First Division that is not so second-rate

Wednesday morning's ?8-million arrival of Duncan Ferguson in Newcastle, just 12 miles down the road from Sunderland, will doubtless have had a few Sunderland fans grumbling about money and ambition this week. And when combined with something I was asked yesterday about the quality of the First Division - "if a team like Watford can be second" - it could make a man think he was playing in a different world from the Premiership rather than just one tier down.

Of course the Premier League is The Place To Be and it is where we are all striving hard to get to, but club directors, players and supporters should remember that not only do players not become 25 per cent better on promotion night, clubs do not automatically mutate into Premiership giants either. As was shown by last season's three relegated Premiership sides - Barnsley, Bolton and Crystal Palace - a promoted First Division club must have more than just a few good footballers.

A club must smell of the Premiership and Crystal Palace never really convinced in that department. Bolton did and were unlucky to go down on goal difference - Duncan Ferguson's goals for Everton being responsible - while the most talked about of the three, Barnsley, did but didn't, if you know what I mean.

Yes, they had good, experienced players like Neil Redfearn, a fine manager in Danny Wilson and brilliant, passionate support. It was a vibrant package but I am sure I am not alone in saying that relegation always felt inevitable because while Barnsley were in the Premiership, they were not of it. This is the reality confronting all those hoping to step up every May. While moving upwards is supremely difficult, in a league of 92 clubs there is little point in going from 21st position, today Sunderland's, to 20th, Blackburn's.

The aim must be higher and the vision long-term. To succeed there must be a large and well-equipped squad, an effective youth system and an impressive stadium. The Premiership demands such infrastructure and while I consider both Sunderland and Blackburn to have it, I wonder if Barnsley did in their first and only season in the top flight. Middlesbrough, for example, have spent millions establishing themselves as legitimate members of the Premier League, but the outlay has not been on players alone.

I am not being critical of Barnsley just because they beat us last Saturday, I think I am being realistic. Looking at Middlesbrough again, they have, despite all the tumult over the past four years, made it to three Wembley finals, an achievement their fans would have only dreamed of at the start of the Nineties.

For some reason cup runs appear to have lost some of their importance over recent years but as we face Luton at home on Tuesday with a League Cup semi-final place at stake, I can see only benefits. For Middlesbrough that has certainly been the case. As a result they now have enhanced credibility and, unlike their fellow promotees Nottingham Forest and Charlton, can attract the Paul Gascoignes of this world.

It is attaining that credibility which Sunderland, and all First Division clubs, must be working towards. Once gained, the Duncan Fergusons can be persuaded to follow and they must do if a club is serious about keeping their Premiership position.

But it is a stage by stage development, one Middlesbrough have admitted to rushing and confusing, and no First Division or ambitious Second Division club should be made to feel inferior if it takes them time to feel comfortable at any given stage. Thankfully Barnsley were welcomed as a breath of fresh air last year and Watford should not be dismissed because of who they are and who their manager is. When was the last time Wolves or Southampton or Sunderland finished a season as second best out of 92? Certainly not since Watford did 15 seasons ago.

Graham Taylor was the manager then and he is doing another good job today. They may not be full of individual stars but that is an irrelevance if the team is pulling together and those who say that Watford's anonymity is typical of the division as a whole are not looking very hard. Liverpool's manager Gerard Houllier is said to want a commanding centre half, so maybe he should go to Bradford and look at Darren Moore rather than to France to get yet another foreign accent in the dressing-room.

Houllier could also watch Wolves' Dean Richards and if he is in need of a left-back too, none is better than Sunderland's Michael Gray. Similarly, if Ruud Gullit needs a midfielder to supply Ferguson then Ipswich's Keiron Dyer would be the man. You just have to look at it this way - Ipswich are only nine places below Newcastle in the 92-club league, and the step up is easier for a player than a club.