wound up in August 2017 after a court hearing, with initial fears that Bolton would face a points deduction as a result, however the club avoided such sanction. In spite of the club being under a transfer embargo imposed by the Football League for almost two years from late 2015 to September 2017, with the club being limited to free transfers and loans under a pre-determined wage cap, Bolton earned promotion back to the Championship at the first time of asking under manager Phil Parkinson in the 2016–17 season. The payments have been also criticised as causing Premier League teams to play more cautiously — playing not to lose instead of playing to win — because the threat of relegation means the loss of payments from the television rights. In fact, as of December 2006, the goals-per-game average is only 2.14, the lowest it has ever been in Premier League history and lower than any other professional league in Europe. Steve Bruce, at the time manager of Birmingham City, stated that, Ten years later, these words were re-confirmed by the 2016–17 season final table, which showed a distinct trinary hierarchy. The 7 teams gaining places in European football were between 15 and 47 points ahead of the next group of 10, which were all spanned by a difference of just 6 points. A further gap of 6 points separated those mid-ranking teams from the relegation zone. Curse of Christmas The Curse of Christmas refers to a trend where the team at the bottom of the Premier League table at Christmas has been relegated at the end of the season. Since the league began, this has happened in every season except three: 2004–05, when West Bromwich Albion finished 17th, Sunderland, who avoided the drop in 2013–14, and Leicester City who survived in the following season. Swansea City managed a similar feat by being level on points with bottom club Hull City on Boxing Day, but survived in the 2016–17 season. West Brom were, in fact, still bottom of the table on the morning of the last day of the 2004–05 season (and even at half time in their final match). However, a win over Portsmouth, combined with Norwich City and Southampton defeats and a draw for Crystal Palace, enabled them to move up three places and thus survive, an achievement since dubbed 'The Great Escape'. West Brom remain the only team