Second-season woe

Are Swansea, Norwich and QPR suffering from second-season syndrome? Adam Bate opens the debate.

When Danny Graham converted Wayne Routledge's cross to put Swansea 3-0 up at home to West Ham on August 25th the future looked particularly bright for the hosts at the Liberty Stadium. Five Premier League games later and the Swans are still waiting for their next triumph. Norwich haven't picked up a league win all season. Nor have big-spending Queens Park Rangers. That's a total of 17 matches since Swansea's victory over the Hammers. And for the trio of clubs that earned promotion to the top-flight in 2011 there's not been a win among them. It all leads to dreaded talk of second-season syndrome. But what exactly is second-season syndrome? The term is often used to explain the challenge facing clubs that have stayed in the Premier League at the first attempt. And it can sometimes feel like a cheap line used by managers who are trying to motivate players who now risk entering the comfort zone. In fact, in the twelve completed Premier League seasons so far this century only six of the 36 teams that have been relegated could possibly have been victims of second-season syndrome. Of those six teams it is tempting to disregard three immediately. Both Bradford and Hull were expected to plunge out of the Premier League within 12 months but somehow survived in the last game of the season despite points tallies of 36 and 35 respectively. And West Brom were even bottom of the league on that final day before hauling themselves to safety with moments to spare. Having staggered over the line there was an air of inevitability to each of their exits the following year. But with Ipswich in 2001, Reading in 2007 and Birmingham in 2010 things were different. There was a buzz about each of the clubs after impressive top-half finishes. Praise was heaped on them just as it was on Norwich and Swansea this summer. But the plaudits soon stopped and it all went badly wrong. Each dropped at least nine places the following year and were relegated. So what can this year's candidates for second-season syndrome learn from their predecessors.

Don't change too much

The QPR team that finished the game against Manchester City in September included not a single player from the squad that had won promotion back to the top-flight little over 15 months earlier. Former Ipswich boss George Burley didn't overhaul things quite so drastically but the signing of 'Champions League winner Finidi George' certainly had similarities with the arrivals of Park Ji-Sung and Jose Bosingwa at Loftus Road. "Burley admits he made mistakes," explained Csaba Abrahall in When Saturday Comes. "He feels he brought in too many new faces, disrupting the continuity that had been the cornerstone of the team's success. Burley set himself the task of managing a much larger squad than ever before and he clearly found it difficult. Certain team selections suggested it gave him too many options and he struggled to keep everyone happy."

Avoid injuries

The consistency of Brendan Rodgers' team selection at Swansea last season was like something from another age. Remarkably, seven of the Swans squad made at least 36 Premier League appearances. It's a luxury they are unlikely to enjoy again. Back in 2010, Birmingham's defensive pairing of Roger Johnson and Scott Dann was a key component in their success - but the latter was available for little over half of the club's games in their relegation season. "There are mitigating circumstances,"