Its never good to go down but it is almost always best to go down the first time you are in a relegation battle than doing it the 3rd or 4th relegation battle in a row. Once you get into that 2nd or 3rd relegation battle in a row you tend to panic buy overpriced veterans looking for one last pay day and by the time you go down you've killed your wage bill and have very few players left to compete with in the Championship. Examples, Wigan, QPR, Villa, Blackburn, Bolton.

West Brom is the best example on the good side. They yo-yo'd every year for a good half decade but never panic bought players. Eventually, consolidated their position. Burnley is attempting to do that now.