Careful Craig leaps in without parachute

Under new management: As Preston benefit from the international touch, Brighton trust in the home from home

Like any former schoolteacher, Craig Brown knows the virtue of homework. Ask him about Preston North End's history and he can rhyme it off like a native Lancastrian. He can recite the Scots who have passed through Deepdale's doors and give a blow-by-blow account of every Nationwide League match he has attended in the last four years.

The ultimate examination of Brown's mind will come over the next 10 months. Leading Preston to the promised land of the FA Barclaycard Premiership would not so much merit an A-plus as deserve to be hailed as a miracle.

Brown thrives on adversity. He managed Scotland for eight years and qualified for the World Cup finals in 1998 as well as Euro 96, but the High Court never interfered in international football the way it has in his new job.

Barely a month into his latest role, the Scot – who could only make two summer purchases – now finds himself operating with £2m less than his predecessor and compatriot David Moyes did last term. The High Court's ruling in favour of Granada and Carlton over the collapse of ITV Digital means that every First Division side will be £2m worse off for the next two seasons. Mathematics was not Brown's teaching speciality but it does not take a Cambridge graduate – which his brother Jock, the former general manager of Celtic, was – to figure out that Preston, as one of the more modest clubs, will have a hard task emulating Moyes' feat in reaching the play-offs in 2001.

"It's going to be very difficult," Brown declared. "Obviously the teams relegated from the Premiership have the advantage now of their £20m parachute payment while the rest of us are tightening our belts.

"I've not even thought about the decision because it is nothing to do with me. Obviously it affects the club in terms of income. We had £2m last year from television but I am fortunate that Preston are on a good, solid footing.

"The main effect of the decision will probably be the delay in completing the last new stand at Deepdale. I have not been given budget constraints but I am sensitive enough that I will not go looking for daft signings – a few rash buys and I might use up my goodwill around here."

That is highly unlikely. Brown's credit, unlike ITV Digital's, is good almost anywhere. The achievement of being Europe's longest-serving national coach meant that he had offers from the continent and elsewhere in Britain after quitting his Scotland post last October following the failure to reach the World Cup finals.

Deepdale may not have seemed glamorous for a man who has walked out at the Stade de France alongside Brazil to launch the 1998 World Cup. Yet it has worked its charms on plenty of other Scots. "The great Bill Shankly was here as a player, while Scot Symon, Bill Seith and Tommy Docherty all managed Preston, as did young Mr Moyes before going to Everton. I walked in here and felt immediately at home. It was like déjà vu when I walked into my first management job 25 years ago at Clyde.

"The chairman, Derek Shaw, and the chief executive, Tony Scholes, have been a great help. I like the club and the town is very responsive. The average attendance last season was 15,000 and this time we've sold a record amount (8,500) in season tickets."

The last year of Brown's tenure took its toll on this likeable man, with an over-zealous tabloid campaign for his sacking. However, Preston has been therapeutic. The humour has returned, as he illustrated when answering the phone with: "Hello, Hampden Park."

In truth, Brown has already moved on. "The timing was right when Preston approached me," he said. "I was approached several times when I was with Scotland and did not consider it, and in the eight months after I stopped, agents and directors asked me about jobs. I am the kind of guy who is never happier than when on the training ground, and being involved in that, on a day-to-day basis instead of just half-a-dozen times a year, has been invigorating. I feel rejuvenated."

Brown did bring some baggage from Scotland. Ricardo Fuller, a gangly, unorthodox striker, was a loan hero at Hearts last season but, when the Edinburgh club could not afford the £1m demanded by his team, Tivoli Gardens, shrewd Brown stepped in for the Jamaica international.

"I had identified him as my first signing as a striker if I got a club," the manager said. "The public have already taken to him in pre-season games and he gives us a bit of sparkle. Charlton were going to pay £2m for him a couple of seasons ago, then he hurt his back. Defenders in the Nationwide don't know his tricks yet, which is a good asset for us."

Brown, though, makes a virtue out of study. "I am not going in blind because I spent a lot of time watching the Nationwide when I was checking on potential Scotland players. So I saw plenty of Graham Alexander here and Dougie Freedman at Crystal Palace as well as Gary Hay and Malky Mackay last season at Norwich. It is a tough league and the goal for us is promotion, either automatically or the play-offs. We dropped to eighth last season but I can improve on that."

Follow the new leaders

Steve Cotterill (Stoke City)

Having cut his teeth with his home town club Cheltenham, the former Wimbledon player is now on the second rung of the managerial ladder. Stoke City have shown their ambition by sacking Gudjon Thordarson even though he masterminded the club's promotion. Like the club, Cotterill is ambitious and determined to succeed. Like the club, he cannot afford to spend too long in the lower reaches.

Ray Lewington (Watford)

A safe pair of coaching hands. The extremely experienced Lewington is no man-manager in the style of Graham Taylor, and no big spender in the style of Vialli. Instead, he is a respected tactician, with managerial spells at Brentford and Fulham under his belt, as well as years of coaching at Crystal Palace. But will he be strong enough in the dressing room?

Stuart Murdoch (Wimbledon)

Like Lewington, promoted from within due to Wimbledon's dire finances. Formerly the Dons' goalkeeping coach, he has had extensive experience at Watford and Southend. He may not be a well-known face, but he is respected, as his long list of former employers, including Peter Taylor, Peter Shreeves, Glenn Roeder and Steve Harrison, confirms.

Gary McAllister (Coventry City)

Appointing a famous player as coach does not always work. Just look at the last Scottish former Coventry player to take over at Highfield Road. Macca, though, will feel that his time at Liverpool under the astute guidance of Gérard Houllier will have given him a head start over other debutants. There will be plenty of hard work; the first season could be tricky.

By Alex Hayes