Managers make the difference in the Premier League

It is true that the top clubs, mostly under non British ownership, are now major businesses for which profits are as important as trophies.

But look at the league as a whole - all 20 clubs, not just the big beasts - and its the manager/coach that perhaps is the key factor influencing success and failure. Let's look at a selection of the current managers and assess what a difference, positive or less positive, they make at their clubs.

Alex Ferguson made Manchester United great again

There are few greater success stories in modern football than that of Alex Ferguson - the boy from the Glasgow tenement who has become a legend.

He had a difficult time at the start at Manchester United, but was never going to be over-awed by the club's tradition and history - nor was he going to be pushed around by players however famous.

Ferguson's football brain is of course an acute one and his tactical ability very smart. But the thing that really sets Sir Alex apart is his determination not to be pushed around by anybody - directors, players and even fans have to keep in line.

But Ferguson is now 65 - an age when for many the calmer world of retirement is appealing. If he is to retire soon he will want to go out on a high, and also to prepare the way for a successor of whom he approves.

Steve Coppell has achieved miracles at Reading

A possible successor to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United is one of the club's old boys - the Reading manager Steve Coppell.

Ferguson has said of Coppell: 'He doesn't get too emotional. He's a calm, intelligent lad. He's able to bond together good pros with a good, winning attitude.' And that is certainly part of Coppell's success - he is a natural leader albeit with an understated style.

So when Reading (summer signings of £3.5m) lined up against Manchester United (summer signings of £60m) on the opening weekend of the season, one of the intriguing aspects was which of these two mangers, with their rather difference styles and vastly different resources, would prevail.

The 0-0 draw, at the colossal temple of football that is Old Trafford, favoured the young pretender. Coppell was pragmatic enough to realise that one point would be a 'result' away to the champions and he had the tactical nous top achieve this.

If Coppell can achieve an average of one point away and three at home for the rest of the season Reading will finish in the top four.

Martin Jol has underachieved at Spurs

Whilst Reading were earning their point at Manchester United the highly fancied Tottenham Hotspur team could not get even one against newly promoted Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

It was déjà vu all over again for Spurs fans - last year Tottenham did not win away from home until late December and it was this poor away record that scuppered their Champions League chances. Martin Jol is very popular with Spurs fans, who credit him with the comparative success of the club finishing fifth in the League for two years running.

Jol is an amiable man and the players seem to like him. But he hasn't an ounce of either of Alex Ferguson's steely will or of Steve Coppell's tactical brain.

Tottenham is a well directed and well-financed club and a strong business. The directors of this business will expect to see Spurs come back quickly for their poor season opener and string together a series of results that justifies their £40m summer spend - otherwise Jol could be in trouble.

Sven-Goran Eriksson has much to prove at Manchester City

Like Tottenham, Manchester City, now controversially owned by a Thai millionaire, spent £40m in the close season and they hired a new manager as well - the infamous Sven-Goran Eriksson.

After the Swede's disastrous mismanagement of England's 2006 World Cup campaign there were plenty in England who would have classified Sven as an undesirable alien and not let him enter the country ever again.

But, to be fair, Eriksson does have a good club management record - particularly at Lazio where he won Serie A in 2000. At the Italian club Sven had almost unlimited financial backing from the notorious business man Sergio Cragnotti and now he is in league with the no less controversial Thaksin Shinawatra.

Expect a lively season on and off the pitch at City - it won't be dull even though Sven's cool demeanor is unlikely to create much passion.

Ferguson, Mourinho, Benítez and Wenger - the ones to beat

Along with Alex Ferguson, it is Jose Mourinho, Rafael Benítez and Arsene Wenger who are again the managers to watch when looking for the likely trophy winners.

Whilst there are talented managers at lesser clubs (Coppell at Reading, Roy Keane at Sunderland, Mark Hughes at Blackburn), it is when you get the combination of a big well-funded club and an astute manager that consistently good results start to happen.

But if we are to go beyond the big four of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal then it may be to Newcastle United that we should look. Sam Allardyce is a deceptively clever manager and Newcastle has never lacked ambition - they are a big club with fanatical support.

Whether the new ownership of the club can find the resources and whether Allardyce (the sixth manager in as many years) will be given time to succeed remains to be seen. But an opening away win at Allardyce's previous club Bolton Wanderers was a good start

'Football is a simple game, complicated by fools'

Allardyce would no doubt subscribe to the great Bill Shankly's view that 'Football is a simple game, complicated by fools.' Whether he can convert that philosophy into a top four finish (or better) we shall see, but you can be sure that by the end of the season the winner will be the club that has been managed just that bit more smartly than the others.

There may be some fireworks along the way and some spats like the Mourinho/Ferguson stand off last year. But it will be the manager who keeps it as simple as possible for as long as possible who is likely to win.