Recognition in this game tends to arrive when the hard yards have already been put in, and Andoni Iraola has clearly done that. Liverpool’s head coach has been nominated for the Premier League Manager of the Month award for September after a spell that carried the hallmarks supporters always want to see, wins on the board, discipline without the ball, and a side beginning to look properly organised.

Iraola “is in the running for September’s Premier League Manager of the Month award.” That line tells its own story. Managers are judged on outcomes, and Liverpool gave him plenty to work with over the month. Two victories and three clean sheets made sure his name was always going to be in the conversation, and rightly so.

What will please Iraola most is not simply that Liverpool got results, but how they went about it. Three clean sheets in a single month point to a team with structure, focus and players doing the basics well. There is no glamour in defending your box properly or keeping distances right between the lines, but those things win matches and settle teams down.

That sort of platform matters. Once a side looks secure, confidence spreads. September suggested Liverpool are finding that balance under Iraola, and that makes this Premier League nomination feel earned rather than decorative.

The Liverpool boss has made the three-man shortlist and faces strong competition. His rivals are Fabian Hurzeler of Brighton & Hove Albion and Enzo Maresca of Manchester City, both of whom have also made notable starts to the month in question.

Still, Iraola’s case is straightforward enough. Clean sheets count, wins matter, and momentum can shape the feel of an entire season. Liverpool had both in September.

These awards will never define a season, but they do offer a snapshot of progress. For Iraola, this nomination is another sign that Liverpool are moving in the right direction under his leadership. It reflects work on the training ground, buy-in from the squad, and a month where standards were met.

There is plenty more to come, of course. There always is at a club of this size. But for September at least, Iraola has put Liverpool in the right place, and this Premier League Manager of the Month nomination is no more than he deserves.