Edgar Davids signs up for hardest job in the football league

If Edgar Davids was looking for a glamorous entrance to club coaching, he probably hasn't found it with Barnet. Instead he, with joint head coach Mark Robson, will have to try and resurrect the season of a club yet to win a match.

Barnet have picked up just three points in their opening eleven games, are five points adrift of Aldershot at the bottom of League 2, and have an almost impressively bad -15 goal difference.

However this isn't a situation that is entirely new to Barnet. In each of the past few seasons, they have secured their league status on the last day, with the most famous escape probably two years ago when a 1-0 win coupled with Lincoln's loss saw Barnet climb to safety by only one point.

Last season Barnet beat Burton 2-1 to finish the season two points clear of Hereford United and the relegation zone. Davids has been brought in now to try and arrest this run of last ditch drop-dodging, as he and Robson have plenty of time to attempt to steer the club towards mid-table.

The task will start tomorrow at home to Plymouth, with a second consecutive home game against Northampton on Friday 19th October. Davids and Robson have clearly been brought in now with a view to these matches, both of which Barnet can hope to get points from.

Plymouth are in 19th, with eleven points from their eleven games, and Northampton sit 15th. The club have sought to give the new manager bump in form the best chance of succeeding.

Robson is the more experienced coach of the pair, but he also has not been a manager of another club. Barnet have gone for a high risk strategy with their appointments, hoping the energy and excitement around them will overcome any inexperience.

Bringing in Davids will attract a lot of attention, and should see at least a short term boost in attendances. If that boost can be matched in player performance, then maybe Barnet can escape relegation again. If things start going badly however, then the club will be criticised for what will be labelled a publicity stunt appointment.

Nick Harris

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I'm Nick Harris, Spurs fan and sports writer. Alongside HITC, I'm the founder, editor, writer, and fan of footballspirals.com and can be found on Twitter - @nicksharris. When I'm not watching sport I'm usually drinking coffee and checking updates on my phone in an antisocial manner.