A Barnet Story: Thanks Geoff

Breaking news this hour as Barnet manager and ex-Holland player Edgar Davids resigns from Barnet. The 40 year old is thought to have gone back to Holland to support his family after the death of his father on Wednesday evening. The Barnet chairman Anthony Kleanthous has told Davids to leave the club whenever he wants to return to Holland but has also reminded him that the club is there for him if he should ever want to return to Underhill. Many Barnet fans have gathered outside the stadium to show their gratitude to Davids this past hour and the Barnet Supporters Trust have issued a statement in the last few minutes. "We want to thank Mr Davids for everything he has done for the club. Whilst he was manager, it was a proud time to be a supporter of the club. A true legend. We wish him the very best of luck in his future and would also like to pass on our condolences to him and his family for the loss of his father. You will go out as a Barnet hero. Good Luck."

So as you can see, in the short time he had been at the club, he had already formed a very strong relationship with the supporters, despite suffering relegation last season. During his playing career, he was nicknamed 'The Pitbull' by current Holland manager Louis Van Gaal due to his impressive marking ability. He had also made it into Brazilian legend Pelé's FIFA 100, a list of the 100 greatest living footballers chosen by Pelé.

The current favourite to take over the post from Davids, is manager of recently relegated Aldershot Town, Andy Scott. Scott, who has won the Sky Bet League 2 with Brentford, has refused to give a statement to the press, with many people believing him to be the right choice for the job. Other names that have made the bookies shortlist are Macclesfield Town manager John Askey and joint Grimsby Town manager Paul Hurst, who is said to be looking for a different role after a bust up with joint manager Rob Scott. Barnet will now have a tough decision on their hands, with the season starting in just over a month.

Barnet have took a risky decision today, hiring an inexperienced Geoff Shreeves, best known for his job as a reporter for Sky Sports. He will also be known by gamers who play the FIFA games, for his role as an injury specialist. The fans of Barnet are said to be outraged at the decision, with many, more suitable options that could have been chosen. They have reacted on social media sites Facebook and Twitter to express their disappointment.


BarnetFan1973 says: Why on earth did they pick this f****** halfwit? Of all the people we could have chosen to take over from Davids, we pick him?! What a joke!! #Shreevesout

Barnet_Bee says: Whilst his knowledge of football is probably very good, he hasn't a clue about football management!! I really hope this decision doesn't come back to haunt us. If it does I will have lost all my respect for the chairman. Poor decision for me, but we'll see how it goes.

The Barnet FC chairman Anthony Kleanthous has taken to Twitter to try and calm the supporters: Now I understand that Geoff doesn't have experience but that doesn't automatically mean he will be poor as a manager. Sure it will take time for him to learn the ins and outs of football management but with the squad we have here, we have the quality to support him through his start here. I hope Geoff's career here will be long and successful. #Support4Shreeves


So will Shreeves do the job for Barnet? Or will he be back at Sky by the end of the season? We'll have to find out, but for now, all he can do is try his best and try to establish some kind of connection with the fans. Join us next week when we get an exclusive interview with Shreeves. Until then, goodbye.

After it was announced last week that Sky Sports reporter Geoff Shreeves had taken over the job at Barnet from the departing Edgar Davids, many Bees fans were angered at the decision to appoint Shreeves, claiming that they could have hired someone with experience who knew something about football management. Well today, we have managed to arrange an exclusive interview with the new man. He talks about why he felt this job was something he could do and why he left his job at Sky Sports to take a lower paid job at Barnet.

R= Reporter
S= Shreeves


R: Thanks for coming today Geoff, so why did you take the job here, considering you were paid a lot more at Sky Sports? Surely it would have made more sense to stay there at your cushy job?
S: Thanks, well I know I was better paid at Sky Sports but it looks like I'm going to be OK to carry on here at Barnet.

R: Er.. that doesn't really answer the question Geoff? Can you elaborate a bit more?
S: Let's go down to the touchline where it looks like I will be standing for the majority of next year. Well what I really mean Alan is that I wanted a change of career and it seemed like management would be the right choice.

R: But you lack experience.. do you think that will be a problem?
S: I don't think so, no. I have been entrusted with this position so it looks like I'm going to be OK to carry on.

R: Do you have any signings planned then?
S: Well not really, I've only been in the job a week, so I'm concentrating more on settling into the club and forming a relationship with the players and then I'll think about transfers.

R: Thanks Geoff.