Final piece of the current jigsaw is complete

Bees now with the foundations to plot Football League return

Barnet chairman Tony Kleanthous delivers

Barnet Football Club. It’s been a while since we could put all three in the same sentence and think it’s coming good again. Utter the B word over the last couple of years and more likely to lob something across the room at someone such was the way most of us viewed the club, one on a very big decline and one lacking in care and thought of those supporting the club.

The football was dire, shopping in the bargain basement bin gets you that and what was served up on the pitch was enough for you to put it back in the bin and never see the light of day again.

It wasn’t a club, it wasn’t together, fractured, piece by piece and not showing many if any signs of being stuck back together. But slowly over the past 18 months a wind of change has blown through The Hive, not without hiccups, some blood, sweat, and tears and a few choice words along the way but seems we’re on a journey again.

It almost feels like we shouldn’t be this optimistic, after all we’ve hit the lowest of the lows finishing bottom of the National League when only ‘null n void’ saved us, nothing else. Maybe that was the wakeup call and the coffee was smelt, after all if there was reason for selling Barnet FC a National League South club wouldn’t have made a good asking price.

Granted there were little periods in between up to today where it still wasn’t quite right but during those times there were chinks of light that a feel good factor was coming, albeit slowly.

Not so many weeks ago I banged on about Dean Brennan’s contract. Six months left and despite a season that so far has confounded much more than expected another danger that Barnet were heading back into choppy waters. I saw people remark ‘ah it’s not that important, plan for next season as if he’s going to be here’ and ‘players will sign regardless, just look at Sam Beard’.

To me a failure to act would have put us back another couple of years. If you’ve read since the beginning of this blog, the squad we have now some of them were on the initial recruitment list two Novembers ago, that’s how early you start planning for a new campaign. Do nothing with the contract and run the risk of Dean walking away or someone else poaching him, we’re back to the bargain basement bin again.

Every win we’ve put together, every point scrapped for, Brennan’s stock has risen, other clubs looking at how we’ve gone from an 18th place side to one looking at the play-off’s and staying there in less than a year will always commend respect and an eye on whether he could do it for their club, a contract running down, alarm bells for those chairmen or women on the lookout for better.

Of course Dean would prepare for next season, he’s not unprofessional but the first question asked is ‘what about your contract? Are you here next season?’ And that’s not just for incomings, a few of the current squad who aren’t on two year deals asking the same question, something good capable of being split up and back to square one.

I’ll answer the Sam Beard quote before I move on, Sam indeed did sign without us having a manager in place, he wanted to be a professional footballer coming from a part time environment and enjoyed his time on loan from Dorking that much he was happy to stay. The difference with players at football league or other full time clubs want more assurances that the manager who wants them is not jumping ship or not having his contract renewed or extended, they will look elsewhere.

Barnet boss Dean Brennan whose signed a new 3 year contract

So that brings me to Thursday and the news that chucked all the above out of the water really, a new three year deal for Brennan keeping both titles as his own. Now I’ve always said when things go wrong I’ll criticise Tony Kleanthous and when things are go well I’ll praise Tony Kleanthous, this time Uncle Tony has delivered a very late Christmas present but a very sensible one at that.

Look at it this way, TK has given the football club a foundation to continue building upon, it’s still an evolving project, all football clubs are regardless of how well we’re doing now. Should another club really, really, want Dean’s services they will be paying handsomely for them and I doubt there are many clubs who would be in a position to afford it, second choice maybe now for those clubs to go looking for.

Players will now feel comfortable committing to BFC next season, there will be an abundance again out of contract in the summer and we will see departures, nine roughly by my opinion and my calculations, could be more, could be less if a few play their way back into contention over the next four months.

They will look at how we’ve progressed in a short space of time, how much of a better place the club is in, it’s becoming attractive again and for us supporters not just on the pitch.

A club shop that is open, Legends was the busiest I’ve seen it all season and for months before that on Boxing Day so much so I’m owed a few pints still (Iain, Charlie, Dave, my memory is good!), the food offering is much, much better than it was for the early months of the season, crowd levels are improving, a half season ticket offer, you get that feeling it’s starting to feel like a football club once again, they listen, they react, you can’t ask for much more and I know some of it is the mere basics but at points we haven’t even managed that!

Nothing but praise in this one, Tony deserves the full credit and nothing less, fully deserved in my opinion and with four months of the season left we’re actually in a position with plenty to play for, not to mention a few futures too, pretty good to be a Bee isn’t it once again……..