On Sunday, it will two years to the day since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was put in permanent charge of Manchester United.
A run of 14 wins and two draws in his first 19 games was enough to convince Ed Woodward and the rest of the hierarchy the former United striker was the right man to take the club forward.
Since then, Solskjaer has vindicated that faith in him, albeit without having lifted a trophy. He steered United to third place and the Champions League in his first full season in charge.
This season, United are 12 points better off than they were at this stage last year, and are on course to finish in second place, an undoubted improvement on last term in the Premier League.
But with that progress set to be rewarded with a lucrative new contract for Solskjaer, comes an expectation – from the United board and the club's fans - of success in the form of silverware.
Having been knocked out of the FA Cup by Leicester last weekend, if United fail to win the Europa League this season, it will be four years without a trophy at Old Trafford.
That would be the longest spell United have gone without winning anything since 1989, Sir Alex Ferguson ending that run with FA Cup success the following year, which was the catalyst for two decades of unprecedented domestic dominance under him.
Of course, Solskjaer has only been in charge for two-and-a-half of the past four years, so cannot be held solely accountable for the trophy drought, particularly when he inherited a disillusioned, dysfunctional squad from his predecessor Jose Mourinho, one that required a significant rebuild.
But having had two-and-a-half years to build the team he wants and implement his playing style, and having been supported in the transfer market by Woodward, the time has come for Solskjaer to repay that backing with trophies.
Solskjaer may have reneged on his mantra of trophies being the only measure of success at United, claiming last week – ahead of the meek FA Cup exit – that success in cup competitions can often mask underlying failings at clubs, the odd take designed to take the pressure off him and his players.
But the 48-year-old knows that is ultimately how he will be judged at United, not by how many points he accumulates of how high he finishes in the Premier League. At United, at all the big clubs, it is all about the glory, the trophy count, the ability to win on a consistent basis.
Ferguson always used to say that if he won one trophy, it could be deemed a successful season, even if it was the FA Cup or League Cup, rather than the Premier League or Champions League, the trophies United prioritised during his glittering spell.
Solskjaer's predecessors, Mourinho and Louis van Gaal, both delivered trophies, and now United's current boss – having reached four semi-finals – must do the same, to justify the bumper new contract that is coming his way.
