In the first hours after his appointment as Portsmouth manager, Tony Adams rang Arsene Wenger, his former boss at Arsenal, to ask for advice. Wenger's response: "Welcome to hell."

We can assume the Frenchman was referring to the pressure that's put on a Premier League manager.

At Portsmouth, Adams will no doubt come under severe scrutiny from fans and media alike, who will pick over his every move and challenge his every call.

Coming to the job with very little actual management experience - he has leapt from coaching assistant at Portsmouth to the top job overnight - his credentials are already being called into question. Unless he can deliver straight away, he faces a difficult future.

How can Adams and other new managers ensure they perform at the top? The likes of Alex Ferguson and Guus Hiddink have managed to stay relatively unscathed in the bigger jobs for years. What gives them the edge?