Perspective

[b4life]

Naturally everybody is full of doom and gloom at the thought of us being relegated but I presonally don't want to see any knee-jerk reactions from the club or over-reaction from the supporters. What is most important is that we remain financially stable, I don't ever ever want to go through what happened at the end of Flashman's reign again. TK has made mistakes with the appointment of managers but I can't honestly say that anyone else would have done any better than him in our off the field activities. Although our ground is still crap it's much less crap than it used to be and we have the excellent Hive which we must keep hold of, we're also financially stable. I do think that TK needs help with bringing more money into the club, one startling obvious thing is why are none of our stands sponsored? Cheltenham had sponsorship everywhere, for example. If TK does decide to call it a day I am sure he won't go unless he can hand the club over to someone who cares as much as he does about the club or if he stays I hope he now pushes ahead with finding a new stadium even if it is at the Hive. I love Underhill but we need to move on if we can't find a home in the borough itself soon we'll be just about the only club left without a modern stadium. When we were relegated last time, loads of supporters said we'd never go up again, they were wrong, there is no reason to say we can't get promoted again, the most important thing is to get the right manager this time just as we did when PF was appointed. Relegation and promotion are all part of supporting a football club, I'll still be cheering on the Bess in 20 or 30 years time whatever league they are in then.

[Moonchild_Bee]

Yes I agree. It's not like i'll jump on the Spurs bandwagon if we go down. And from what I can see, if we can stabilise, there is every chance of us coming back in a few years - it's not like it was last time when we all thought (largely due to stadium issues) that that was that - we'd never be back in the league.

I couldn't see us getting anything last night. Southend are too good. Irrespective of what formation we used, what players we started, no Barnet FC first XI was good enough to get a result there in my opinion.

However, I did look at Lincoln (H), Wycombe (H), Hereford (A), Morecambe (H), Aldershot (A) and think that if we get 10 points from them lot, we set ourselves up for a fighting chance heading into April with 37 points, 7 games to go - of which 5 are eminently winable.

[kingoffootball]

Great post b4life. I agree completely.

That's not to say I'm not disappointed in the position we're in, with relegation looking very likely, but you're right that it's important to keep perspective.

[lemming3k]

Not that I disagree, but it would be worth pointing out a lot of those 'winable' games people talk about are against the top 8(7 of them, in fact).

As Burton proved, the top teams aren't unbeatable, but we've won once away, and our home form is less than spectacular as it stands. We must beat the teams we play near the bottom to stand any chance.

[Moonchild_Bee]

Not that I disagree, but it would be worth pointing out a lot of those 'winable' games people talk about are against the top 8(7 of them, in fact).

As Burton proved, the top teams aren't unbeatable, but we've won once away, and our home form is less than spectacular as it stands. We must beat the teams we play near the bottom to stand any chance.

Not me - only Wycombe which I think we will need something from.

Our remaining fixtures are against the teams currently in:
H: 16, 2, 20, 1, 11, 8, 6
A: 4, 19, 17, 22, 5, 7, 14

If we presume we get nothing from any team currently in the top 10 (which is 7 games), we have 21 points to play for in the other 7 games. Win those, we are safe.

Lies, lies and more damned lies. And statistics. Or something like that.

[Phil The Force]

This is from my brother, who is a statistician, although I don't think he used any of his talents to work it out!

So you've got our remaining fixtures. Then whether it's home or away (H A) and where the opposition is in the league today - using their AVERAGE points. So although Burton are 22nd, they are 20th if you use their average points. There are two other teams who are also two places different. We are 24th whichever way you cut it Finally I have estimated how many points we will get from the game (3 for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss). This is purely a guess - I didn't do anything fancy. My optimism for home wins against lowly clubs is probably balanced by my pessimism for losing against higher clubs.

Date Opposition pos
26/02/2011 Lincoln City H 15 3
05/03/2011 Rotherham A 4 0
08/03/2011 Wycombe H 2 0
12/03/2011 Hereford A 19 1
19/03/2011 Morecambe H 22 3
22/03/2011 Aldershot A 18 1
26/03/2011 Chesterfield H 1 0
02/04/2011 Burton Albion A 20 1
09/04/2011 Crewe H 11 1
16/04/2011 Bury A 5 0
23/04/2011 Gillingham A 8 0
25/04/2011 Oxford Utd H 8 1
30/04/2011 Accrington Stanley A 13 1
07/05/2011 Port Vale H 6 1

TOTAL 13

[becbee]

Both Morecambe and Bradford City have taken just 4 points from their last 9 games ( poss 27 points). We still have to play Morecambe at home. It's a big IF, but IF we could start picking up some wins and if they maintain their poor runs then we could overtake them and Stockport.

At least we don't have to play Southend again this season!

[squeeze90]

Morecambe are certainly a realistic target to overtake, they have some tough remainng games - against teams in and around the automatic promotion and play off places and the bottom of the league:

Chesterfield Away
Southend Home
Bury Away
Bradford Home
Us Away
Macclesfield Home
Wycombe Home
Rotherham Away
Burton Home
Gillingham Away
Crewe Away
Hereford Home
Port Vale Away
Northampton Home

Can't see them getting too many points from those games at all. So if they fall away n Stockport don't pick up too many points, we definitely have a chance of staying up - just have to win as many at home as possible and draw as many away as possible. Of course, easier said than done!

[Golf Delta]

[wearebees]

It could be worst, it is still in our hands, as has been said the likes of Morecambe/Bradford are also in a relegation battle. We can't rely on them not picking up points but it does help, we are in no worst position position wise compared to these two than before yesterdays game except that's another game without a win. Easier said than done, of course, but a few wins including one against Morecambe and things will look more optimistic. It's not over til the fat lady sings, despite saying before every game for the last month that it's a must win and not winning, we still have a chance and so long as it's in our hands I will carry on believing we have a chance. Having said that, Saturday is a must win....we can't rely on others being as bad as us forever!

[PBBee]

One point I have realised lately is that all of us seem to be more concerned with the other relegation threatened teams fixtures as we all (consciously or sub consciously) no that this team is not good enough to pick up the wins and do the job themselves.

Having said that Morecambe have Chesterfield away & Bradford are playing Stockport on Saturday

[WelwynWes]

Completely agree with B4life, whatever happens at least we will still have a club to support. In the meantime everyone needs to start supporting and get behind this team, no matter what results are like. People calling for TK to stand down or pump money into the club (there are league rules on turnover/player expenditure) is not the reaction or negativity the club needs.

[PBBee]

Completely agree with B4life, whatever happens at least we will still have a club to support. In the meantime everyone needs to start supporting and get behind this team, no matter what results are like. People calling for TK to stand down or pump money into the club (there are league rules on turnover/player expenditure) is not the reaction or negativity the club needs.

The negativity from the stands is a disgrace as well, it is so cringe worthy going to Barnet games at the moment. The chant of 'how s*** must you be we've scored a goal' was funny the first time but it happens every game now - will that motivate players? The amount of abuse the players get lately must harm their performance, whether we like it or not they are our only way out of this predicament and we have to support them not get on their backs when we don't go 1-0 up in the first 10 minutes.

[Jon83]

To stay up this season, at some stage we are going to have to win 2 league games in a row, something that this club has not done since October 2009!

As mentioned above, I find myself looking at other teams fixtures etc and think 'they could drop points here/there etc' but in reality even if they do lose we do not seem to be able to take advantage of that. Tues night was a perfect example, Morecambe & Burton losing, badly, and we come away with our defeat ourselves!

Its all ifs and buts at this stage...on paper we are favourites to go down but despite everything, the shocking performances/results etc this season, a little bit of me still believes that we can stay up, that we can put a run together and get out of this horrible mess! Hopefully the players still think that as well!

[barnetboy1]

Cheers b4life.I've been followed by a little grey raincloud all day and I must admit your post has lifted my spirits.

Football has a knack of being uplifting ,or kicking you in the proverbials,you just never know what's coming next.

I'm sure there are some surprises in store before the season is done and dusted and at least,in these economically crucial times,we have a Club to support.

Ever the optimist!.....COYBs