Barnet failed in their attempt of immediate promotion back to the Football League but showed enough to suggest that they will be a stronger contender next season after the experience they gained. There was overall positive atmosphere at the club at the start of the season despite the relegation suffered a couple of months before as they were moving to a brand new stadium and looked to possess one of the best squads in the league. Moreover, Edgar Davids stayed on in charge and delved into the unknown depths of the non-league football head-on. His side got off to a flying start with a 3:0 win over Chester and were one of the leading sides in the first six weeks of the season. Jake Hyde and Keanu Marsh-Brown quickly showed that they were too good for this level while the brand of possession football that was preached had the opposition on the back foot. Yet, that alone was never going to be enough in a league as demanding as the Conference Premier and the results started to get worse as the season progressed. They won just once in nine games during the autumn but were still pretty hard to beat and remained generally close to the play-off places. Yet, the injury that kept Hyde for over three months of the season was a major blow and the alternatives in the forward position were just not up to scratch. Davids maintained his principle of playing good football but he was proving an unreliable player on the pitch and was sent off three times in the space of a handful of games, letting the team down as a whole. He also showed lack of ability to change the outlook of hid side when things were not going well and five losses in six games either side of the festive period resulted in his departure. There was no change in discourse though as his assistant, Ulrich Landvreugd, took up charge after that. His impact was very good at first as Barnet won five games in a row and looked in a good place regarding the play-offs. However, yet another Hyde injury, plus the loss of form of Marsh-Brown, resulted in a sharp decline in results in the weeks after that. Landvreugd was let go in no time and the Bees asked Martin Allen to reduce their season, coming back to manage the team for a fourth time in his career. Allen lifted the mood around the place and four games without a loss made fans optimistic again. Yet, Barnet’s Waterloo moment came a couple of weeks before the end of the season when play-off rivals, Halifax, wiped the floor with them and secured a 4:0 win that put them firmly out of the top-five battle. It was a painful way to see their dream go awry but Barnet were always facing an uphill challenge in coming straight back up. Yet, they will be a more serious contender next season with a bit more stability in the dugout.
