Years before Duncan Ferguson and Frank Lampard teamed together at Everton, they came head-to-head on the touchline at Goodison Park.
In the most difficult of circumstances, with hardly a day to get his message across to the squad following the sacking of Marco Silva late in 2019, Ferguson had stepped into the limelight in this sense for the first time. It was met with equal parts excitement and trepidation among some groups of fans.
On the one hand, this was someone who hasn't experienced the heat of Premier League management before. On the other, you'd have to go a fair distance to find someone more engrained into the walls of this club more than him.
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He is an absolute Everton hero. He loves it and everyone loves him. Sometimes, that's all that you need to bring a boost to everybody involved.
The rest, as they say, is history. Coming up against a top quality Chelsea side in your first game as a manager, with your players still licking their wounds after an absolutely dismal Merseyside derby defeat and yet another managerial sacking, is strikingly far from easy.
But it's a testament to the attitude, commitment and underlying quality of Ferguson that he stood up to the task as well as he did. His message to the players that day was simple, because he was hardly given any time to get it across.
The sight of him on the touchline, however, brought a real buzz around the ground even before the match kicked off. It was potentially going to be a backs-to-the-wall performance, but Evertonians were fully galvanised to shout their side to what would have been an important three points.
Taking such an early lead was surely down to this. Then, you could see the passion fully on display from Ferguson himself for the two goals that hit the back of the net in the second half, with ball boys being embraced in celebrations that will be remembered for a long, long time.
Even in the next match against Manchester United, he had to deal with having just one fit and available central midfielder in Tom Davies. His decision to play Mason Holgate in that position at Old Trafford was inspired - and again his Blues battled their way to an impressive draw.
Again, he captured every single emotion that Evertonians watching on were displaying, He was like a fan on the touchline - and when was the last time supporters could relate to their boss such as that?
The images of him in the freezing cold and pouring rain, taking his suit jacket off while shouting at his players and celebrating in front of the away end when the match had concluded - you can't buy those. They're absolutely iconic.
The fact that many were desperate for the Scot to stay on as permanent boss at least until the end of the 2019/20 campaign showed just how well he had done and how much he had surpassed the expectations of many. Some had questioned Ferguson's role in the backroom team as he had been involved in the senior set-up since 2014, with that being used to point towards his lack of credentials for the role by others.
But it didn't matter to many. He set the tone for how much an Everton manager should care about the club, and there's little question that Lampard has surely taken a page out of his book to galvanise supporters in a similar sense towards the end of the 2021/22 campaign.
In fact, the current boss was keen for Ferguson to stay on - there were even reports Carlo Ancelotti wanted to bring him to Real Madrid when he confirmed his surprise departure from Merseyside. However, his mind was clearly made up this time around.
If he feels that this is the right time for him to pursue his managerial ambitions, then he leaves with the love of everyone at Everton football club to do exactly that. He did interview for the vacant role at the club at the beginning of the year of course, and that was perhaps the first sign that he was ready to spread his wings and really test himself.
Back in 2019, whenever he was asked of the potential he could take the role permanently, he stayed humble and honest. He wanted a top manager to take the reins, he didn't think he was ready.
Unfortunately he couldn't recreate his heroics with one more brief interim spell in January this year - perhaps it taught him that being the lead man on the touchline was exactly what he wanted. But that won't be what lives in the memory.
Instead it will be day that Ferguson harnessed the power of pure loyalty, dedication, passion...the "Everton spirit" that has dominated such a long period of his life, to take down Chelsea just when his side needed it most. The day he got the better of his future colleague in a way that would teach him an important lesson for the future.
He leaves Goodison Park with Everton in his heart, and the crest on his arm. This is an emotional day for everyone involved, even if it might be one that suits all parties for the future.
Good luck, Big Dunc. You'll have everyone at the club behind you for your next step, it's just a shame you didn't get the Goodison Park goodbye you no doubt deserve.
