“If we were sat over there, this would have been so easy,” he says pointing out to the 7,140sq m expanse of chlorophyll green spilling out below us. 

He is Carl Brierley, project director at Irish contractor John Sisk & Son Ltd, “there” is the pitch at Manchester City Football Club’s Etihad Stadium, and “this” is the job that the club has set for him and his company.

Sisk is charged with delivering a huge redevelopment of the stadium’s North Stand, including not only an expansion of the second tier’s capacity, but also a huge entertainment and leisure development extending out of the back of the arena.