No fortune for Huddersfield Town’s Carlos Corberan in joust with fellow coaching grandmaster Steve Cooper

The Nottingham Forest icon also famously stated that if God had wanted football to be played in the clouds, 'he'd have put grass up there.'

Principles are all well and good, but in the most valuable one-off fixture in world football - worth around £170m to the victor - pragmatism usually prevails ahead of polish. Substance over style. Finding a way whatever it takes.

This was a quintessentially tense play-off arm-wrestle of a final where flowing football was conspicuous by its absence between two well-regimented and extremely well coached sides.

The breakthrough just before half-time when the unfortunate Levi Colwill diverted a wicked cross from James Garner into his own net was the game-changer.

It was up to Huddersfield Town head coach Carlos Corberan to ensure it was not the game-breaker as his Forest counterpart Steve Cooper celebrated the moment with gusto. He knew it was big.

A bit of luck also goes a long way on such days, with the second huge moment in the game seeing Huddersfield controversially fall to earn a penalty after Harry Toffolo went down in the box under the challenge of Jack Colback when there appeared to be contact. There was sheer incredulity in the east end of Wembley.

On the day, the prize was obvious and the surroundings were splendorous. But for Corberan and Cooper, they were purely surveying a piece of grass and a workplace from their technical area.

They will have barely noticed it was Wembley and not the Canalside or Wilford Lane, where their respective sides both train; so immersed are they in their daily work. And they kicked every ball and suffered at times.

They may not have said it, yet for Sunday's winner, there was personal kudos in outwitting another fine, sharp footballing mind to earn the right to test themselves regularly against the best.

The trophy was superfluous as the Championship's brightest coaching students went head to head on a chessboard covered with turf instead of black and white squares.

Who would be standing at the end, with Huddersfield pinning their hopes on a quietly-spoken Iberian nicknamed 'The Professor' by his players.

Forest's opener meant that Corberan - whose significant pre-match call saw him restore Naby Sarr to the starting line-up - had the half-time thinking. When to twist and maybe bring on a certain Jordan Rhodes, who was the biggest reason why Town found themselves in the final and not Luton.

Corberan's first card saw Jon Russell come on and Jonathan Hogg switch to defence as Sarr made way. Never second guess Huddersfield's head coach, wise to the dangers that leaving gaps could be exposed by a Forest side who have show a penchant for devastating counter-attacks during Cooper's epic time in charge thus far.

Rhodes did eventually arrive, but as a like-for-like replacement for Danny Ward, while Duane Holmes came on for the ineffectual Danel Sinani as Corberan sought to hand a problem to

Cooper, while being mindful there was only one goal in it. One good set-piece could do it..

Individuals who had unremarkable playing careers, Corberan and Cooper also have plenty in common as individuals. Intense, meticulous, driven; two football obsessives.

Two micromanagers whose preparation is painstaking and their similarities extend to their mentors who are both Spanish speaking. Marcelo Bielsa and Jose Segura, who worked with Cooper at Liverpool.

They also see their teams as an extension of family. Players' families were part of the Huddersfield entourage who went to Portugal for their recent warm-weather training camp, while the

Forest camp held a barbecue for players, staff and loved ones last weekend. Club legends were also present.

Glory would not just be for those players on the pitch, but those many other support staff and family members who were emotionally invested and on the team.

Not to mention 35,000 Huddersfield supporters and slightly more from Nottingham, whose supporters lapped up the nostalgia in the build-up to the kick off as footage of Metgod, Keane, Clough et al did the rounds on the big screens.

When the final whistle sounded, there was an outpouring of red emotion, not least for Cooper after two bitter play-off disappointments in the previous two seasons.

When England won the Under-17 World Cup under Cooper in 2017, he was accompanied by in-possession and out-of-possession coaches, a goalkeeper coach, two fitness coaches, two analysts, two physios, a doctor, a chef, an education officer and a psychologist.

At Huddersfield under Corberan, the club have invested smartly in nutritionists, analysts, coaches, strength and conditioning staff and psychologists.

It showcased the methodology of two head coaches who leave nothing to chance and believe in the fine margins and have produced outstanding stories. You also need fortune.

Amid the many fully merited bouquets bestowed upon Corberan and his Forest counterpart, the main characteristic of their respective sides in 2021-22 had nothing to do with style. They are just so damned hard to beat.

Huddersfield were beaten only twice in the Championship from the end of November to season's end. In 38 league games since taking over in September, Cooper's Forest lost on just six occasions and boasted the division's best defensive record under his watch in the process. His Swansea side boasted 23 clean sheets in all competitions in the previous season.

Forest and Cooper are now able to reflect on the most important shut-out of their lives.