Do not disturb: genius at work.

There probably is no such sign outside of Pep Guardiola’s office. But maybe there should be.

The genius bit isn’t hard to understand if you watched the 5-0 midweek away demolition of Steaua Bucharest in the Champions League play-off round. It wasn’t just the scoreline, or the two penalties missed, or the fact that Steaua’s keeper was outstanding. It was the way, after just over a month together, City’s players moved with an effortlessness, efficiency and creativity that seemed the product of a higher mind.

The “do not disturb”?

Well, you get the sense that Manchester City have truly bent over backwards to accommodate Guardiola, particularly given the way Joe Hart was summarily dropped ahead of the first game of the season.

Now there is nothing wrong with Guardiola opting for a different keeper. If his approach calls for a guy who will rush 30 yards off his line as an adjunct sweeper, spray accurate long passes and participate in the City tiki-taka, then it is understandable if he feels Hart isn’t his man.

But the odd thing is that Guardiola was announced as the City boss way back in February. While, no doubt, he remained fully committed to the Bayern job until his departure in May, surely he must have developed some idea of his new team and their players.

And, surely, City’s director of football, Txiki Begiristain, who has known Guardiola for three decades, who moved heaven and earth to persuade him to go to the Etihad and whose job it is to assemble the playing squad, must have wondered whether Hart would be a fit. And, maybe, he might even have asked Guardiola: “Hey Pep, given the type of keepers you worked with before, guys like Victor Valdes and Manuel Neuer, I’m just wondering about Hart... you sure you’re happy to keep him?”

But maybe that didn’t happen. Maybe that figurative “do not disturb” sign kept him away. Or maybe Pep simply told the club he would figure it out later.

It’s a classic case of manager needs versus club needs. Managers want support and time to make their own decisions. At City he has both. In spades.

Managers think in terms of the first team, of physical players, of matches won. Clubs – and Begiristain – have a ton of other concerns. A benched Hart sticking around is problematic on several fronts.

It’s inefficient having a guy on starter wages playing zero minutes for you. It’s foolhardy – when there are plenty who can’t wait to see you fail because tearing down idols is a national sport – to keep an unhappy England keeper (probably soon-to-be former, since those who don’t play rarely get picked) on the bench, from where he’s free to snipe if things go awry. And it’s commercially counterproductive when he’s the face of the club and that matters in an age of Financial Fair Play.

Sure, you can move him elsewhere. But most of the clubs who will take a keeper on £110,000 a week either already have a good one or are located in China. So, most likely, you are looking at a loan with subsidised wages to a club just below the highest echelon, like an Everton.

And then, of course, you need to get another keeper, since Willy Caballero isn’t exactly in the Neuer mold either. And you will need to find your keeper in double-quick time, with the selling club knowing you are desperate. And that gets expensive.

All of which could have been avoided if the decision on Hart had been made earlier. You talk to him quietly pre-Euros, he wraps his head around it, you are clever about the way you shift him and you secure his replacement at the same time.

And you save yourself a lot of money and some embarrassment too.

Nope. The “do not disturb” sign was up.

Given the fact it took four years of relentless chasing to get Guardiola in the first place, maybe it’s understandable that now they want to give him everything he wants. Even when it would have been in everyone’s interest – including Guardiola’s – to handle this situation differently.

THAT Jose Mourinho, what a prankster. He tells us Paul Pogba isn’t fit, that he can’t possibly last an entire game of Premier League football, and then he leaves him out there for all 97 minutes, including injury time. And the world’s most expensive footballer shows off his entire repertoire of driving runs, laser-guided passing and twinkle-toed trickery from his canary-yellow boots.

If you are the sort of person who didn’t watch Manchester United in the Sir Alex Ferguson era and you wondered what folks meant when they talked about the “swagger”, “confidence” and “intimidation”, then the 2-0 win over Southampton gave you a very good flavour. These were superstars doing superstar things, particularly Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who bagged both goals.

It’s probably not surprising that the big Swede should feel at home in this context – let’s face it, he’s basically bluster made flesh – but Pogba too looked as if he embodied that mythical ideal of what some think United ought to be (and haven’t been for the last few years).

Now the challenge is to find the best possible use for Pogba. Mourinho seems wed to 4-2-3-1 and that means sticking him in front of the back four, since the attacking midfield position is rather crowded (in addition to the incumbent – and difficult to shift – Wayne Rooney, there’s also the £30 million Henrikh Mkhitaryan to consider). At Juventus, he usually played in a midfield three, either side of the centre. In a two, he has more defensive responsibilities and less freedom of movement and that was part of the reason he didn’t shine in the later phases of the Euros.

The trick will be finding the right partner. Marouane Fellaini did fine against Southampton, but that’s not a natural position for him. Michael Carrick is 35 and Ander Herrera didn’t exactly flourish in that role the few times he played there. Morgan Schneiderlin is the most obvious fit, but he was a bust last season.

What appears clear though is that in terms of personality and skill set, Pogba’s ready to have the team built around him.