GIVEN the recent dominance of the ‘Big Four’, it is no surprise that Tottenham’s 1-0 victory over Manchester City on Wednesday was greeted as a welcome challenge to the established order.

For the first time in five years, someone other than Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool will have the opportunity to experience the glitz and glamour of the Champions League, albeit initially at a qualifying round phase.

It will be refreshing to see Spurs amongst the European elite, and given the quality of their performances, particularly in the second half of the season, it is impossible to claim they do not deserve it.

But with Manchester City ready to break every transfer record going in order to ensure this is the last season in which they miss out on the Champions League, might Spurs’ success not lead to the establishment of a ‘Big Six’ at the top of the Premier League.

And in a short space of time, might that not have a devastating impact on some of the teams who find themselves excluded in the middle of the division?

In the recent past, while the Champions League was a distant dream, a majority of Premier League clubs could console themselves in the knowledge that a small step forward could result in European qualification.

In the last five seasons, Fulham, Bolton, Blackburn and Middlesbrough have all finished in the top seven and experienced life in the UEFA Cup or Europa League.

Two of the clubs (Fulham and Middlesbrough) have made it all the way to the final and experienced the biggest game of their history as a result.

Increasingly, though, it looks as though the door will be all but closed before the season even starts.

For all that Liverpool have struggled this season, and are likely to face another difficult campaign next term, it is surely inconceivable to imagine they will not make at least the top seven.

The same is true of Manchester City, who will be a permanent fixture in the upper echelons of the league for as long as oil continues to pour from the Persian Gulf and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan remains one of the richest men in the world.

Tottenham are more of an unknown quantity but, increasingly, all the signs point to the London club being ensconced in the European places for many years to come.

They already boast one of the strongest squads in the league – their bench on Wednesday included David Bentley, Wilson Palacios, Jermaine Jenas and Roman Pavlyuchenko – and chairman Daniel Levy has pledged to spend extensively this summer.

In 2012, Spurs will move into a new 56,000-seat stadium close to their existing White Hart Lane site and will be able to match traditional rivals Arsenal in terms of match-day revenue.

Throw in the money raised from a decent run in the Champions League, and it is easy to imagine a considerable gap opening up between Spurs and the sides who, until recently, have been their Premier League peers.

Does any of this matter up here? Well I would say yes, especially if you’re a supporter of either Sunderland or Newcastle.

Sunderland have made significant strides forward in the last two seasons, but are still going to end the current campaign around 20 points below the top six.

That is a massive gap to make up if the playing field was level. Factor in an increased imbalance with Spurs, Manchester City and the established ‘Big Four’, and it becomes increasingly easy to imagine a scenario whereby the Black Cats are fighting for no better than seventh at the start of every season.

Given the low starting point from which Newcastle will kick off the new campaign, it is even harder to imagine them reclaiming a place amongst the Premier League elite.

Targets and ambitions can always be adapted, but if, at the start of a season, the only ambition available is a decent cup run and a scrape into seventh spot, there are going to be a lot of future campaigns that are dead and buried before January is at an end.