The final week before the season opener was a blur of motion and sound.
Oakwell's training ground, once a place of quiet, predictable routine, had been transformed into a tactical laboratory. Michael spent hours watching from his office window, captivated by the relentless intensity Arthur brought to every single session.
Arthur was everywhere at once.
Passes had to be played at a certain speed, runs had to be timed to the split second, and every single player was expected to know the tactical shape of the team at all times.
The focus of this intense scrutiny was, unsurprisingly, the new arrivals.
Specifically, Finn Riley, the wild fox.
On the third day of the week, Michael witnessed the inevitable clash.
During a full-pitch practice match, Finn [CA 55 / PA 90] received the ball on the right wing.
Arthur had spent the last ten minutes drilling a specific passing pattern into the team: a quick one-two with the fullback to draw out the defender and create space in behind.
Finn ignored it completely.
Instead, he took the ball, stopped dead, and performed a series of dazzling, pointless step-overs that went absolutely nowhere.
He then tried to beat three defenders by himself, inevitably losing the ball and putting his own team under pressure.
The old manager, David Wallace, would have screamed himself hoarse.
The entire team tensed, waiting for Arthur to explode.
Arthur simply blew his whistle, a short, sharp blast that froze everyone on the pitch.
He walked calmly over to where Finn was standing, a look of bored indifference on his face.
"Finn," Arthur said, his voice quiet but carrying across the silent pitch. "That was... predictable."
Finn's rebellious smirk faltered. "What?"
"Predictable," Arthur repeated. "You got the ball, and you did what every 'talented but undisciplined' winger does. You tried to be the hero. You tried to do it all yourself. It's the most boring, least creative thing you could have possibly done. The defenders knew what you were going to do before you did."
He picked up the ball.
"The system I just taught you? The one-two? It's not a rule, Finn. It's a weapon. It's a way to manipulate the opponent's brain. It's a puzzle. And you chose to ignore the puzzle and just try to smash the box with a hammer." He looked Finn straight in the eye. "I thought you were smarter than that."
He dropped the ball at Finn's feet and walked away.
"Let's go again."
Michael almost laughed out loud. It was a masterstroke of reverse psychology.
From that moment on, Finn was different. He was still a wild fox, but now he was a cunning one. He started to use the system not as a set of rules, but as a framework for his own chaotic genius.
The result was an attacking trio that was becoming more devastating with every passing hour.
Jamie Weston [PA 89], now brimming with confidence, was a blur of speed and directness on the left.
His tactical understanding was improving exponentially.... he was learning when to run, when to pass, and how to use his pace to stretch the defense.
Finn [PA 90] was a whirlwind of unpredictable magic on the right, a chaos agent who could produce a moment of genius out of thin air.
And connecting them, the quiet, intelligent center of their universe, was Danny Fletcher [PA 91].
His subtle movements would drag a defender half a yard out of position, creating the perfect passing lane for Jamie.
He would play a simple, ten-yard pass to a midfielder, knowing that two seconds later, it would create an acre of space for Finn to run into. He was the selfless link, the quiet genius who made the two raw, explosive talents on either side of him look even better.
The chemistry between the three of them was electric, a perfect blend of speed, skill, and intelligence.
On the Friday afternoon before the first league game of the season, the atmosphere was thick with anticipation.
Arthur gathered the entire squad in the video analysis room one last time.
"Tomorrow, the real work begins," he said, his voice calm and serious.
"The team I am about to name is the team I believe gives us the best chance to win tomorrow. It is not set in stone. Every single one of you has a role to play this season. But for tomorrow, this is the XI."
He clicked a button, and the starting lineup appeared on the screen behind him, position by position.
The goalkeeper was the reliable Sam Jones. The back four was anchored by the veteran captain, Dave Bishop. No surprises there. The midfield was a solid, experienced trio. Again, as expected.
Then came the attacking line.
LW: Jamie Weston
RW: Finn Riley
ST: Kevin Davies
Kevin Davies [CA 66 / PA 66] was a thirty-two-year-old journeyman striker. A hard worker, a physical presence, but a player with a fraction of Danny Fletcher's talent.
Michael stared at the screen, his mind unable to process what he was seeing. He looked around the room.
The players were frozen, their faces a mixture of confusion and utter shock. Jamie and Finn looked completely bewildered... their 'brain' had just been amputated.
And then Michael's eyes found Danny Fletcher.
The club's prince, their future superstar, the most talented player at the entire club, was sitting there, his face completely pale. He wasn't angry. He wasn't sad. He just looked utterly, profoundly stunned, as if the man he had just begun to trust more than anyone had walked up and slapped him in the face for no reason at all.