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Surely Hull Can't Do An Ipswich?
Mind you, when you look at the Ipswich side that won promotion in 2000, you wouldn't think Ipswich could do an Ipswich. But it's getting harder - only one of last five play-off winners have survived...
2007-2008: Derby County
Points after seven games: 4.
Final league position: 20th with record low 11-point haul.
The likes of Rob Earnshaw, Claude Davis and Kenny Miller were Derby's biggest signings after beating West Brom in the play-off final and the result was total humiliation in the Premier League. Billy Davies had mistakenly thought that the same team that finished third in a poor Championship - with the addition of a few Championship-standard players - could survive in the top flight. He was very, very wrong.
2006-2007: Watford
Points after seven games: 4.
Final league position: 20th.
Watford's biggest signing in the close season after humiliating Leeds in the play-off final was Danny Shittu for £1.6m. They kept faith with the likes of Marlon King (who was then ruled out by injury) and Darius Henderson and the up-and-at-'em style that got them there. If it wasn't for the inspired loan signing of Ben Foster, the season could have ended a whole lot worse.
2005-2006: West Ham
Points after seven games: 12
Final league position: 9th
That six of the 11 players who started West Ham's play-off win over Preston are still Premier League regulars tells you all you need to know about the Hammers' side that somehow found themselves needing the play-offs to escape the Championship. It explains in hindsight quite why Alan Pardew was under pressure despite relative success. They didn't spend a lot that summer, but then they didn't need to - Yossi Benayoun was their key signing to supplement a side that already included players like Anton Ferdinand, Nigel Reo-Coker and Marlon Harewood.
2004-2005: Crystal Palace
Points after seven games: 2
Final league position: 18th.
Iain Dowie certainly brought in players after their unlikely play-off win over West Ham, but the problem is that they were pretty much all rubbish. Of the ten players he signed, only Emmerson Boyce can now be counted on a list of relative top-flight successes and Palace were eventually found out, with Andrew Johnson eventually failing in his pretty much single-handed attempts to keep them up.
2003-2004: Wolves
Points after seven games: 2
Final league position: 20th.
Wolves made six signings after their 3-0 final win over Sheffield United, but take a look at the list: Isaac Okoronkwo, Silas, Oleg Luzhny, Jody Craddock, Henri Camara and Steffen Iversen. That bloke Silas cost a massive £1m, while Camara was the only one who covered himself in the slightest hint of glory. They badly missed the injured Joleon Lescott, while a year in the Premier League proved a step too far for Denis Irwin and Paul Ince.
2002-2003: Birmingham
Points after seven games: 8
Final league position: 13th
Steve Bruce made some sensible acquisitions the summer after his penalty shoot-out win over Norwich, with Robbie Savage, Kenny Cunningham and Clinton Morrison offering top-flight experience to a team that was already high on battling qualities with the likes of Jeff Kenna and Damien Johnson. They would still flirt with relegation - prompting a January splurge for Christophe Dugarry and Matthew Upson - but they would eventually survive with relative ease.
2001-2002: Bolton
Points after seven games: 12
Final league position: 16th
Big Sam Allardyce more or less stuck with the same side that beat Preston in the play-off final and started the season at a canter - beating Leicester 5-0 in their opening game and then triumphing over Liverpool 2-1 win a side that included Michael Ricketts, Mike Whitlow and Anthony Barness. They slid down the table as the season progressed but they had done enough in those early weeks to keep them safe. It's worth noting that Allardyce's assistant at the time was of course Phil Brown.
2000-2001: Ipswich Town
Points after seven games: 8
Final league position: 5th
Wright, Croft, McGreal, Mowbray, Venus, Clapham, Holland, Magilton, Wright, Johnson, Stewart - the play-off team that beat Barnsley doesn't look like a side that was going to flourish in the Premier League. But nobody could have predicted that Marcus Stewart would score 19 goals in his first top-flight season or that the likes of Jim Magilton, Matty Holland and Jamie Clapham would step up to the plate quite so comfortably. Add in the astute puchase of Hermann Hreidarsson - and later Alun Armstrong - and George Burley did a remarkable and unexpectedly good job.
Sarah Winterburn
