There was a strong hint towards the not so distant future in the Celtic side that beat Hearts in midweek.
After four transfer windows Brendan Rodgers has slowly turned over much of the squad with his own men likely to emerge more prominently over the remainder of this year.
Fitness and technique and key along-with youth.
For a lot of last season Rodgers was working with the squad that he inherited from Ronny Deila with the addition of Scott Sinclair and Moussa Dembele.
In terms of personnel the Rodgers Revolution has been a slow burner but against Hearts there was certainly a new look about the side and even a switch from the favoured 4-2-3-1 formation.
The Celtic boss is sensitive about formations and rails against lazy assumptions that he sticks to one set up. Within that framework there are many options, the more flexible that the players are the greater variation there can be on the park.
After the horrors of Rugby Park there won’t be many more plastic pitches in the remainder of the season, hopefully the injury list will start to clear allowing the team to evolve and develop.
Whether it will be good enough to see off Zenit St Petersburg is up for debate but by the time the European qualifiers come around Phase II will be well underway with the team built all around players who are pacey, flexible and adaptable.