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Disillusion
No excitement here By: Eric Hitchmo 11/08/2012




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In years past I have always treated the first game of the season to be something special. No matter what has gone previously, the start of a new year has always been a point to look forward to. Turning over a new leaf, ready for a new year of fun and frolics in the name of Barnet FC. However, now it has all changed.

This year I have not come close to the excitement of old. In fact, I'm so indifferent it's untrue. A strange feeling perhaps, but I'm not sure I should be surprised. Anyone has been reading this site for the last three years will have seen the slow progression of indifference that has been swathing over my writing. It shouldn't really come as a shock that I'm indifferent, and to be honest, it's not bothering me all that much. The endless relegation battles appear to have finally taken their toll.

I'm going to Birmingham next Tuesday, but am I at all interested in the outcome? A little, but nowhere near as much as I should be. I cant even attribute it to the inevitability of defeat that comes with these sorts of games. The summer without Barnet has been blissful. There has been much to distract me, the Euros, a holiday and the Olympics, and those three things have kept my mind far more occupied than the average afternoon at Underhill has in recent years. You know that feeling of just sitting or standing there thinking about better things you could be doing with your time? Yeah, that.

I'm not going to deny the odd highlight, namely the day of staying up at Burton. Everyone enjoys days like that, but do we not find it slightly tragic that one of the highlights of the season has been staying up on the last day for the last three years. No-one will say they didn't enjoy it at the time, however looking back on it, it's pretty embarrassing that for so long we have had to have that as our moment. It's not fun having a laughing stock of a team to follow, and maybe I would be a bit more excited if I could see any evidence that we might have some upcoming success on the field.

Of course it would be unreasonable of me to label any of the blame for my current footballing mood on new manager Mark Robson and his team. In no way can the previous failings of the club be attributed to him and therefore it is perhaps harsh that I don't back him perhaps as much as I should do. More so, it is a case of finding it hard to back the club as a whole, rather than just the playing side of it. I can't imagine that I am the only person who feels this way. Robson has a tough task to achieve on-field success with the club and reignite the passions of supporters who have had their resources drained by the overriding feeling of shambles that Barnet FC has shown.

Bitter, fickle and cynical I may be, however that's just the way it is for me at the moment. It could take a long time to regain that feeling of love, or it could be something as simple as a 90th minute equaliser away from home. Both things seem somewhat distant as we stand.

Past Birmingham, I don't know what to think. Port Vale is a pretty uninspiring fixture as first-dayers go. The first day of a league season is normally a 'must-see' game, regardless of where it is or who we are playing. You won't be shocked to read that I can barely bring myself to go. I just look at it as a bit of a hassle.

What is probably more worrying is that with this current state, how am I to be persuaded to move with the club to The Hive. The wheels of course are well in motion for this to happen from the start of the 2013-14 season. My views on this move are well known, but am I enthused by the prospect at this point? No. Even if my belief that progress will be easier to come by in a new home turns out to be correct, I am so demotivated to attend. Something is going to have to change. If I am right in my belief that a lot of people are in the same state of flux as myself, I can imagine a lot of people simply shrugging their shoulders and not bothering to follow. Who can blame them?

It's been a while since this site was updated, and that may continue to be sporadic. Who knows, by some miracle Barnet FC might turn it all around and pull a rabbit out of a hat to invigorate us all into passionate support once more. I'm not naive enough to hold my breath on that one.




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