Can Fulham stay up?

Fulham celebrated promotion and the championship with an emphatic 7-0 win over promotion hopefuls Luton,.  They have played some great football this season, but this is the third time Fulham have been promoted in the last five seasons and on the previous two occasions, they dropped straight back through the trapdoor.

Owner Tony Khan has made his reputation in football as a forward-thinking analyst whose Boston-based company, TruMedia Networks, has established itself as one of the big-hitters in the world of sports data. This is Khan’s expertise. His use of analytics underpins everything at Fulham, particularly when it comes to determining transfer targets.

Khan is also the co-owner and vice-president of the Jacksonville Jaguars, as well as being the co-owner, founder, president and chief executive of All Elite Wrestling and being involved in various other work ventures.   It’s a lot of commitments.

Khan’s firmly held belief is that the clubs with the most sophisticated data processes are getting ahead in an era when it can feel out of date to remember the days when footballers were signed simply on the basis of old-fashioned scouting.

Is the gap between the Championship and the Premier League too wide now to be bridged?  Brentford would suggest otherwise, although they now face the second season challenge.