. In my business communication training, senior executives need to inspire their employees, show leadership skills and create a structure for success.

So I thought I would apply this theory to the first two weeks of the season in the Premier League. My bullet points on the big 7 so far look like this:

Jose Mourinho and Man Utd: Looks like this is his team now, appears confident in this second season which is always so successful for him, but the team have still to prove they are not just bullies of lesser teams. Romelu Lukaku looks like he could be a missing link being fed by all that talent behind him.

Pep Guardiola and Man City: The pre-season favourites remain the favourites but still don’t look to be a cohesive unit and Pep’s uncomfortable relationship with the media in press conferences, in one-to-one interviews suggests he knows the team is not complete despite the millions spent. Should they still be chasing Jonny Evans in the last week of the transfer window?

Arsene Wenger and Arsenal: Lacazette looks to be a solid signing and should have two goals in two after having a perfectly good goal ruled out against Stoke. And yet the muddled thinking of previous campaigns is still evident and that Patrick Vieira type player in midfield is not there. Lack of leadership on the pitch.

Mauricio Pochettino and Spurs: Despite the defeat to Chelsea, he always appears confident, in control and there will be no panicking from the Spurs fans as a result. He has said the right things about playing at Wembley and while the bigger pitch may yet undermine another title bid, I still see a young squad which has togetherness, spirit and bags of talent.

Antonio Conte and Chelsea: A masterclass of media management when he got the giggles in response to another question about Diego Costa. It was a left field way of dealing with a thorny issue but had its effect and got the media coverage he wanted. To follow that up with the win over Spurs at Wembley strengthened his image and the champions will be galvanised after losing on the opening day.

Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool:  The German’s ease with the media and his ability to charm whoever he is talking to is probably Liverpool’s biggest asset right now. They are without their best two players, Adam Lallana and Phillippe Coutinho and Klopp may yet lose the Brazilian before the week is out. He has clearly not sorted out his defensive frailties in the summer but Moreno’s replacement with Robertson is a step in the right direction and  giving home-grown wonder boy Trent Alexander-Arnold two starts shows the Academy players have a chance to shine.  TAA is one of the best strikers of a dead ball I’ve seen.

Ronald Koeman and Everton: Koeman is impressing everyone with his calmness, his refusal to get carried away and make wild predictions. He’s the first manager in some time to get the best out of Wayne Rooney in a position he likes most and the signing of Gylffi Sigurdsson looks inspired. The draw at City last night was so nearly a win and they look pretty solid in defence with Michael Keane at its heart.

First impressions are often wrong. The key to great communication is to get it right from the start and on that basis, should we give United the title now? In this fickle business of football fans have short memories, so for the big 7 this season, there is lots of time to get it right.

I am proud to be going into my 11th season as one of the voices on the Premier League Preview show, which goes around the world to 200+ countries. It is a now traditional warm-up for the weekend’s fixtures featuring comments from managers and players but also fans and journalists.

But having voiced my share of games yesterday, it was clear from our studio discussions that if you ask who is going to win the title, or who is going down this year, there is very little consensus. Even with the benefit of hindsight from week one, people cannot call it.

I was going for Man City for the title although there is a still a big doubt at the centre of defence which is why they are chasing Jonny Evans at West Brom. Man Utd looked impressive at Old Trafford against West Ham but how will they look against a big six team away from home? Lukuku – as I said in the preview of United’s game at Swansea – could be the missing link after all those draws against teams they should probably have beaten last season. But I also have a sneaking feeling that I should have gone for Tottenham – as I did last season. They will certainly not be any worse, despite playing at Wembley Stadium. Harry Kane is unlikely to have an injury that will keep him out for as long as it did last term, and they are a young team growing together who could make it third time lucky after a 3rd and a 2nd place finish. There are those who think Chelsea’s woes are being overplayed, there are those that say Liverpool will outscore whoever they play, and that Everton could yet be a force in the title race.

And then there’s the relegation fight. Here, because of the loss of Sigursson, I went for Swansea. Tammy Abraham would need to score 20 goals and a more to keep them up, and Fernando Llorente’s absence in the first weeks of the season through injury could be damaging. Brighton under Chris Hughton need to be more ambitious than my club Norwich were under him a few years back. He was far too negative, especially away from home. Newcastle are essentially a similar team to the one that went down and you could make a case for Huddersfield, Crystal Palace and a few others.

Those Premier League predictions are tosh right now. None of us really knows. That Huddersfield defeat of Palace, that Burnley win at Chelsea – the first weekend showed us that. But we have a Premier League in which everyone can beat anyone and it’s that unpredictability that will sustain it for many years to come…

Enjoy the ride and prepare to be surprised!

It’s now quite a while ago that I did some media training for Southampton FC and players like Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale and Adam Lallana were among the many who attended Capricorn workshops. But there’s a lot that businessmen and women can learn from the kind of communication training given back in the Noughties.

My training is built around the T-POT Principle. T-POT stands for The Power of Three… three things you want the viewer to learn from your interview in the case of a Premier League footballer. It is a way of preparing quickly and efficiently for when the camera lights go red.

But the same principle applies for business. It is about connecting to your clients, and attracting potential clients. I use the T-POT in this case for Look / Sound / Message. 93 per cent of communication is non-verbal in the first instance and that first impression is always crucial. So get the look and the sound right and you have earned the right to be heard. That is when the message kicks in.

Look – what you are wearing, how you do your hair, what you do with your hands when in an interview, when presenting, when speaking, when addressing your team at work. Sound – how you say it, the tone you set, the mood you create. Message – having nailed the first two elements you can fine tune what you say and talk about the personal stories that will guarantee you come over as likeable, professional, efficient.

I now run workshops on my SIMPLE first impressions and Creating A-STAR Content for business people who want to make good use of a half day with me. I  follow up with lots of written feedback to hammer home those learning points.

It is hard to believe the whole concept began at St Mary’s Stadium in Southampton more than a decade ago. And the big kick off in the Premier League seemed like a good time to remind readers.

There has been loads of reaction from the first week of the season. Here’s my take…

1. Don’t be drawn in by the opening Premier League fixture of the season. It was a match which papered over the cracks for Arsene Wenger because of the dramatic comeback. My prediction is that Leicester will finish above Arsenal in the league table – Leicester at times looked back to their Premier League-winning best of two years ago… Arsenal have that soft underbelly that at least 6 other teams in this division will exploit. The Gunners have not fixed a porous defence, so their hope is that – like last night – they will score more goals than the opposition. Leicester under Craig Shakespeare showed signs that they will get much better. Harry McGuire looks an England player in waiting and Jamie Vardy is hungry again. This match at The Emirates was another great advert for Premier League football around the world, but do not let it pull the wool over the eyes of Arsenal fans – remember how you felt with ten minutes to go? And Foxes fans should be very encouraged, despite a tough set of fixtures against last season’s top six.
2. Everyone said the two Manchester clubs would dominate last season, but I think Pep and Jose have worked things out much better this term. Pep has the marauding full back pace he craves to complement City’s creative force ahead, and Lukaku will clearly give United a cutting edge if he stays fit. If United were to turn those draws of last season into wins they will be heading for 80 points plus. Still, I give City the title at this ridiculously early stage. Jesus and Aguero look an irresistible force.
3. Don’t write off Tottenham because they’re at Wembley. I’ve spoken to so many Spurs fans who say a top 4 spot would suit them fine this season but Mauricio Pochettino will be far more ambitious. They could yet mount a title bid, although the back up squad is probably not strong enough if they suffer injuries. Kane, Alli, and the central defenders are crucial to their chances but if they stay fit, who knows? It was a great start at noisy Newcastle, and I suspect the Wembley hoodoo has been worked out of their system and the stadium will suit them more than visitors this season.

So we’ve had Bale, now Neymar is the most expensive player in the world. Neither of them are in the Premier League this coming season… but there is a new trend creeping up on us.

If you look at the summer spending of all clubs, strikers will always be golden tickets for success. Goals mean titles, survival, top  4, success.

But I remember many years ago talking to a prominent football agent who said that tall strikers and left sided players would always be marketable, easy to move between clubs, easy to make 10 per cent fees out of.

The trend though is a shift in the value of full backs or wing backs in current parlance. Kyle Walker, Benjamin Mendy and Danilo are on board at Manchester City at a cost of £133 million. They are absolutely key to the way Pep Guardiola wants to play and they are also key to his hopes of winning the Premier League title.

Walker and Danny Rose were vital cogs in Spurs’ push for the title last season and it was also crucial Mauricio Pochettino had back up talent in Steven Davies and Kieran Trippier.

If you are a young player learning your trade in one of the many academies around the country, you could do worse than specialise in this full back/wing back position. You will be as crucial to attack as in defence, you will need to be super-fit, but you will earn millions if you carry it off.

Valencia did it well for Manchester United last season, Everton have Baines and Coleman but have bought Cuca Martina from Southampton in case of injury. Simpson and Fuchs were more traditional full backs in Leicester City’s title winning season but Southampton and Crystal Palace are in a battle to sign Benfica right back Andre Almeida as I write this … £8million looks a snip.

The full back is the big commodity of the premier league in 2017/18. Hector Bellerin coveted by Barcelona, Nathaniel Clyne for Liverpool, the Schlupp/Van Aanholt duo at Palace…the full back attackers are in evidence this season.

One can only wonder how much someone like Ashley Cole or Kenny Sansom going back to the 80s would be worth currently. Carlos Alberto, Cafu and co have been doing this for Brazil for donkey’s years. And if you want a guide to the value of the full back look at PSG’s hiring of 34 year old Dani Alves – Barcelona, Juventus and now Paris – 3 of the biggest clubs on the planet can’t be wrong that this is the kind of player who can win you trophies.

Yes, if I do depart from media training to being football agent, I will specialise in full backs. That’s the way to make money in the 20 teens.

My last day of reporting for the Wimbledon Radio Channel … and it was to be a tumultuous finish. Ladies Final Day felt like a big deal and there seemed to be a changing of the guard as Garbine Muguruza saw off Venus Williams.

But my perspective was outside Centre Court, on the hill, and in the VIP hospitality area which yielded some gold.

Hollywood star Woody Harrelson was there… with his mum. When I found him after the match he – very sadly – said no to the interview. I later found out in an extremely entertaining interview with Matt Richardson of Xtra Factor, Virgin Radio drivetime show and stand up comedian, who was sitting two seats away from Woody, that he was super annoyed by Venus’s defeat and was just not in the mood to talk about it.

But Matt was great in the Stella Artois tent – revealing that this beverage played a part in his conception, according to his dad. He’d also been alongside another famous actor who did say “yes” to me.  Stanley Tucci starred in The Devil Wears Prada- the sidekick to Meryl Streep – as well as so many other great films. Road to Perdition,   The Hunger Games, The Lovely Bones for which he got an academy award nomination and Spotlight to name a few. He’d done his share of fist pumping in the seats earlier and was surprised at the Williams surrender in set two. What a thrill and he’s just shot a film exclusively in London.

It got better – Michael Johnson the 4 time Olympic gold medalist talked of the mental edge he could associate with his sport and tennis as Muguruza broke Williams’ spirit. Another of my heroes ticked off – charming, beaming smile, legend.

But that’s not to forget the people who have made Wimbledon so special. The man from Madrid who couldn’t control himself on the hill as the Spaniard won. He’d watched the whole championships on the TV back home in 37 degree temperatures and now he was here. He lost his girlfriend amid his celebrations.

There was the English couple who backed the underdog and cheered her victory as if it was Konta.

And the Williams fan who had brought her whole family to the hill to cheer the lady who had inspired her to become a tennis coach.

Thank you to everyone and what a lovely finish to another fortnight to remember. Oh and my final step count as roving reporter.. 103,000!

On this my 5th day of reporting for the Wimbledon Radio Channel another 19,000 steps were covered for Men’s Semi Finals Day making it 89,000 in these 2017 championships with one day remaining.  The masterclass from Roger Federer, much of it watched on the hill with thousands of Federer fans was worth every step. He is a genius, not a wayward one like Best and Gascoigne but a wonderful role model – the epitome of brilliant media training – which is my main company business. He says meaningful things, he gives you insight, he praises others around him including his opponent. The hero worship for Roger is understandable and incredible.

Among the many celebrities who paid for a ticket to see the great man was ITV’s Judge Rinder. He too was beguiled by a man he so enjoyed watching with his Auntie Irene. What a contrast to the first semi final he said, but Judge Rinder is known to tell it like it is. And having taken the decision to wear shorts, how nice that he praised my sartorial elegance. These celebs know that telling the odd porker when they are being interviewed outside Centre Court is not a bad idea to curry favour. He and his Auntie were lovely, I didn’t need the compliments.

A 75 year old on the hill showed me her Centre Court ticket from 1968 when Roger Taylor was the British number one. He’s the same age and they both look great. I need to start playing this game myself if I want to like them at 75.

I interviewed the “Murraynators” at the top of the hill emblazoned in purple, standing proud despite Andy’s exit, and they later cheered Jamie into the Mixed Doubles Final. What began at the Davis Cup has become an obsession for these 10 ladies for whom tennis has sparked lifelong friendships.

I also met two Mothers and daughters on the hill – both from different parts of the country, and they meet up at Wimbledon. I saw great friends from Mumbai, one from India one based in London – they too met here .. and then they all get the privilege to watch Roger Federer. Life doesn’t get better than this.

Something terrible happened at Wimbledon yesterday on my day of reporting from the grounds. It is something that has never happened to be before. I was rejected – on air – for an interview. Not a big deal you may think but it was a bruising experience.

In my many years of reporting from the All England Club I genuinely cannot remember a similar situation. You can normally sidle up to anyone with the Wimbledon Championships microphone and they will reveal their passion for the game, their love of the players, their enjoyment of this occasion.

So I am live from under the big screen on the Hill and the studio needs to tap into the Roger Federer followers. I do my intro, talking about the fact that Roger seems to have as many fans as Andy Murray here. Now remember, for the past half an hour I have been checking out who might talk to me so I can gamble at this point and go to people who are “bankers” for a good, quick chat.

The first couple I’ve seen fist pumping at Federer winning the first set and they are from Spain. Incredibly they like the Swiss more than their own Spanish star Rafael Nadal… it made for a good discussion about why. Federer is so graceful, he makes you love tennis, he’s a great ambassador, dignified, beautiful to watch. So far so good.

In my previous watching brief, not far away I saw this guy with a Wimbledon Channel earpiece in, avidly listening and looking at his phone – I thought probably checking the scores from No.1 court where the number 8 seed Dominic Thiem was in action. So I move from this Spanish couple to this guy and say “this man is probably listening to me right now because he has his Wimbledon Channel earpiece in. “Sir, are you listening to us right now?

“No, I’m not!”

“So can I ask you what you are listening to?”

“Nothing, I don’t want to talk to you… (and with a strong index finger pointing in my face) Go away”

Well it had to happen one day! Wimbledon makes most people happy, but he wasn’t. I’ve not been so upset since a young lady offered me her seat on the train… and I’m only 55.

Anyway that should not detract from a brilliant day of Federer fan watching, and I was outside Court 3 when the British doubles pairing of Marcus Willis and Jay Clarke knocked out the defending champions and number 2 seeds from France, Hebert and Mahut ,to raucous cheers. I spoke to those who queued to get into see those final moments … and missed it, much to their frustration.

Talking of queues, this is a common theme. People queue to get into Wimbledon, they queue for water, for the toilets, to get into the courts around the grounds, and they queue (and it’s a long one) for Pimms. It is obviously worth it in the end, but one of the guys I spoke to said he didn’t even want the Pimms, he just loved the queuing. He was joking of course but it justified my theme and it was a great line on which to hand back to the studio.

Among my favourite interviews was the England cricketer Jason Roy – looking very stylish in a fedora type hat, enjoying life in the VIP area before seeing Djokovic and Federer on Centre Court. He was fascinating in comparing the pressure someone like Andy Murray feels set point down to playing in that T20 Final for England, and experiencing the passion of the Indian crowds.

I can’t help but be damaged mentally by that interview rejection at the end of the day… but I will be back for more on mens semi finals day next Friday for sure. My betting slip says Grigor Dimitrov will win this title, but my head says a Nadal v Federer final. We’ll see.