Middlesbrough did not know how good a manager they were getting when appointing Michael Carrick in October. It was not a stab in the dark, of course, but rarely has a rookie been so illuminating.
Already senior figures within the club have one eye on who might be next. That is because others have two eyes on Carrick, who has taken Boro from 21st to third in the Championship in just 17 matches.
We are told there is no get-out clause in his three-year contract and the 41-year-old is happy in his native north East, especially given a chairman, in Steve Gibson, who retains ambition for the Premier League.