West Ham Woes, Millwall’s Promotion Push and Wolves’ Revival – McLean’s EFL Takeaways

West Ham’s Troubling Start

West Ham have endured a disappointing opening to life in the Championship following their relegation from the Premier League. After throwing away a two-goal advantage in their opening draw against Burnley, the Hammers suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Charlton on Saturday.

McLean believes West Ham must make significant changes if they are to challenge near the top of the Championship.

“I look at West Ham and think last season they were relegated because they weren’t good enough. They have come into the Championship and almost need to hit rock bottom.

“I thought they were very uninspiring against Burnley in their first game, but that wasn’t really a test of what the Championship is going to be about.

“Today was a real test against an established Championship team who will fight for every ball. I know West Ham missed a penalty that could have earned them a point, but if you are West Ham at home in front of 62,000, you shouldn’t need a penalty to try to rescue something.

“There need to be huge improvements in the mentality and perhaps the personnel if West Ham are going to have a good season.”

Millwall and Charlton Make Perfect Starts

Charlton are one of only two teams in the second tier to have won both of their opening matches. The other is Millwall, who strengthened their perfect start with a victory over Norwich on Saturday.

McLean believes Millwall currently look like the side everyone else will have to beat in the promotion race.

“I think Millwall are, at this moment, the team to beat. Last season they just fell short, but I think they look solid at the back, strong, aggressive and capable of scoring goals.

“I expect them to be very much in the hunt for automatic promotion.

“Last season was about consolidation for Charlton. The job Nathan Jones has done there has been magnificent. Last season they needed to make sure they stayed in the division, but this year I think they are looking to go one step further. They are playing slightly more expansively.

“Back-to-back wins now for them, and they will fancy their chances of building on that. Any improvement on last season’s finish and I think they will be more than happy.”

Wolves Finally End Long Wait for Away Win

Wolves ended a 489-day wait for an away victory with an impressive 3-1 win over Preston at Deepdale.

The result means Wolves have collected four points from their opening two Championship fixtures and have made a positive start to their promotion campaign.

McLean is impressed with what he has seen from Wolves and believes their summer recruitment could help them compete at the top end of the division.

“I like Wolves. I like the look of them and I like the signings. I think they have brought in the right characters as well as players with huge amounts of quality.

“I think today will go a long way towards helping them establish themselves in that leading pack. They need to make sure they continue to build, but they seem to have acclimatised to the Championship better than the likes of West Ham and Burnley.”