The Blue Square Premier

[erichitchmo]

Sorry chaps, but this has got to be our reality now.

Can't see it at this very moment, but maybe it will rejuvenate the club like it did in 2003/2004 (albeit after two seasons down)

Maybe it will give us that unforgettable feeling of togetherness like it did at that time, a feeling that has been slowly, yet increasingly withered away from us in five and a half largely miserable Football League seasons. Support might come back. No more embarrassing turnouts at away grounds because you and I justifiably cannot commit ourselves to watching this club eek away into a pathetic mess...and so on

You can only hope eh?

[Jon83]

Undoubtedly so.

This is 'where its at' next season. I would love to be proved wrong but after today, I dont think there is even a single 'hope' to cling on to - at one stage Marshall was looking to get the ball off of our centre backs - he is the only player in the team that poses any sort of threat with the ball at his feet yet he was picking up the ball in his own half!

TK was quoted after Stimson was sacked as saying it would be a couple of weeks for him to 'review' the situation...

What are you saying now TK? What are your thoughts on the position that we now find ourselves in? What are your thoughts on where the club is heading? What are your thoughts on Barnet playing Conference football next season?

[Norfolkbee]

I've got a ticket for the Lincoln match and after that I'm seriously thinking about knocking it on the head for the rest of the season.
It's not worth the money or my time.

[letchbee94]

People keep saying how much they enjoyed the conference BUT that is because in our last 2 years we enjoyed success and that is our last memories of the conference.

Had we been enjoying pushing for the play offs in the football league we would all be saying how great this league is aswell.

[Spanker Ridley]

The prospect of watching a struggling team in the conference playing at the Hive is not appealing to me.

It will be the death of the club as I have known it and possibly the death of the Club.

[johnp]

My mind is ready for non-league football next year. I am hoping it will be for only a year or two.

[GRH]

I fear a return to the Conference will hurt us a lot more than the previous time.

"Barnet Football Club Limited's financial risk is heavily reliant on the Club maintaining its League status" source - Directors' Report, Barnet Football Club Holdings Limited audited accounts June 2009.

As a general rule of thumb, you don't disclose anything you don't have to in your financial statements, so to have a comment to that effect shows just how grave it would be, grave maybe literally.

We'll be in a much worse financial state, and the league will be twice as hard. Not a good combination.

[Paul Pasqualoni]

TK was quoted after Stimson was sacked as saying it would be a couple of weeks for him to 'review' the situation...

What are you saying now TK? What are your thoughts on the position that we now find ourselves in? What are your thoughts on where the club is heading? What are your thoughts on Barnet playing Conference football next season?

I don't understand the mixed messages which come out of the club. As you say, there was cleary going to be a mid January review, yet we have heard nothing of the outcome.

The club continue to suggest that Paul Fairclough is only a stop gap, with yet again the description used describing him as "Barnet Temporary Manager" appearing in the article on the official site on Friday

However the "temporary" nature of this is contradicted by Glenn Poole being released due to not being in Paul Fairclough's long term plans

[becbee]

Yes but what manager worth having wouldl come to us now? Who would want relegation to the Conefrence on his CV?

[Phil The Force]

GRH: that is probably the most disturbing post I have ever read.
Very worrying.

Spanker, I'm with you on watching Conference football at the Hive.
I'll still come to Underhill, the home of Barnet FC, when the inevitable happens, but have no desire to traipse across the outskirts of London to watch a team that'll probably go straight down again if the current crop of players(?) are kept and the lack of ambition on the pitch is maintained.

[barnetboy1]

A genuine question here..I'm showing my ignorance,I'm afraid.

If/When (delete one ,depending on the strength of the old Rose Tinted Specs) we go down,is there an equivalent to the "Parachute Payment"that would apply to going down a division within The League?

[rudebwoyben1]

There is a parachute payment but I don't know how much it is or for how many years it applies.

For everyone thinking that matchdays in the BSP will be more pleasurable, I'd say that if we end up in lower mid-table averaging 1200 crowds it will be even more miserable than it is at the moment. The trouble is that I think we need to overhaul this squad to produce a team that would do even moderately well (i.e top 10) in the BSP. The present lot would see us finishing 16th-18th I reckon.

[djhdjh]

We'd be higher than that, there is some real rubbish down there and the semi-pro clubs punching above their weight. This current squad wouldn't challenge the play-offs, though, and that's even before the better players leave. Mid-table nothingness awaits without some serious changes all round.

[Paul Pasqualoni]

. The trouble is that I think we need to overhaul this squad to produce a team that would do even moderately well (i.e top 10) in the BSP. The present lot would see us finishing 16th-18th I reckon.

We've tried the "overhaul" option for the last two years of summer teambuilding which seems to have contributed to the position we find ourselves in at the moment

[becbee]

In 2007 the Parachute payment for teams dropping out of the League was £130,000 ( Boston had theirs withheld due to their huge football debts).I can't find an up to date figure although I doubt it's increased much, if at all.

And yes, there are some weak teams In the Conference - but then, IMO League 2 this season has been the weakest it's been since we returned to it yet we're nevertheless bottom. I haven't seen any Conference football since we were promoted but I suspect our current team would struggle against the teams in the top half.