As they say, the past is the past - history. Do you think that no southern teams should have joined the Football League? Sheffield was a "big club" when the city was booming as the steel making capital of a mighty empire. Now it is a very sad place with high unemployment, and the only claim to...
I really don't see how any of those with the exception of Villa "belong" in the Premier League. With our facilities and expenditure, our claim is bigger than theirs in the present day.
I think your link between the sacking of Mike Bailey in 1982 and the financial problems you mention, is to say the least, very weak. The problems were very much "off the pitch", involving the ownership. The ownership is now beyond reproach.
Or old ones like me who complained about similarly negative football last time we were in the top flight (See Mike Bailey). The difference then was it did not cost a small fortune and there were other distractions when things got boring like having a drink whilst still watching the match, and...