Barnet Director of Football Paul Fairclough will be vital in helping the club return to the Football League according to former Bees star Anwar Uddin.
Fairclough signed Uddin from Dagenham & Redbridge in 2010 after the defender had spent six seasons with the Daggers. And the former West Ham starlet believes Fairclough can guide Barnet player-manager Edgar Davids as he prepares to begin his first season in charge of the club.
“You see all the way down the leagues and even in the Conference, sometimes chairmen go and get big names because they think it might draw in the fans and bring more media attention,” said Uddin. "If you don’t know that level, you’re going to be struggling, but I think what Barnet have is Paul Fairclough and he runs the England C team so he knows that level better than anyone.
“I think Barnet are very shrewd in keeping him there because he has a vast amount of experience especially at that level. I think he’s a really really good asset to the club. To complement Edgar they have the right man in place but it’s a new challenge and that’s the beauty of football. One minute you’re fighting relegation in League 2 and the next year you’re going up to the middle of nowhere in the north-east in the Conference its totally different."
Fairclough made Uddin club captain following his arrival at Barnet and the former Bristol Rovers man revealed they have always enjoyed a good relationship.
“Paul was great with me,” he said. “We got on well and he was really helpful. He’s been at the club a long time he knows what he is doing he knows the Conference and he can be that sort of help that they need to get out.”
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