EPL: Can Swansea, Norwich and QPR Survive Without Premier League Experience?

The newly promoted clubs—Swansea, Norwich and QPR—will have a great deal of trouble surviving the Premier League without the luxury of a squad full of players with hundreds of Premier League appearances amongst them. At least that is the generally considered outlook. However, is there really any substance to this?

I'm sure any international or national media outlet can provide pages of data to back up this theory. However, what would they say about the fact that West Ham got relegated last season with a roster full of significant Premier League experience and even a few England internationals?

How was it that Blackpool nearly managed survival despite having a squad that had barely played a Premier League game between them? Maybe surviving in the Premier League is a darn sight more complicated matter than having—or not having—Premier League experience. Dare I say that Premier League experience has no relevance on survival?

Swansea, Norwich and QPR will certainly hope that it isn’t essential. Of the three promoted clubs, QPR have put a greater emphasis on Premier League experience, signing DJ Campbell and Danny Gabbidon and placing a bid to bring Scott Parker into the squad.

Paul Lambert, however, is more interested in signing players that are young and hungry to prove they can play at the Premier League level. This doesn't mean he is ignoring Premier League players, but he isn't focusing on them either. His eight summer signings have come from the Championship, League One and the Premier League. Despite the so-called lack of Premier League experience, Paul Lambert’s transfer policy should hold Norwich in good stead.

Equally, Swansea, will be hoping that Danny Graham can step up to Premier League football, even though he hasn't played in the top flight before. Swansea will draw inspiration from Blackpool, who proved that players lacking in Premier League experience can step up and do very well. Blackpool's major success stories from last season were Charlie Adam and DJ Campbell, both of whom have now earned moves to current Premier League clubs.

I think it is also important for newly promoted clubs to be careful which Premier League model they follow. You could, for instance, look at Wolves and Wigan and decide that is a good model to follow. Admittedly, they have managed to sustain Premier League football. However, has either club really progressed?

In order for a team to plan ahead, they need to become an established Premier League club. Of course, it is difficult to define exactly what an established Premier League club is, but a pretty good rule seems to be a team expected to avoid relegation. The best current example is Stoke City; Stoke can afford to plan ahead, and they have progressed every year since entering the Premier League. And this season, of course, they will be playing in Europe.

Who knows what the future holds for QPR, Norwich and Swansea. But a lack of Premier League experience doesn't mean that relegation is inevitable. Coming into the new season, there is plenty to be optimistic about.

Yes, it is likely that at least one of these teams will get relegated. But there is no reason to think that two can't stay up, as Newcastle and West Brom proved last season. Team spirit, togetherness and having a good manager can get you a long way. It will be a tough battle, but clubs need to keep in mind the future when buying players to sustain Premier League football.

Too many newly promoted clubs go down the road of spending a lot of money on established players. The thinking is: the quality will keep them in the Premier League. However, the cost of failure can be very high, because, whether choosing to leave or stay, the players will cripple the club financially in the Championship.

This is where Norwich has been very smart. Eight players have been signed, but with the minimum of financial risk. The club can also be reasonably confident that these players would be prepared to play Championship football and wage costs can be kept under control. So, if the worst thing was to happen and Norwich got relegated, then at least they would have one of the strongest squads in the Championship.

Now, what if they had followed the age-old wisdom of Premier League experience? Well, first of all, those players would been very expensive, either in wages, transfer fees or both. Of course, you would hope that those players would be good enough to keep you up. If they failed, however, they would most likely leave the club, leaving a depleted squad in their wake. If they stayed, they would do so at some very high wages in the Championship.

A further point is that experienced Premier League players are probably nearing the end of their careers. Therefore the chance of getting your money back on them is relatively slim. Now consider a player coming in the Championship that is 21 years old. That player can develop and turn out to be a quality Premier League player. Now, either the club will sell that player and make a huge profit, or the club will benefit from having one of the better Premier League players.

This is what happened with Charlie Adam last season, garnering a significant profit for Blackpool, who sold Adam to Liverpool. Maybe this conventional wisdom is deeply flawed, and this year's crop of newly promoted sides can continue what Blackpool started last season.

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