All the more so because he is turning out teams that are rattling in tries at an extraordinary rate: 26 in their last five league games as they have seen off Benetton Treviso, Zebre, Newport-Gwent Dragons, Ulster and Cardiff Blues to set a new PRO12 record for successive wins in which the bonus points were also secured.
Glasgow's assumption of pole position ahead of the final push for the play-offs was certainly a huge confidence boost for all concerned but it would be easy for those of us who criticised the changes at the time to feign magnanimity and offer unstinting praise.
That would be a demonstration of the sort of short-sighted over-reaction to which Dean Ryan, Scotland's forwards coach, was referring prior to the RBS 6 Nations meeting with Ireland when he was quoted as being critical of sections of the media for over-hyping a team that had achieved nothing to that point.
The impression at the time was that Ryan was, in fact, merely seeking to get a message through to his players. It would be understandable, though if he was surprised by the shoddiness of the analysis offered by, in particular, former players in this country.
After all, he is someone who had, prior to taking the short-term contract to work with the Scotland pack, worked hard to establish himself as a high-class television analyst.
What is needed right now is sober reflection, as Glasgow seek to find a way of stimulating far greater interest by bringing a PRO12 semi-final to Scotland for the first time. After all, Friday's successful, non-televised bid to break the bonus-point record was watched by a paltry 3807.
Townsend could certainly be forgiven for wishing that there was no break in the fixtures right now such is his side's form – the PRO12 is inactive for the next fortnight – but, as he spoke after Friday night's press conference, he seemed glad of the chance to take stock before trying to plot a course through the final five rounds of league fixtures.
Players who have performed so impressively for Warriors during the RBS 6 Nations period need some recovery time, he believes, while he has a task to manage in reintegrating the dozen Glasgow players who have been involved with the national team. He is bright enough to be well aware that Glasgow have, in the past month or so, had the benefit of the huge injection of resources they have had since this time last year.
To place their current situation in proper perspective, too, this time last year, Warriors were celebrating a bonus-point away win at Ospreys that had then kept them in contention for the place in the play-offs that they eventually secured for the second time in three years.
That was achieved by a team that had battled effectively on two fronts through the heart of the season, their bid to reach the Heineken Cup quarter-finals for the first time failing only in the final match while they were sustaining their PRO12 efforts.
This time around, like Edinburgh last season, Glasgow have known from an early stage in the season that their focus was on a single competition – the Scottish sides suffered their worst campaign in the Heineken Cup yet – and that has to have had a psychological effect.
As Warriors had come so close in Europe last season and reached the PRO12 play-offs, I reasoned at the time that the minimum requirement this season – to justify the personnel changes – was to improve on last year's performances by reaching the Heineken Cup quarter-finals and the PRO12 final. They have already fallen some way short of that in the European competition.
While the past few weeks have provided thrilling entertainment and an impressive surge to the top of the PRO12 table, with records broken along the way, they should only be considered an outright success if Warriors go on to win the PRO12 title, or at least reach the Grand Final, achievements which their current league position certainly suggests they have the ability to do. One huge plus point is that those controlling the purse strings have realised that they must provide Glasgow with resources to hitherto unimagined levels in order to back their decisions of a year ago to replace Sean Lineen with Townsend. The answer, it seems, to every request for new personnel at Glasgow this season has been a near-automatic "yes", a situation of which his predecessors, Richie Dixon, Kiwi Searancke, Hugh Campbell and Lineen, could only have dreamed.
It has resulted in a depth of quality that has left rivals drooling. "Look at Glasgow: they have gone on a hell of a run purely on the strength of their squad; it is huge," said Jonathan Humphreys, forwards coach of the once big-spending Ospreys, last week as he complained about the lack of money he has to spend.
Whether the squad now has the quality and composure to go the distance will start to become more clear immediately after the Six Nations when they face Leinster, the reigning European champions. Irish international protocols are such that, even then, we may not see Warriors face one of the leading sides at full strength.
Yet the position they have established by reeling in an Ulster team that once looked uncatchable at the top is such that Glasgow will still have the chance of bringing a semi-final to Scotstoun in their own hands even if they lose in Dublin later this month.
All the more so because he is turning out teams that are rattling in tries at an extraordinary rate: 26 in their last five league games as they have seen off Benetton Treviso, Zebre, Newport-Gwent Dragons, Ulster and Cardiff Blues to set a new PRO12 record for successive wins in which the bonus points were also secured.
Glasgow's assumption of pole position ahead of the final push for the play-offs was certainly a huge confidence boost for all concerned but it would be easy for those of us who criticised the changes at the time to feign magnanimity and offer unstinting praise.
That would be a demonstration of the sort of short-sighted over-reaction to which Dean Ryan, Scotland's forwards coach, was referring prior to the RBS 6 Nations meeting with Ireland when he was quoted as being critical of sections of the media for over-hyping a team that had achieved nothing to that point.
The impression at the time was that Ryan was, in fact, merely seeking to get a message through to his players. It would be understandable, though if he was surprised by the shoddiness of the analysis offered by, in particular, former players in this country.
After all, he is someone who had, prior to taking the short-term contract to work with the Scotland pack, worked hard to establish himself as a high-class television analyst.
What is needed right now is sober reflection, as Glasgow seek to find a way of stimulating far greater interest by bringing a PRO12 semi-final to Scotland for the first time. After all, Friday's successful, non-televised bid to break the bonus-point record was watched by a paltry 3807.
Townsend could certainly be forgiven for wishing that there was no break in the fixtures right now such is his side's form – the PRO12 is inactive for the next fortnight – but, as he spoke after Friday night's press conference, he seemed glad of the chance to take stock before trying to plot a course through the final five rounds of league fixtures.
Players who have performed so impressively for Warriors during the RBS 6 Nations period need some recovery time, he believes, while he has a task to manage in reintegrating the dozen Glasgow players who have been involved with the national team. He is bright enough to be well aware that Glasgow have, in the past month or so, had the benefit of the huge injection of resources they have had since this time last year.
To place their current situation in proper perspective, too, this time last year, Warriors were celebrating a bonus-point away win at Ospreys that had then kept them in contention for the place in the play-offs that they eventually secured for the second time in three years.
That was achieved by a team that had battled effectively on two fronts through the heart of the season, their bid to reach the Heineken Cup quarter-finals for the first time failing only in the final match while they were sustaining their PRO12 efforts.
This time around, like Edinburgh last season, Glasgow have known from an early stage in the season that their focus was on a single competition – the Scottish sides suffered their worst campaign in the Heineken Cup yet – and that has to have had a psychological effect.
As Warriors had come so close in Europe last season and reached the PRO12 play-offs, I reasoned at the time that the minimum requirement this season – to justify the personnel changes – was to improve on last year's performances by reaching the Heineken Cup quarter-finals and the PRO12 final. They have already fallen some way short of that in the European competition.
While the past few weeks have provided thrilling entertainment and an impressive surge to the top of the PRO12 table, with records broken along the way, they should only be considered an outright success if Warriors go on to win the PRO12 title, or at least reach the Grand Final, achievements which their current league position certainly suggests they have the ability to do. One huge plus point is that those controlling the purse strings have realised that they must provide Glasgow with resources to hitherto unimagined levels in order to back their decisions of a year ago to replace Sean Lineen with Townsend. The answer, it seems, to every request for new personnel at Glasgow this season has been a near-automatic "yes", a situation of which his predecessors, Richie Dixon, Kiwi Searancke, Hugh Campbell and Lineen, could only have dreamed.
It has resulted in a depth of quality that has left rivals drooling. "Look at Glasgow: they have gone on a hell of a run purely on the strength of their squad; it is huge," said Jonathan Humphreys, forwards coach of the once big-spending Ospreys, last week as he complained about the lack of money he has to spend.
Whether the squad now has the quality and composure to go the distance will start to become more clear immediately after the Six Nations when they face Leinster, the reigning European champions. Irish international protocols are such that, even then, we may not see Warriors face one of the leading sides at full strength.
Yet the position they have established by reeling in an Ulster team that once looked uncatchable at the top is such that Glasgow will still have the chance of bringing a semi-final to Scotstoun in their own hands even if they lose in Dublin later this month.
