It's an interesting case study, what's taking place at West Bromwich Albion at the moment.
Head coach Steve Clarke, reaping the benefits of a settled side, each component of which knows its' job and is performing with confidence.
Or so it may seem.
The reality is somewhat different.
Only once this season has the Scot named the same starting XI in consecutive matches in the Premier League.
If you look at the Baggies' actual fixture list, there was a Capital One Cup tie which was sandwiched in between those games too - against Spurs and Everton.
So, strictly speaking, Clarke hasn't fielded the same side in two successive matches at all this season.
Yet on first glance, it would appear that his team is profiting from the same personnel, building up trust and confidence in each other after playing together week in, week out.
Of course, the spine of the team has remained pretty fixed. Ben Foster, Jonas Olsson, Gareth McAuley, Claudio Yacob and Youssouf Mulumbu would be the first names on his team-sheet.
But what has taken place at the Hawthorns blows a hole in the theory that only a settled team can thrive.
West Brom, given their wage bill, are punching above their weight. Someone told me last week that their salary level remains the second lowest in the Premier League (I believe the players are heavily incentivised, however).
What is more important, in this instance, is that the Baggies have a set pattern of play and that pretty much everyone knows their place in it.
It would be churlish not to pay tribute to Roy Hodgson at this point.
He hammered a team shape into those he inherited at a time of necessity - and it's paid off.
What has been a boon for Clarke - and where I think he deserves credit - is that he has thought long and hard about how to mix and match those players under his control.
The Scot demonstrated that by playing with two forwards for the trip to Wigan a fortnight ago, despite using either Shane Long or Romelu Lukaku as a sole frontman for the rest of the season.
Given Chelsea's demands that Lukaku must receive game-time, it's not been an easy balancing act, particularly as Long is such a selfless operator.
Top man: Peter Odemwingie (right) scores against ChelseaBut with footballers who can operate in a variety of different positions, it has appeared to be simple.
Take Peter Odemwingie for instance. The striker maddens yours truly because the very aspect of his personality that makes him so effective in front of goal is also the character trait that causes coaches to tear their hair out in frustration.
There was a glaring example of this in the victory over Everton at the Hawthorns.
Odemwingie was given an earful from a team-mate for not tracking back when Marouane Fellaini spooned over after Kevin Mirallas's right-wing cross.
Two minutes later, he's crossing the ball for Long to sidefoot the first.
Such are the fine lines.
However, I'm moving off the point, so apologies for that.
What Clarke did after the Southampton game, in which the Nigeria international scored twice, was to leave him out for the trip to Wigan, opting instead for Long and Lukaku.
It just so happens that the Baggies boast players, such as James Morrison, who understand implicitly the demands upon wide midfielders, operating in a standard 4-4-2 formation.
The same goes for the likes of Chris Brunt, Zoltan Gera and Graham Dorrans.
What I don't know - but I suspect - is that Clarke couldn't trust Odemwingie to do the hard yards running towards his own goal.
Getting the message: Odemwingie needs to work on his defensive sideNow, whether that criticism has been hammered home - again I'm pleading ignorance here - but it was a welcome sight to the point of it being a shock when Odemwingie sprinted 60 yards to help out Billy Jones during the second-half of the victory over Chelsea.
Those sitting in the lower tier of the East Stand obviously thought so too as he was given a huge round of applause.
The other point I would like to make is that Clarke is influenced by the sports' scientists as the club's disposal.
I know it's difficult for those who turn up on a weekly basis to believe but some allowance is always taken by coaches following midweek matches - particularly those which involve foreign travel.
He leans heavily on data feedback that he receives from his coaches. And these days you don't even need a system like prozone to tell you how far your star midfielder has run.
(Adidas released a pair of boots on general sale last year that will do the same job.)
Clarke clearly thinks a lot about his team shape and selection and, at the moment, it's going well.
With a team that is growing in confidence and supporters who now have every faith in their team's ability to win matches, despite the change in personnel, what everyone really needs is a clean bill of health.
But that really would be asking too much, wouldn't it?
Right way: Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert
I have applauded Paul Lambert's bravery in his vision of a youthful Aston Villa team, if not the execution of that plan.
I couldn't help but think in August that some established Premier League quality in the ranks was required if such a season as this was to be avoided. As ever, time will out.
However, I could not agree more with his words on sending out Villa's youngsters to gain first-team experience at other clubs.
It speaks volumes for the quality of coaches in the junior ranks that the club has gained the highest grading possible in its' Academy.
But I think the manager is right in sending young players out on loan.
So often, we see 21-year-olds breaking through and refer to them as 'youngsters' when the reality is that Wayne Rooney had four years' experience under his belt by that stage.
It's an exaggerated point, but you catch my drift.
Lambert though, having been drafted into St Mirren's team while still 17 years old, knows full well the value of players learning their trade where it matters - in the first-team.
His comments are worth reporting here as they were lost in the press conference last week.
'Unless they are exceptional, they won't get into the first-team,' he said. 'The majority of them have to learn their trade.
'You might have one or two who are exceptional but it won't do them any harm to play men's football.'
I remember Wolves' Jamie O'Hara saying that he was grateful for the lessons learnt at Chesterfield which enabled him to grow as a player when he went back to Tottenham.
It's not always been that way at Villa, but I think there has to be room for it and on a personal level, I'm glad someone in power feels the same way as I do.
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