Source: Team_Talk
Wonders must find balancing act
With the last four Championship play-off winners back in the second tier, TEAMtalk's Sam Lawrence considers how to approach life at the top.[LNB] There can be little doubt that the play-offs are great for the Championship. Not only do they create fevered excitement and prolong end-of-season drama, they also represent an open door to the big time for the division's more humbly-budgeted sides.[LNB]We have seen four such clubs triumph each year since 2006, and now Ian Holloway's unfashionable Blackpool stand one game away from following in their footsteps to the promised land.[LNB]But after analysing the fortunes of Watford, Derby, Hull and Burnley since winning promotion through the play-offs, it is clear the Seasiders will have to tread carefully should they make it up.[LNB]When Hull approached the Premier League in 2008, they resembled a child in a sweet shop, eager to spend all their pocket money. Phil Brown put together a huge squad to try and keep the Tigers up.[LNB]At first, it worked. Hull retained their status and again went on a summer spending spree, attempting to progress and avoid the famous 'second-season syndrome'.[LNB]But the 'speculate to accumulate' policy backfired horribly. Big-name players on lofty wages such as Geovanni, £45,000-a-week Jimmy Bullard and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (the ultimate 'big-name' player!) all failed to deliver last season.[LNB]After their recent relegation, Hull now nurse debts of £38million. Parachute payments will help ease the load, but they are in big trouble financially and a Premier League return any time soon appears unlikely. [LNB]The other three play-off winners from the last four years have taken a different route. Their chairmen, taking note of the boom-and-bust nature of clubs recently falling into administration, have basically budgeted as though relegation is inevitable.[LNB]The game-plan seems to be as follows: go down with heads held high, build a squad in the Championship using parachute payments, then hope the club comes back up stronger and hopefully stays in the top-flight.[LNB]Watford, promoted in 2006, spent next to nothing on their Premier League campaign. They then bought big for their first season back in the Championship, with a total transfer spend potentially in excess of £8million after add-ons. This included a £4.25million deal for Nathan Ellington, last seen on loan at Greek club Skoda Xanthi after scoring just five goals. After losing to Hull in the 2008 play-offs, the Hornets have again faded into the background, recording 13th and 16th-placed finishes as the parachute money dried up.[LNB]Derby spent less again and have also struggled to make any impact since relegation. The Rams have finished 18th and 14th in their two seasons back in the Championship.[LNB]Most recently, Burnley have continued this cautious trend with chairman Barry Kilby accusing the likes of Hull of being "vanity clubs". In the end, Owen Coyle and his successor Brian Laws' restrained transfer activity couldn't prevent the Clarets' descent. A look down the Burnley squad list suggests they may follow Watford and Derby into obscurity, even if they hold on to prize assets Steven Fletcher and Chris Eagles.[LNB]I hope Burnley prove me wrong, but it looks like the Championship's mid-range clubs are unable to find the right formula after promotion, either spending too much or not enough. In both eventualities, they soon slump back to... the Championship's mid-table. [LNB]Should plucky Blackpool triumph at Wembley on May 22, Ollie and the Bloomfield Road money men must plan carefully to avoid going the same way as their play-off-winning predecessors. They need to strike a crucial balance; spending enough to stay up and progress, whilst maintaining financial security. There is no real blueprint for doing this, as the 'smaller' clubs who are currently established in the Premier League (such as Wigan and Fulham) have had money thrown into the coffers by wealthy men behind the scenes.[LNB]The reality is that becoming a yo-yo club might be the best smaller sides can hope for. It's clear many chairmen favour going down gracefully, with the ones who gamble on attracting big-name stars in danger of steering their clubs to implosion.
