Mental to think that those two are the bookies favourites to go up.
Fair play to the Barnet manager, watched his interview from after the game, he said how we are the biggest/one of, teams in the league and how his fans need to turn up in numbers too.
I don't think the number of fans, either home or away dictates chances of promotion. It's financial backing or the lack of it that are the greater influence on league performance. That's not to ignore strength of management, coaching and scouting. But that all takes money too.
For instance, Forest Green have a benefactor that bankrolls them. If he pulled out they would be a significantly lower performing club, if his funding wasn't replaced like for like or anywhere near. For that reason, they have kept the majority of playing staff upon relegation and haven't had to hold a "garage sale" outside their ground.
Barnet, as the other favourites, through shrewd purchases and sell-ons have received millions back into their club this summer enabling them to progress the plans Brennan has on the pitch. That is part of the blueprint we are following, hopefully.
While both of those teams are smaller than us in fanbase, their ability to spend on playing staff, this season is
probably greater than ours. Don't forget Forest Green are still in the race for Tshimanga.
Then there is us, where we demonstrate the opposite. we may have a bigger fanbase, but the last few years, what has that mattered under the Rat's financial mismanagement? The size of the fanbase never stopped him bleeding this club dry, to the edge of extinction and yielded no influence at all on stopping him, throughout the vast majority of his just under 25 year tenure.
Sure in the last 12 month's protests and publicity increased, but it was the presence of COSU and a council leadership that stood up to his masterplan and pulled it apart, by insisting the separation of the club from the FF plans, as we know that finally broke the deadlock in the purchase and transition of ownership.
hypothetically, if an Arab with billions of pounds came and bought Chatham, Hornchurch or any other club of similar size, and powered by ego, wanted to take them L1 or above, they probably would be able too, until they got bored, or felt it was job done. Look at how Chelsea were performing before Bates, Matthew Harding and Abramovitch got involved. Nowhere near title challengers or European Champions. And what was the reason that Blackburn won the premier league and attracted Dalgleish to manage them, a multi millionaire steel magnate. Money talks and is the main influencer in the game we love...........sadly.
So Barnet and Forest Green as this seasons favourites, maybe not so "mental" as it may appear on first glance.
