If the bibs came out on the first day of pre-season at Carrington on Monday then let's hope the Manchester United players paid attention to putting them away again. This was the first day of the Erik ten Hag era at United and the first chance for the Dutchman to introduce himself to his new players, or some of them at least.
The full squad won't be back together until next week but those who didn't feature in internationals were back on Monday, an early pre-season return in a season of unprecedented length and complexity thanks to the winter World Cup. But if those players back at Carrington were expecting to ease their way back in, they might have been disappointed given Ten Hag 's approach at his previous clubs.
For the 52-year-old, this is the start of the biggest job of his life. The culmination of a coaching journey that began with his first managerial job, at Go Ahead Eagles a decade ago.
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Ten Hag was considered a bold appointment for a club then in the second division in Holland, but he made his mark immediately.
As the players trudged off after the first training session they were given a dressing down by Ten Hag, unhappy that the bibs had been left in one big pile when he wanted them organised into piles by their colour, blue, yellow and orange.
It's a story from Ten Hag's first day in management but it's probably an appropriate one. This is a coach with an eye for the small details but also someone that is demanding, with a perfectionist streak.
He came in with a list of requests at Go Ahead Eagles and Edwin Mulder, the club's former chairman, said it took the board three months to come to terms with his demands, only to be convinced by results. The season ended in the club's first promotion in 17 years.
His former players at the club in Deventer tell stories of Ten Hag insisting drinks are arranged in straight lines rather than left on tables and taking control of the length of the grass at the stadium.
Bart Vriends was part of that team and he believes the changes under Ten Hag were occurring from the very start of pre-season, from his first day as a manager.
"What really came out from those conversations with everyone involved was that Erik ten Hag changed the professionalism at the club in just a couple of weeks at the start of pre-season," he told Sky Sports recently.
"This was a small mid-table second division club in a small city in the east. It grew into something else when he was in charge. He changed the mentality in the club. He changed the mentality of the players and the people who worked there. From day one, actually."
This might feel like a low-key start to pre-season at United. There are only around a dozen senior players back in at the moment, with most granted extra rest after internationals earlier this month, and Ten Hag will want new signings in the building as soon as possible as well.
But his appointment was about a change in approach as well and how he could transform the playing style at the club. That kind of work can begin straight away and, maybe just as crucially, he can also be having an impact on the players and making the changes he sees fit at Carrington.
His success in his very first job shows there's no such thing as a wasted day for Ten Hag, even at the very start of pre-season
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