The euphoria of two years ago was replaced with more measured Manchester City celebrations last night as their open top bus crawled down Deansgate.
These are the early signs the club means business, or, in the words of captain Vincent Kompany, is not here to win trophies every once in a while.
In short, the conveyor belt of success seems to be cranking up nicely for Manuel Pellegrini’s troops.
City secured their status as England’s top club on Sunday as they cruised to a 2-0 win over West Ham United to claim their second Premier League crown in three years.
Amassing 103 goals during the campaign has left many pundits wondering whether this current City crop can be considered as one of the best in Premier League history and they have a point.
Only Chelsea in 2009-10 scored more goals than City during a campaign and, combined with the thrashing of clubs such as Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham, they have proved to be the dominant force in English football this season.
But what makes you one of the greatest Premier League sides?
The players in the squad certainly play a key role and City’s current players are arguably some of the best ever to grace the top flight.
Yaya Toure this season has joined an elite group of which he is one of only five midfielders to score 20 plus goals in a league season.
The Ivorian has been one of the main catalysts behind City’s title charge and was quite rightly voted into this seasons PFA team of the year and possibly unlucky not to win the Player of the Year award.
Kompany has also been a rock at the back for City and another man to make it into the team of the year, as he is now being considered as one of the league’s best ever defenders.
Other key players such as Sergio Aguero, Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, Fernandinho and David Silva make City’s side just as good as other ‘great’ sides.
However, this City side have so far failed to muster an ability to retain their Premier League crown.
The current side hasn’t changed a great deal from the 2012 vintage which dramatically clinched their first league title since 1968.
However, unlike other great Premier League teams, Manchester United in 1994, 2000 and 2008 as well as Chelsea under Jose Mourinho (2004-07) they failed to dominate the league for a second successive season.
The hallmark of a great side is dominating a league and become the team to beat. When City had this task in 2013 they crumbled.
They failed to strengthen the squad and players became complacent, with dire consequences: neighbours United won the title by 11 points.
City can learn from the aforementioned United and Chelsea sides, who did not rest on their laurels.
After United won their first title in 1993 they went out and bought Roy Keane to strengthen an already top class midfield, then after their 2007 triumph they signed Carlos Tevez to improve what was already a lethal frontline.
City failed to do this after 2012 as they spent poorly bringing in Jack Rodwell and Javi Garcia while their rivals strengthened around them.
This is likely to happen again especially after the poor seasons suffered by United and Chelsea, both of whom have money to spend.
What Pellegrini must do now is bolster what is already a very strong squad and, like he did last summer, make signings early on.
The champions must also become better at handling the pressure that comes with winning the title.
Last season they struggled to cope being the team everyone wanted to beat and were unable to deal with sides that had begun to work out their style of play and how to stifle it.
They will have an advantage this time though as this season has required them to adapt when sides began to stop their early season superiority.
Pellegrini’s side began to master what United and Chelsea did so well and grind out results both at home and away when they weren’t playing so well.
Liverpool ultimately were unable to do this along with Chelsea, the main reason why City came out on top in this season of ever changing Premier League leaders.
This season’s triumph was difficult and hard-fought but the real work for City is now retaining their crown and dominating English football for a prolonged period of time.
United are still the only side who can say they have dominated the Premier League in its 22 year history but City have the makings, both in personnel and financially, to dominate the league for years to come.
