Why Newcastle, Everton and Crystal Palace face Premier League peril

The American investor Warren Buffett warned that a reputation can be built in 20 years but destroyed in five minutes, a principle that now echoes in the Premier League as Newcastle United, Everton and Crystal Palace confront the thin line between safety and relegation.

Historical patterns of collapse

Buffett’s observation, originally about the corporate world, finds a parallel in football where clubs can see years of stability vanish within months. Premier League history is littered with teams that seemed secure after several top‑flight seasons, only to tumble into the Championship in a single campaign.

Tottenham Hotspur illustrate this fragility: despite gaining three more points last season than in 2024/25, they were 90 minutes from the drop last term, a fate sealed by poor recruitment, underperforming stars and a spate of injuries. The image credit for this reminder comes from PA.

Leicester City provide the most high‑profile cautionary tale. After winning the Premier League in 2015/16 and the FA Cup five years later, they enjoyed five successive top‑nine finishes and flirted with Champions qualification in 2020 and 2021. Yet in the 2022/23 season they signed only two players, with Wout Faes the sole fee‑paying arrival, and failed to replace goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and centre‑back Wesley Fofana. A single point from their first seven games saw manager Brendan Rodgers spend £32m on defenders Victor Kristiansen and Harry Souttar in January, but injuries persisted, Rodgers was sacked in April and interim manager Dean Smith could not avert relegation in 2023, just seven years after their title triumph.

Current clubs on the edge

Newcastle United, Everton and Crystal Palace now sit in a precarious position despite recent progress. Newcastle have lost a long‑serving manager and several key players, while Everton’s new stadium and Palace’s recent trophies may mask underlying vulnerabilities that could see them slide toward the Championship.

Other recent examples reinforce the warning. Bournemouth’s 2019/20 relegation, Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion’s drops in 2017/18, and the looming threats to West Ham United (Ham) and Wolves before last season all stemmed from failed signings, departures of influential players, injury crises and managerial changes that came too late.

Why clubs must act now is clear: a few bad months can erase decades of growth, and the financial and sporting consequences of falling into the Championship are severe. Maintaining vigilance, strategic recruitment and stability are essential for any Premier League side that wishes to avoid the same fate.