The news broke at seven the next morning. By eight, it was the lead story on every sports website in the country. By nine, it was trending worldwide on Twitter. #PalaceAirlift.
The media reaction was a tidal wave of disbelief, admiration, and barely concealed jealousy. Pundits who had spent the summer talking about transfer fees and wage bills were suddenly forced to talk about a football club doing something genuinely, unequivocally good. Rival fans were split between grudging respect and outright fury.
"Why doesn't my club do this?" was the most common refrain. The broadsheets wrote think-pieces about the soul of football. The tabloids ran pictures of Danny under the headline "The People's Manager." It was a full-blown media storm, and it was all anyone was talking about.
