It is acknowledged that Alex Ferguson knows Old Trafford inside-out, but this was something else: Thursday afternoon and Ferguson, one of British football's men of the century, never mind of the decade, the figurehead for 1,670 employees and the club with the largest turnover on the planet, the club on the verge of an achievement unparalleled in English domestic and European football, was being asked his thoughts on the historic challenge; asked looming in a broom cupboard.
Having said that, however, such is the media chaos at Old Trafford in the build-up to a possible treble that Ferguson's expression told of relief at locating a quiet corner, even if half a dozen tape recorders followed him in there.
The previous evening Ferguson had been in the Blackburn bunker witnessing Brian Kidd being relegated and now he was being asked questions about cups and conquests.
It is zoom lens pressure from every direction but to Ferguson, it is just an everyday tale of boot rooms, broom cupboards and trophy cabinets. In a managerial career that began at East Stirling in 1974, he has become familiar with them all.
Beginning with Spurs at home tomorrow, the next 11 days could see Ferguson re-visiting the cabinet with a polished double handful three times, but there is also the live chance that he might bring nothing back.
With neither the FA Cup nor European Cup finals going to a replay, the three games against Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Bayern Munich are three one-offs which will test Manchester United's stamina, depth, ability, and, crucially, their nerve. In their last two games, at Middlesbrough and Blackburn, Ferguson has seen signs of tension amongst his players.
"I think there are periods when maybe they're getting anxious," he said, citing Middlesbrough on Sunday and Blackburn on Wednesday night, "and they're forcing it. I made that point to them at half-time (at Blackburn), not to force the game. I think they were trying to stampede their way through it instead of playing with their normal patience and control."
Ferguson's concern is far from overwhelming, however, and understandably. As he said: "I think it's a test of nerve when you go into a big game anyway, but if they had any lack of nerve it would have shown itself in Juventus and they would have probably bottled it completely when they were 2-0 down. But they kept their nerve: it's a matter of keeping it rather than showing it.
"You have to break teams down, we had to break down Juventus and look at their reputation at home, they'd never lost three goals and things like that. All these reputations are always going to stand until you do something about it.
"And I've got to look at what my players have achieved this season and how they've responded to the big-game situations. I mean the Juventus performance, and Milan, and Arsenal in the semi-final were all against teams of the highest quality.
"And they don't come any bigger than Sunday now, the players know they're going to have to produce their best-ever performance and I said that in Juventus and I said it in Milan (against Inter). That is the nature of progress." Even in a cupboard Ferguson's unremitting presence is at work.
Given that victory tomorrow would guarantee a fifth championship in seven years, a lessening of the will would be only natural, yet 57-year-old's Ferguson's is unyielding. Besides, tomorrow offers something new, clinching the title at home. Amazingly, in the fourth championships collected in England, to add to the three with Aberdeen, only once has the decisive fixture been at home. It was in 1985 at Pittodrie against Celtic and when Ferguson was asked what it was like, he almost bit the air: "It's great."
Of the English quartet, he heard of the breakthrough title in 1993 "on the golf course", Oldham having won at Villa Park, and the next year Ferguson was "watching the snooker" when Coventry defeated Blackburn.
In the 1995-96 season United settled the season at Middlesbrough and a year later when Newcastle drew at West Ham and Liverpool lost at Wimbledon, Ferguson was "in the gymnasium".
Against a Spurs side "which can be stubborn" United can finally seal it at Old Trafford - "something you'd like to do in your lifetime even if it's the last game, the last kick of the ball, a corner kick, free-kick, penalty kick, own-goal or a volley. Just somehow win it."
Jaap Stam's Achilles tendon is causing concern and Roy Keane is by no means a certain starter, although injuries have revealed the true depth of Ferguson's squad, without which, he said: "We'd never have got to this point."
Ultimately, as David O'Leary suggested, it could prove the determining factor between United and Arsenal, though Ferguson said that Arsenal's squad was "difficult to assess".
"He (Arsene Wenger) tends to play pay the same team all the time. I mean, what is (Nelson) Vivas? I have watched him play twice whereas (Ole Gunnar) Solskjaer has 16 or 17 goals and is one of my fringe players."
And with that Ferguson was off through a room where United's past triumphs were framed on the walls. Earlier in that same room Bobby Charlton had offered his perspective on what the next 11 days represent.
"These youngsters are very respectful when they look back, but they don't want to look back because this is their time. They could be the best, arguably the best there has ever been. There are three games to go, three games which could mark the greatest period in Manchester United's history, in fact any English club's history."
