The demands of investors mean English football is missing out on the most exciting young coaches by targeting big names who are past their best.

There is a very reasonable chance that Manchester City could finish outside the top four without winning a single trophy this season.

If that happens, they would have, without question, had their worst season in seven years.

But would Pep Guardiola be sacked for doing an inferior job to both his two predecessors, Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini? Probably not.

The directors would convince themselves that Guardiola needs time, and that it was the players who had failed to adapt to his style of play.

It would be the exact kind of understanding that wasn’t given to the dour Pellegrini, when the club chose not to renew his contract despite the fact he achieved everything asked of him.

Put simply, Man City thought they had signed the best manager in the world, in Guardiola, and most of the wider football public believed the same. Nobody wanted to believe that such time, effort and investment – both financial and emotional – had been put into signing a dud.

Across the city, a very similar, hypothetical situation could emerge with Manchester United and Jose Mourinho.

Of all the managers at the Premier League’s top six clubs, the only ones who have impressed this season are those in charge of the top two – Antonio Conte at Chelsea and Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham. This is no coincidence.

Conte’s biggest achievements are leading Juventus to three straight Serie A titles and making a limited Italy side one of the most watchable teams at Euro 2016. Both achievements are impressive, but neither is career-defining. Chelsea is where he can build a legacy equal to, or greater than, that of Mourinho and Guardiola.

Pochettino has even more to prove. Nobody outside the two clubs will remember in decades to come that he was Espanyol and Southampton manager. If he continues to succeed at Tottenham, the world is his oyster. He can stay and become the greatest ever Spurs manager or move to one of the world’s biggest clubs.

What I am getting at is Premier League clubs should stop looking to hire the ‘world’s best managers’. Just like players, if managers believe they are bigger and better than their club, you won’t get the same application from them.

Will Guardiola, having come to a mid-sized club like Man City on his own terms, be as desperate to prove himself as he was when he replaced Champions League winner Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona and had to fight to earn a living?

Will he listen to his players as much as he did in Catalunya when deep down he must believe he knows better than them?

Will he dedicate the same amount of time behind the scenes to gaining any edge over the opposition?

It is not impossible, but human nature says it is unlikely.

When you think about the best coaches in the world today and in previous eras; the likes of Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Diego Simeone, Zinedine Zidane, Arrigo Sacchi or Sir Alex Ferguson, none of them would have been who they were if the top clubs that hired them had recruited in the way that top Premier League clubs recruit managers today.

There would be no innovation. Just stale, fifty to sixty-something bosses who try to recreate a glorious past that will never return.

But it’s important to stress that the approach of Premier League clubs is only wrong if winning football matches is the be all and end all, as fans would say it is.

In Spain and Germany, clubs are owned by supporters, and presidents elected. If the president can explain why hiring a younger manager or club insider will ultimately lead to greater success, then they will get the benefit of the doubt.

In England however, clubs are owned by shareholders and the demands of the stock market mean every appointment must come with a bigger reputation than the last, regardless of whether there is any strategic vision for long-term success on the pitch.

Until that changes, the sad state of affairs will continue in which we only get to see great coaches like Pep Guardiola up close when they are well past their best.