18th - Barnet

You pretty much always know what you're going to get with Barnet, and that's certianly not meant as a criticism of them. But they seem to have permanently taken up residence in that mid to lower half of the table position, will be terrible at certain points, can beat any side on their day and will keep proving people wrong season in, season out by maintaining their position within the Football League.

You can almost guarantee that when the experts such as Chris "Kammy" Kamara come to do their tips at the Sunday newspapers this weekend, the likes of Barnet and Accrington will be amongst their tips for the drop, whilst his old mate Paul Ince gets tipped to win the League Two title despite not even being in this division.

But that's how things seem for Barnet. They always seem to be in some sort of battle. Always fighting. Always up against it. It might be a relegation battle or even a row with their local council, but there's always something to give them that focus that other sides in the division perhaps lack and just drift as a result.

Last season could have gone that way too. For long periods, Barnet had the worst home record in the entire division and the points penalties of other clubs gave them an easier ride than they should have been facing.

Barnet boss Ian Hendon pretty much remained off the radar last season, and perhaps understandably so given that his side finished 17th in the table, but when Hendon took control of the club last season, they were very much within the sights of Luton and Bournemouth as potential sides they could over take.

As it happened, Hendon had no issues leading Barnet to safety that was assured with over four games to go, and he has become one of a number of highly rated young managers at a club where he used to be a player in League Two. Hendon will have a limited budget to play with again this season, but that goes with the territory of managing a side like Barnet. The former Spurs defender accepted a two year deal earlier this year to become the full time boss of the Bees.

He led them to a spell of seven wins in twelve games including one over ourselves which was more than enough to given the side which had gone previously just one win in twenty matches.  This was in no small way to the contribution made by veteran striker Paul Furlong who grabbed nine goals in twenty one games last season whilst on loan from Southend.

That return was something of a surprise given that Furlong is now 40 years of age making him the oldest outfield player in the division by some distance. But the Bees fans have rightly judged him on what the scoresheet says rather than what his birth certificate says.

Much will depend on Furlong. At time of writing, he has not agreed a deal with Barnet for the next season but this is something that is expected to be sorted out over the next few days, or most likely of me publishing this article saying that he's not signed up with Barnet.

If that comes off, then Barnet will certainly not be without experience during the forthcoming campaign. As well as 40 year old Furloing, they'll boast amongst their ranks 34 year old Micah Hyde and 35 year old Gary Breen. But for the benefits of that, there'll inevitably be the downside of a high risk of injuries and tiring legs as the season progresses.

It's not just a Saga holiday camp tho for the Bees. They've drafted in former loanee Jake Cole who impressed between the sticks last season, and Albert Jarrett from Gillingham who we tried to main during the final game of the season last year.

But it does remain a painfully thin squad at Underhill as finances will always cloud any hopes for a promotion push. They've always relied on the finances from selling players and whilst Kandol, Bailey, King and Sinclair added to the coffers in 2007, Puncheon and Hatch brought in money in 2008, 2009 has not had anyone to follow that lead putting a possible strain on things down the line. Will there be the funds to bring in the extra players like they did last time round?

So same old same old for Barnet next season. Far too good to drop down but will find things too stretched to launch an assault on the top half of the table.

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