While it would be difficult to do anything other than applaud the manner in which Alex Ferguson skips so daintily through the minefield of the managerial cliche, he is rather prone to overstating the point that bigger tests do lie ahead for his players.
He is right, of course, but only in the cloistered world of professional football can a man satisfy the voracious appetite of those who hang on his every pronouncement simply by stating the glaringly obvious. What untold luxury.
On Wednesday evening, one of the bigger tasks to which Ferguson constantly alludes will present itself at Old Trafford in the shape of a Champions' League quarterfinal tie against Inter Milan.
After a dull and listless game which ultimately left its windswept audience harbouring the suspicion that Manchester United will win the League title and Southampton will drop out of the Premiership, there was much talk of a job well done.
All very predictable, all very understandable but, whether Ferguson concurs or not, all very irrelevant.
Until the final 15 minutes when Southampton's more obvious defensive frailties were finally exposed, United were so poor that those members of Inter's managerial team present must have felt they were victims of an elaborate hoax.
If the prospect of lulling a wily Italian or two into a false sense of security is ridiculous, the insipid nature of so much of United's football, particularly in the first half, will at least have left confused, perhaps bewildered, those who arrived seeking confirmation that United will enter Wednedsay's tie as favourites.
It was the introduction at halftime of Roy Keane which was instrumental in shaping the outcome. Keane not only scored the crucial opening goal with a crisp drive 11 minutes from the end, but he added sufficient bite to United's midfield to convince Southampton that all their efforts were to be in vain.
The Southampton manager Dave Jones insisted that United's second goal, a neat Dwight Yorke conversion at the far post, was offside but it was an argument he presumably would not have proffered had Matt Le Tissier not scored for his side with a close range header in stoppage time.
Afterwards, Ferguson declared all his players fit and ready for Wednesday's bigger test. That means there can be no excuses. England expects.
MANCHESTER UNITED: Schmeichel, G Neville, Berg, Johnsen, P Neville (Irwin 78), Beckham, Butt (Keane 46), Scholes, Giggs, Yorke, Solskjaer (Cole 67). Subs not used: Brown, Blomqvist. Goals: Keane 79, Yorke 83.
SOUTHAMPTON: Jones, Dodd, Monkou (Benali 50), Lundekvam, Colleter, Marsden, Oakley, Bridge, Hughes, Beattie, Ostenstad (Le Tissier 67). Subs not used: Moss, Hiley, Bradley. Booked: Colleter, Le Tissier. Goals: Le Tissier 90.
Referee: P Jones (Loughborough).
