It is difficult to isolate the moment at which Premier League managers became of greater interest to fans than the players themselves.
Capable of recruiting a calibre of manager previously beyond the expectations of most clubs, nine of the 20 managers who began this season at a Premier League club had previously won league titles elsewhere.
Leveraging success against such opponents - however each club measures it - has probably never been as difficult as a result. Facing a level of scrutiny that is often enough to overwhelm even the most foreboding figure, the behaviour of each rarely goes unnoticed.
As such, Pep Guardiola's frank "discussion" with Southampton's Nathan Redmond on Wednesday night was almost too good to be true. A highly-charged, unusual moment in which Guardiola chided an opposition player for not playing to his potential, however one reads the Spaniard's intention, the demonstration of Guardiola's ego was blatant.
Why not a quiet word in the tunnel afterward? Why not contact him personally after the match altogether? Why did Guardiola believe that his well-meaning (presumably) advice to an opposition player was of such imminent importance?
Fortunately for Guardiola, most will rest on the notion that his intentions were positive, and, unlike Mauricio Pochettino's recent criticism of Jose Mourinho, not an attempt to destabilise an opposing player for their own ends.
It is a moment which reveals much of what we can hope understand of the mechanics underlying Guardiola's footballing approach.
Although he may never create a side that will reach the heights set by his Barcelona, or manage a team whose sense of domestic entitlement and continental gravitas matches Bayern Munich, Guardiola is similarly unlikely to ever again hold a position of such prominence within a club of City's capabilities - financially and otherwise.
Sought after long before his eventual arrival last season, the City hierarchy had assiduously worked at creating an environment that would appeal to Guardiola from afar.
Once they got their man, control was leveraged to Guardiola - a manager in a manner that Mark Hughes, Roberto Mancini and Manual Pellegrini could never have dreamed of.
It is a strategy that is beginning to pay dividends.
Freewheeling spending aside, Guardiola's approach toward developing a team that plays a certain style seems to possess no obvious barriers whatsoever within City's playing personnel.
For the likes of Raheem Sterling, the benefits of Guardiola's tutelage have been manifold - the former Liverpool player scoring decisive, match-winning goals with alarming regularity.
When footage of Guardiola's training-ground approach with Sterling came to light in recent weeks, that the very specific nature of his work with the Englishman was resulting in tangible gains - in this instance Sterling's decisive goal in City's 1-0 win against Feyenoord - seemed impressive to say the least.
Similarly, the performances of Kevin De Bruyne, Leroy Sane, John Stones and more have surpassed anything seen before from them - in a City shirt or otherwise.
Yet, such a merciless approach on the training-ground has not always been welcome - Franck Ribéry, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto'o are among the higher profile players who fell foul of Guardiola's strict expectations.
Players with a sense of their own standing within football, City currently look to possess a squad of playera far more content to oblige their taskmaster.
At what point however may this willingness to embrace Guardiola's teachings become an issue? Presumably, as soon as he leaves.
While it would be facetious to speculate Guardiola's departure at a moment when the team seems most keenly aware of what he wants, it is a reality that will not shy away for too long.
In his foreword to Guillem Balaque's Another Way of Winning, a book charting the ascent of Guardiola's Barcelona side, Alex Ferguson speculated why a manager would ever want to leave a team like this - not to mention after only 4 seasons in charge.
Spending only 3 years at Bayern Munich thereafter, Guardiola, like Mourinho before him, tends to make a telling impact before moving on to pastures new.
Akin to Mourinho also is the reality that filling the Pep Guardiola shaped hole is easier said than done.
Should Guardiola's previous form fit this latest model, he could now be approaching his half-way mark with the club. Given the progress that has occurred in that time, one wonders to what degree City could be performing at 18 months later again.
Yet, if he were to depart Manchester at this stage, with prospectively two Premier League titles, a scattering of domestic trophies and perhaps a Champions League in the bag, would City, compared to Barcelona and Bayern Munich before them, be equipped to handle this loss?
Barcelona, and to a greater extent Bayern Munich, suited Guardiola's approach for a number of reasons.
With the foundations of dominance in both clubs, one suspected that while a spell under Guardiola would ultimately be beneficial, his departure would never be detrimental.
While Barcelona struggled initially, a contemporary of Guardiola's in Luis Enrique was able to turn Barcelona into an all-conquering force three years later.
Although Carlo Ancelotti couldn't build upon Guardiola's inability to deliver a Champions League to Bayern, the club could turn to a manager in Jupp Heynckes who understood the subtleties of such a pressurised role.
In essence, Pep Guardiola, irrespective of the success he could bring, would never become bigger than either club. The depths to which they can call upon practitioners of past glories, be it as players or managers, is as good as endless.
This is a luxury no amount of money can afford Manchester City.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXNHtvg-g8c&t=15s
In an ideal world for City fans (and no doubt their ownership), Guardiola would spend many years in Manchester, slowly and methodically constructing the foundation of a club that could become the kind of dynasty that would allow for a plethora of capable persons to be on hand if needs be.
The likelihood of Guardiola pursuing any such project is slim however.
While describing City as a gathering of willing mercenaries would be inaccurate, it is difficult to imagine where any tether to a core, club-fueled philosophy or ethos would be found; beyond those who have bought so dearly into Guardiola himself.
Without the allure of working for a manager who is steadily and assuredly improving them individually and collectively, what are the odds, if Guardiola were to leave after his 3 years were up, of suitably replacing him?
In theory, they could perhaps look to a Luis Enrique, or another from Guardiola's own school of thought ready to take this step. Yet, for every legacy plan that goes well, there is an Alex Ferguson/David Moyes example to be wary of.
Presenting his understanding of the Roman empire almost two millennia after the reign of Emperor Augustus, John Williams summed up a fear that may yet scrutinise City's own faithful members:
For a people may endure an almost incredible series of the darkest failures without breaking; but give them respite and some hope for the future, and they may not endure an unexpected denial of that hope.
For now, we all may as well enjoy what is becoming an increasingly capable looking side as it hits its stride.
