URZZZZ NewCorkSeth Snowflake Royal Don't disagree, but it doesn't really answer the question.
If we managed to drastically trim the squad and wages whilst retaining good young talent I'd absolutely take it if there was promise of sustainable reinvestment and rebuilding to bounce back.
I would not. Never. I would never take relegation even if there was a 99% chance of us getting promoted back in the next 3 seasons. How many clubs come back stronger from relegation to league 1?
There seems to be at least one/two teams who get relegated from the champ who bounce straight back up, Barnsley this season, possibly Sunderland. All three teams relegated in 16/17 went straight back up in 17/18 and they all went on to get a higher points tally the second time round in the championship.
2004-2005
Gillingham, Forest, Rotherham - Luton, Hull, Sheffield Wed
2005-2006
Crewe, Millwall, Brighton - Southend, Colchester, Barnsley
2006-2007
Southend, Luton, Leeds - Scunthorpe, Bristol, Blackpool
2007-2008
Leicester, Scunthorpe, Colchester - Swansea, Forest, Doncaster
2008-2009
Norwich, Southampton, Charlton - Leicester, Peterborough, Scunthorpe
2009-2010
Sheffield Wed, Plymouth, Peterborough - Norwich, Leeds, Millwall
2010-2011
Preston, Sheffield United, Scunthorpe - Brighton, Southampton, Peterborough
2011-2012
Portsmouth, Coventry, Doncaster - Charlton, Sheffield Wed, Huddersfield
2012-2013
Peterborough, Wolves, Bristol City - Doncaster, Bournemouth, Yeovil
2013-2014
Doncaster, Barnsley, Yeovil - Wolves, Brentford, Rotherham
2014-2015
Millwall, Wigan, Blackpool - Bristol, MK Don's, Preston
2015-2016
Charlton, MK Don's, Bolton - Wigan, Burton, Barnsley
2016-2017
Blackburn, Wigan, Rotherham - Sheffield United, Bolton, Millwall
Gillingham - Never promoted back, relegated to league 2 twice since.
Forest - 3 seasons to be promoted back, stayed up since.
Rotherham - 9 season to be promoted back, relegated to league 2 once in that time, relegated again after 3 seasons.
Crewe - Never promoted back, relegated to league 2 twice since.
Millwall - 4 season to be promoted back, relegated again after 5 seasons.
Brighton - 5 seasons to be promoted back, stayed up and promoted since.
Southend - Never promoted back, relegated to league 2 once since.
*Luton - Never promoted back, double relegated the following seasons after.
Leeds - 3 seasons to be promoted back, stayed up since.
Leicester - 1 season to be promoted back, stayed up and promoted since.
Scunthorpe - 1 season to be promoted back, stayed up 2 seasons, relegated to league 2 since.
Colchester - Never promoted back, relegated to league 2 since
Norwich - Double promotion season after.
Southampton - 1 season to be promoted back, double promotion season after.
Charlton - 3 seasons to be promoted back, relegated after 4 seasons
Sheffield Wed - 2 seasons to be promoted back, stayed up since.
Plymouth - Never promoted back, relegated the season after.
Peterborough - 1 season to be promoted back, stayed up for 2 seasons.
Preston - 4 seasons to be promoted back, stayed up since.
Sheffield United - 6 seasons to be promoted back, stayed up since
Portsmouth - Never promoted back, double relegation season after.
Coventry - Never promoted back, relegated to league 2 once since.
Doncaster - 1 season to be promoted back, stayed up for 1 season, relegated to league 2 once since.
Wolves - 1 season to be promoted back, stayed up and promoted since.
Bristol City - 2 seasons to be promoted back, stayed up since.
Barnsley - 2 seasons to be promoted back, relegated again after 2 season.
Yeovil - Never promoted back, relegated to league 2 once since.
Wigan - 1 season to be promoted back, relegated after 1 season, promoted again, relegated again. True yo-yo club.
Blackpool - Never promoted back, relegated to league 2 once since.
MK Dons - Never promoted back, relegated to league 2 once since.
Bolton - 1 season to be promoted back.
Blackburn - 1 season to be promoted back.
So thats 11 teams (including Luton) yet to be promoted back out of 39, 13 have been relegated to league 2 after being relegated from the Championship and 10 have been relegated since being re-promoted.
Only 10 teams out of 39 have come back up and not been relegated yet.
oxf*rd this takes a long time to verify.