What started with a snooze button ended with the lights going out on Jose Mourinho's career at Manchester United. Paul Pogba has inevitably finished victorious in the ego battle.
It is almost a year to the day since club staff were sent to Pogba's mansion in Hale Barns after he failed to show up for a warm-down session following victory over Arsenal. That was one of the first signs that his 100 per cent focus was not on performing for Mourinho, and it steadily became worse.
The fractured relationship came to a head earlier this season when, in full glare of television cameras, Mourinho rebuked Pogba during an open training session at Carrington.
He had been tipped off that the central midfielder had posted a jovial social media video as United were being dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Derby County and, while the questionable timing was down to an unreliable WiFi signal inside Old Trafford, the level of distrust was overtly apparent.
It is inescapable that the tensions between United's manager and their record signing have played a significant role in the former being relieved of his duties on Tuesday morning. That ongoing feud and the contempt on both sides meant battle lines had been drawn.
As would be the case at a number of other top clubs, there was only one winner: the player. Strains had actually thawed earlier in the campaign. Mourinho was all too aware that Pogba was being hawked around Europe over the summer, with a raft of elite teams being sounded out.
The 25-year-old was certainly more convivial towards his manager once the transfer window closed but his performances, and notably the gifting away of possession, led to him being dropped for the last three Premier League matches of Mourinho's reign. He was not even called upon from the bench in the last two and that message, with United trailing at Anfield, was stark.
Mourinho has suspected in recent weeks that Pogba is positioning himself for a whopping new contract at United. Ed Woodward will certainly not possess a huge appetite for that in the short-term, but you wonder whether Mourinho privately called that correctly should the France international start turning it on under a new caretaker.
United know the value of Pogba and in his mind the removal of Mourinho offers him the platform to show exactly what he is made of. The Pogba we saw during the World Cup, rousing his team-mates inside the dressing room and impacting games in the middle of the park.
He had simply had enough of Mourinho's man-management and the blame for that lies on both sides. 'Whatever is going on in his head, he obviously seems to be letting the manager down,' Roy Keane said last weekend.
Mourinho was still publicly backing up until January of this year, a month after the sleeping beauty incident. Pogba was hauled off during a defeat by Tottenham at Wembley and had a heated debate on the touchline.
The relationship deteriorated from there, the pair only speaking when absolutely necessary and with Pogba disappointed by comments Mourinho made in his role as a pundit during the World Cup.
The Portuguese claimed the tournament taking place over just a month shielded him from distractions and Pogba shot back by saying he performs for those who 'trust' him.
Pogba claimed he could not speak to the media in August for fear of being fined and that continued over the coming months. That he conducted staged interviews while away with France cannot have gone down well.
He was dumped as vice-captain in September – although Mourinho later denied he ever held such a title officially, saying there were a number of stars who could step in.
'The only truth is that I made the decision for Paul – not to be the second captain any more,' he said. 'It was exactly the same person who decided Paul was the second captain – myself. No fallout at all, just decisions I do not have to explain.'
Unfortunately, while there was no ultimate blow out, the relationship had slowly eroded over time. Perhaps it could have been fixed but United snoozed to what was happening with their best player and manager until it was far too late.