Look at it another way. I promoted to division 2, I had a very weak team and couldn't compete. I sold all of my players and bought 5 players that were of division 2 standard (1.5 million dollars per player). Sure I had no depth, but I trained gameshape or stamina every week, and won almost every game that I played. The reason being that I had all my 5 players up to about proficient stamina, and then just played them all 48 minutes a game, 2 games a week. You win those 2 league games, train gameshape, and gameshape stays at strong. It ensured that I did not relegate.
Definitely a valid tactic.