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When was the last time Barnet made a crop of summer signings and we fans went "wow, they look impressive"? I have to admit I was underwhelmed when MA signed Akinde.

I was more impressed with the other bloke we signed from Alfreton...

The last time for me was 2004 when Fairclough signed Nicky Bailey and Dean Sinclair.

northantsbee wrote:The last time for me was 2004 when Fairclough signed Nicky Bailey and Dean Sinclair.

To be honest, when I saw Nicky Bailey red-faced, puffing and blowing in his first Barnet PSF on a sweltering day at AFC Wimbledon, I did wonder if he would every make a professional footballer. But what do I know?

Norfolkbee wrote:When was the last time Barnet made a crop of summer signings and we fans went "wow, they look impressive"? I have to admit I was underwhelmed when MA signed Akinde.

I can't remember either. Though the January transfer window Rossi and Henry had bringing in Santos, Sweeney, Akinola (and others?), felt like a real statement of intent.

There hasn’t really been any jaw dropping buys, but when MA assembled his close season team for our promotion season and got us properly prepared (please note management!) our brilliant start made up for any big signing.

The Akinde signing was done early. I recall watching the playoff finals in the Hive bar and talking to a few other fans. He'd been in prolific form for Alfreton and caused us problems playing against them. It felt like a good signing. The rest of the recruitment that summer happened quite late on. Togwell was only on trial after Gavin Mahon didn't work out. Lee Cook was last minute as well.

I think we'd do very well to announce summer signings which everyone would get excited about. Most players at this level are either journeymen or relatively unknown to the average fan. Salford signing Adam Rooney probably caused ripples of excitement up there for this league, but are we going to wave the chequebook like that? Probably not. I can see a couple of experienced heads coming in, but unless one of them is a goalscorer, i don't think we will be overwhelmed. Only when the season starts can you really get excited about what we're seeing.

I am not quite sure what happened to the centre forward guy who was knocking in loads of goals for Hendon - name of German. He went to Crawley and has not been seen again. He was too good for the Hendon side but he might be just about right for a National League side.

"When was the last time . . . .'
When we signed Carter, Showler, Lowe, etc. etc.

On paper, Byron Harrison was probably the stand-out signing of last summer and a decent shout to fill at least part of Akinde's ample boots. He seemed to be the perfect candidate to play alongside Shaq, but, sadly, it just wasn't to be. I think he is a player who needs to be scoring goals and when it doesn't happen, his head goes down and he gives up the will to fight. Like many players at our level, the ability is probably there, but the right attitude is badly lacking.

finchleyman wrote:I am not quite sure what happened to the centre forward guy who was knocking in loads of goals for Hendon - name of German. He went to Crawley and has not been seen again. He was too good for the Hendon side but he might be just about right for a National League side.

His name is Ashley Nathaniel-George and he scored last week for Crawley.

ricardobee wrote:"When was the last time . . . .'
When we signed Carter, Showler, Lowe, etc. etc.

We have had plenty of decent players since then but you'd not know when you don't watch our matches.

"We have had plenty of decent players . . ."
And how would you know what matches I've been to and what players I've seen?

Barnet's biggest stumbling block to success down the seasons has been the club's lack of declared ambition and clear targets. The Bees have just been allowed to drift aimlessly between the Conference and League 2. TK has never come out with a statement of intent ie in X years time I want us to be . . . .
Sure players like to get the biggest wages possible, but they also like to know that they are joining a club with ambition. For all the money he is allegedly picking up, I bet Adam Rooney wouldn't have moved to Salford if the club hadn't got a declared ambition. Barnet may be able to afford a decent transfer fee and wave a reasonable pay cheque under a player's nose, but he would be a fool not to look into the club's future aims.

Wise and quite correct words Norfolkbee.