Nottingham Forest fans do not need reminding of "the Charlton game".
The disaster after the glorious win before. Last night a repeat of that fateful defeat in early 2020 was avoided as the Reds beat Barnsley 3-0 with the look of a side which believes in its own destiny.
Now perceived destiny could be derailed as Forest fans refresh their Twitter feeds every 45 seconds to see if Brennan Johnson will be sold.
Brentford have offered a fee which would eclipse Forest's current record sale of £15m for Britt Assombalonga when he went to Middlesbrough in 2017.
There is talk of a second offer from Newcastle and the chance of a bidding war. The money is good, very good, but the timing is awful.
Forest moved to within a point of the play-offs with the win over Barnsley, their third victory in a row.
They look like a team which believes it will make the top six. The fans clearly believe that.
Johnson set up the second goal and scored the third last night. He now has seven goals and five assists in his first season at this level.
He is a prodigious talent and one that would be hard to replace effectively with five days left of the transfer window as it stands.
Forest are very good at selling players. They got good money for Matty Cash, Oli Burke and Ben Brereton, although the latter's value has sky rocketed since he realised he was Chilean and added Diaz to his surname.
Where Forest have failed historically is buying players, certainly before last summer.
Time is short and clubs will know Forest have cash in their wallet if they come calling. They are one of the only Championship clubs which do.
They want Josh Bowler, but he is raw. Jed Wallace is graceful and glides across the turf, but he does not have explosive pace and it remains a very difficult deal to do even with six months left on his contract.
There was interest in Festy Ebosele but the Derby winger or full-back seems likely to go to Germany. Forest do not want to be scrambling around at 11.59pm on deadline day trying to hope the next Kamil Grosiki's signature goes through the fax machine in time.
Now feels like the time for Forest to hold their nerve. If they don't go up then Johnson will command a lower fee in the summer, with a year left on his deal? But how much lower?
Brentford will still want him if they are a Premier League club and others will too. He will still be a special talent.
If they go up then he would be Forest's special talent in the Premier League. Finally it feels like something good is happening at the City Ground.
Dane Murphy spoke of the need for a true north when he arrived, for all parties to be pulling in the same direction.
Hopefully that continues. If Johnson is sold this week the club should not be castigated. It is a good fee and would protect Forest from the kind of trouble Derby County now find themselves in.
Evangelos Marinakis has pumped in millions to sustain Forest through the pandemic. Football clubs belong to the fans in a sense, but in another very real one, owners sign the cheques and have the final say, even if selling would be unpopular.
Forest are a selling club, but they have a rare chance to break the cycle of parting with one of their own to fund another promotion push and sustain the club.
The promotion push is here and now. If they aren't in major need of the cash, if they can risk a lower fee in the summer that still keeps the financial wolves from the door then make a statement and fend off buyers.
Let's just hope the night Forest beat Barnsley isn't remembered as the night the promotion dream turned sour again. It's time to roll the dice.
