Frustrated comments of Burnley's rival managers might be cause for optimism
It goes without saying that Burnley and their fellow newly-promoted sides face an uphill challenge this coming season.
The stats speak for themselves: all six sides to be promoted from the Championship across the past two seasons have all gone straight back down.
Burnley know better than most about the widening gap between the two divisions, having suffered relegation in their previous two campaigns in the top flight. They also mustered just 24 points under Vincent Kompany the last time round.
It all means the Clarets, as well as Leeds United and Sunderland, are likely to be written off before a ball is even kicked.
A fitting microcosm of the challenge that lies ahead is that Tottenham, the side that finished 17th last season, ended the year as Europa League winners, thus qualifying for the Champions League.
But all is not lost. In recent days, managers of what most would consider to be mid-table clubs have spoken out about their concerns ahead of the new season.
Oliver Glasner, Crystal Palace chief, has been the most recent to do so.
Despite lifting the FA last season and finishing 12th, the Eagles have been preoccupied this summer by their off-the-pitch battles following their European demotion.
"We haven’t made the most of the transfer window so far,” he told Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung during the club’s pre-season tour.
“I was promised that we would be more active and bring in the new players earlier this year, but as of now, I have 17 outfield players.
“I hope we don’t lose any more. If that happens and we get four new ones on deadline day like last year, another false start is possible.”
Over at Everton, there’s excitement about the move to the new stadium.
But manager David Moyes, who guided the Toffees to a 13th-placed finish last season after replacing Sean Dyche, is frustrated at missing out on a number of transfer targets.
“We’re desperate to get things moving on,” he said.
“I know time is running out. Since the last game of the season, we’ve had over nine weeks.
“We’ve got to start getting moving on because it will not be long until we start getting close to the end of the window.
“The truth is we’re not getting them over the line at the moment, that’s a fact. We’re not getting a lot of the deals done that we were hoping to do.
“We’re continually reassessing and moving on while things have maybe not come to fruition. We’ll keep doing it, we’ll keep trying to get the best players we can.
“We want to challenge ourselves to get good players if possible. We’re trying to do that, but we’re finding it quite difficult at the moment.”
There’s also a lot of uncertainty over how Brentford will perform this coming season given the upheaval they’ve endured this summer.
Thomas Frank has left after seven years to join Burnley’s opening day opponents Tottenham, taking five members of staff with him.
The Bees appointed rookie boss Keith Andrews as his replacement after he had been working as a set-piece coach with the club.
Bryan Mbuemo has left to join Manchester United after firing 21 goals in last term, while captain Christian Norgaard has made the switch over London to Arsenal. There’s also ongoing uncertainty surrounding the future of Yoane Wissa.
Wolves, meanwhile, have also lost their star man over the summer, with Matheus Cunha making the switch to Old Trafford. Vitor Pereira’s side finished 16th last term.
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