The trap door beckons this weekend for two of three clubs that should be nowhere near the relegation zone.
Leicester City were champions of England seven years ago.
At Leeds United the hope was that their return to the Premier League three years ago marked the end of their time in the wilderness.
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And for the biggest potential fallers of them all, Everton, there are harsh lessons from the past that should serve as a kick up the behind ahead of Sunday’s clash with Bournemouth.
Leeds’ past troubles are a reminder that no one is too big to go down.
Their 16 years in the wilderness, including three seasons in the third tier, began just three seasons after they reached the semi-final of the Champions League.
Since the beginning of the Premier League, relegation has been just the beginning of the decline for a series of clubs with proud traditions.
Just 13 years after their second European Cup win, and in the first campaign of the Premier League era, Nottingham Forest tumbled into the second tier.
They bounced back up but went down again in 1997, and yo-yoed up and straight back down again.
In this, their first season back in the top-flight since 1998/99, they have just about managed to cling onto their Premier League status.
Blackburn Rovers won promotion to the first ever Premier League and finished fourth and second, before winning the title in 1994/95.
Four seasons later and a 19th placed finish saw them tumble into the old Division One.
Despite bouncing back two seasons later, things were never the same again, with the passing of legendary owner Jack Walker in 2000 a massive contributing factor.
Newcastle United (2009 and 2016), and Aston Villa (2016) were two more underachievers, but the current status of both offers hope to those currently stuck in the dogfight.
The same can’t be said, however, for Sunderland, a team whose profile, fanbase and facilities deserve a bigger stage.
But since their relegation in 2017, it’s been one struggle after another.
The Black Cats came agonisingly close to a top-flight return this time around, only to fall at the play-off semi-final hurdle.
So it’s another year in the second-tier for Sunderland and a seventh on the bounce outside the Premier League - a spell that has included four seasons in League One.
John O’Shea went from Champions League and Premier League wins with Manchester United to back-to-back relegations at the Stadium of Light.
He has some advice to the three clubs currently in danger of going down if they want to bounce straight back up again and avoid a lengthy spell in the lower leagues.
“It’s the stability of the squad and how many assets get stripped away from the team - that's the key to it,” said the former Ireland international.
“Any team that does well in the Championship will have a consistency about their selection.
“You see it year in, year out, it’s a mainstay of their team, eight to nine players, maybe one, two, three or four changes.
“But if you keep that core of the team fit and well, and you don’t change your keeper, stuff like that, all those things are key components.
“And you have to make sure you have the quality too. Yeah, it’s tough and competitive, but you need to have that bit of quality too.
“You see the teams that have won promotion this year, the consistency they have shown, the team selection, it’s fantastic. That was the difference really.”
The issues outlined by O’Shea above were all features of Sunderland’s disastrous season in the Championship, which ended with 23 defeats in 46 games and a 24th place finish.
“The club went down, made a few changes, players leaving, and then consistency, the change of management, they were in a tough cycle that they couldn’t seem to stop,” he said.
“It was just what the club was going through at the time. Thankfully it’s brilliant to see the club challenging to get back to the Premier League again.
“Unfortunately they just missed out. It’s a shame, I think injuries probably caught up with them again this season.
“They did amazingly well to get up to the play-offs, but it’s a shame they were missing probably one of the best strikers in the league in Ross Stewart.
“He was missing for nearly half the season.
“Hopefully they won’t be too far away from getting back into the Premier League.”
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