"Boss, the final is in three days, and you're still here at five in the morning?"
Paul Robert's voice broke the pre-dawn silence of Apperley Bridge. Jake looked up from his desk, where tactical notes sprawled across every surface like pieces of a puzzle he was determined to solve.
Two weeks had passed since the championship celebration, and five more matches had been played with rotating squads. This strategy ensured every player received meaningful minutes while maintaining their fitness for what everyone knew would be the biggest match in Bradford City's history.
Jake's office felt different now. Championship winners' medals gleamed in a display case alongside photos from their European journey. Yet, his mind was not on past glories but on Newcastle United and the system window that only he could perceive.
"I couldn't sleep," Jake admitted, gesturing to the tactical analysis scattered across his desk. "Newcastle will be unlike anything we've faced."
