Relegated Clubs Doomed?

            Charlton Athletic, Sheffield Wednesday, Leicester City, and Leeds United are all recent examples of relegation from the English Premier League spelling disaster for English football clubs. Charlton fell from the Premiership after four years of more than holding their own in the division. However it was their fifth and their first Alan Curbishley-less year in the division that proved to be their last. Ironically, and disastrously it was the year Charlton decided to loosen their purse strings. New manager Iain Dowie spent big on Andy Reid, Souleymane Diawara and Amdy Faye (to name but a few) and the club also paid a hefty chunk of England star Scott Carson’s wages. In their first ten games they won just five points and two games later just twelve league games into his Charlton career Dowie was sacked.

            Almost two years later and after the sale of star players Darren Bent, Luke Young and Andy Reid Charlton find themselves in a Championship relegation battle. As if this wasn’t bad enough they are without a permanent manager after the sacking of boss Alan Pardew and will be looking to sell rather than buy in January because of their worsening financial situation.

Sadly it’s a familiar story for relegated Premier League clubs. Most just can’t afford to keep paying their stars Premiership wages and selling is the only option. After this if the manager does not buy intelligently the club more often than not is doomed. Birmingham and West Brom bought Kevin Phillips, Wolves bought Michael Kightly while Sheffield United bought James Beattie. Charlton went for quantity not quality they signed Varney, Gray and Todorov who have failed to score 20 goals between them during their time at the Valley. In fact since Charlton’s relegation just over a season ago former manager Alan Pardew used an incredible forty-five players including ten signed on loan.

            In 2003 when they were relegated West Ham lost all their big names but then manager Pardew worked the market brilliantly and turned Harewood and Etherington into Premiership players and got them promoted two seasons later. Birmingham under Alex Mcleish look to be going down a similar road but Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester City both struggled after relegation from the Premiership. The bottom line for relegated clubs is that if your transfer policy is not spot on you could be in real trouble. Pardew never found a real clinical goal scorer at Charlton or a solid first eleven and that’s why he is out of the job and Charlton are in the relegation zone.

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