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Be warned, Bournemouth; the Premier League can be a devil in disguise
Few aren’t tickled by the news that Bournemouth, with not twelve thousand seats in their stadium and a squad paid far less than the big boys’ benchwarmers, will achieve promotion to the Premier League. As recently as 2009 they were in a struggle to stay in the Football League — what a difference a few years makes. The stage. Dreamers can dream; Bournemouth actually achieved the impossible, to the satisfaction of supporters of the “parity” argument in the Premier League.
But top division status, the first in the club’s 116-year history, is unlikely to last long. As much as clubs such as QPR, who spend high wages in their struggle to stay up, Bournemouth can seems hardly to be given a chance, Eddie Howe or no. It could be a rude awakening, but ultimately it’s to dream of, not necessarily to achieve, staying up where the adventure lies. With laughably low wage bills even for the Championship, even the massive payoff the Premier League provides can’t go that far to improve the club’s EPL prospects. Indeed, there are more pressing issues, namely their ground. As a small club, and everything needs improving.
Thankfully, the Premier League does offer enough money to allow for material improvements, yet this needs to be invested carefully. Many newly-promoted clubs get their hopes up and make the mistake of putting all of the money directly into the squad in hopes of securing a second season up top, signing expensive players on long-term contracts; yet when they go back down, the struggle to pay off these debt and the frightening prospect of administration become the new fears. Clubs now have a long list of clubs that reached one step too far and then tumbled — Leeds after their Champions League run and Portsmouth and Wigan after their FA Cup titles being prime examples.
Promotion is a massive step forward that deserved to be celebrated, but prudent supporters should try to adopt a longer-term horizon. Last season, one promoted club went down, and that was a great year for newly-promoted teams. This season, Burnley and Queens Park Rangers, both promoted teams, are heading toward the drop, while Leicester City, the team who stormed through the Championship last season, are still fighting hard for to achieve a season two. Be warned, Bournemouth: invest carefully, or the financial implications of a quick relegation could outweigh the promise that promotion represents.