Fans of the 72 – Barnet

So I was recently asked to answer a number of questions for ‘Fans of the 72’ – a blog dedicated to supporters of teams in the Championship and Leagues One and Two. You can also find them on Twitter @fansofthe72. Here are my thoughts on the season so far:

Who has been both the best player to feature for your club this season?

The best player this season has to be Ricky Holmes. He’s been in and out of the side with injuries, but he’s a consistent player and a definite game-changer. He scored a hat-trick against Burton in December (the win saw us move out of the bottom two for the first time this season). Since we signed him from Chelmsford City, there’s always been rumours of him joining bigger clubs, so I think we’d be very lucky to hold onto him. Ricky’s fast with tricks up his sleeves, leaves the opposition’s defence on the floor confused and creates goals as well as scoring them.

And worst?

The worst player, without a doubt, has to be Collins John. When we heard he had joined us in October and after waiting two weeks for international clearance, he was handed a start against Plymouth. After much anticipation and build-up, the signing’s been nothing short of a let-down. He lasted about 10 minutes and after going down for the second time in the game, he was substituted with a thigh injury – although it was evident he wasn’t really match fit by the way he was walking around the pitch. Who knows when we’ll next see him... 

Who has been the best signing?

Graham Stack or David Stephens – the two Hibernian lads. Solid, no-nonsense and have instilled some much-needed calmness and discipline in and around the six-yard box. Just wish Stacky could save a penalty though! Davids has obviously been a useful addition to the squad!

Who would you like to sign in the January transfer window?

We’ve recently acquired the services of Ibra Sekajja on a one-month loan from Crystal Palace – a striker. We have a number of strikers already the club, but none of them really strike me as the typical 20 goals a campaign man, like last year’s McLeod. So a forward capable of finding the back of the net would be good. We also need another defender or two, I think. We previously had Krystian Pearce on loan from Notts County and he was quality – and very popular with fans. So if we could have him back, that’d be great! I’m more concerned about the squad number though, so maybe if we could use this transfer window to get rid of the dead weight and then see what positions we need to invest in.

Views on the manager?

Well the results have certainly turned around since the arrival of Edgar Davids. The concern with having someone of Davids’ cachet at the club is that he could quickly become bored with the rough and tumble of League Two and seek new challenges. At the moment though his commitment seems genuine enough and there have been odd comments in interviews where he has spoken about long-term plans and the squad for next season. But no complaints at the minute – and he can still play too!

And finally, expectations for your club for the rest of the season?

Going into the New Year, we were the ninth-best team form-wise over the past 11 games and enjoyed the best Christmas in League Two with seven points from nine. Based on that form, the possibility of new signings and a number of players coming back from injury, we have the potential to avoid our final day dice with the drop – and even aspire to mid-table mediocrity. The current form of the teams around us down in the depths also gives genuine cause for optimism. Just not another relegation scrap, please.