Michael Sterling stood in his brand-new, glass-walled office, not that he ever used it. He was too busy pacing.
He looked at his phone, his heart doing a familiar little thump-thump-thump.
The Chelsea game... the 3-2 "Miracle at the Bridge"... felt like a lifetime ago.
It was three whole weeks ago.
Three weeks where the entire world of football had lost its mind.
His phone hadn't stopped ringing. His "kids" were on the cover of every sports magazine on the planet.
Danny Fletcher's 50-yard chip goal was just... on a 24-hour loop, on every TV, in every pub, forever.
But the "sugar high" of the FA Cup had done something magical. It had injected his team with a level of pure, uncut, superstar confidence that the rest of League One just couldn't handle.
The "Barnsley Braves" had become the "Barnsley Bullies."
They hadn't just won their next league games. They had demolished them.
4-0. 5-0. 6-1.
