Barnet boss Dean Brennan reveals the secrets of their revival, how he found the 'extra one per cent' to win promotion, why he doesn't regret calling his own fans 'miserable and moany' - and his 'marriage' with owner Anthony Kleanthous

Dean Brennan couldn’t hold it in any more.  

‘I'll move on then, if that's what they want,’ bristled the Barnet boss, addressing his own supporters, in September 2024. ‘Get someone else to do the job because I'm sick and tired of them. Just a miserable, moany lot. What's wrong with them? Get behind the team.’

Brennan, the straight-talking Dubliner who left his home city in his teenage years to pursue a football dream, wasn’t afraid to take a risk and call out his own fans in his pursuit of the EFL. Barnet had come from behind to beat Altrincham in the National League, yet the 45-year-old was unhappy with the negativity emanating from the stands earlier in the night.

‘When you're in the tough times, you see the real characters, the real people,’ added Brennan in a clip that went viral. ‘That's what I'm looking for in this group - character - and I want our fans to come with us. There's a message for you. Do not edit that. I want that to go out because that's very important.’

The rest, as they say, is history. Following Brennan’s now infamous rant, the Bees, then in their seventh successive season in non-League, won five games in a row.

In fact, after a defeat by promotion rivals York City in October, Barnet lost only one of their remaining 31 matches to secure the National League title with 102 points.

‘It was all part of the storyline of last season I suppose,’ Brennan tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘We were brilliant that night but at 1-0 down, we had some supporters moaning and you could hear everything. We managed to win and then over the next five games, we backed that up.’

Brennan is affable company, and has brought the good times back to a club he admits was ‘decaying’ on his arrival four years ago.

Barnet have adapted well to life back in the EFL. They are 12th in League Two after six wins in 14 games, and only five points off table-toppers Walsall.

‘Our performances have deserved more points,’ says Brennan, whose side are in the top three in the division for several metrics including clean sheets, big chances created, touches in the opposition box and shots on target per match. ‘If we can be a little more clinical at the top end of the pitch, and a bit more solid at the back, we can have a really good season.’

Brennan has noticed a step up in standard, but this is just the latest chapter in his transformation of Barnet.

After coming in as head of football in June 2021, Brennan soon replaced Harry Kewell in the dugout with Barnet in the relegation zone. At the time, he became the Bees' 16th permanent manager since the appointment of Mark Stimson in June 2010, a sign of the club’s instability, and morale was low.

That first season wasn’t easy as Barnet came 18th, but since then Brennan has created a winning mentality and tight-knit culture, all the while playing an energetic, attacking and possession-based style.

The Bees finished fifth the following campaign, before they were thwarted in the play-offs, a fate which also befell them a year later despite rising to second that time around.

‘The transformation of the club has been amazing,’ adds Brennan, a winger in his playing days for the likes of Hitchin, Stevenage and Luton who once earned the nickname ‘The Irish Beckham’ given his crossing ability. ‘When I came in, there was a dark cloud over the club. We did it with hard work and honesty and tried to get everybody representing the badge to create a togetherness.’

When reflecting on Barnet’s evolution, Brennan cites one torrid afternoon in April 2022 at the back end of his first season. His side were 5-0 down at half-time away at Dagenham Redbridge and eventually lost 7-3.

‘Without defeat, you can't become a winner,’ he explains. ‘You have to remember those days. I was getting dog’s abuse from our supporters. But the owner (Anthony Kleanthous) stuck by me which was vital. I had to have thick skin, but it was a great learning curve.’

Brennan was fully aware of the challenge but wanted to get a team that represented what he was about - passion and hard work. It took time, but by the end of his third season, all of Barnet’s squad had been signed under his watch and the club were moving firmly in the right direction.

More heartbreak was to come though, and they were thumped 4-0 at home by Solihull Moors in the play-off semi-final.

‘The hurt and devastation galvanized us,’ adds Brennan, who knew where he needed to strengthen that summer before he set his side a target of 100 points in winning the league. ‘It gave us the extra one per cent to go and win the division.’

Brennan’s tenure has been characterised by canny recruitment. He is heavily involved alongside head analyst Danny Hutchins, and the Bees have been particularly good at uncovering the best non-League talent.

Their current top scorers Callum Stead and Lee Ndlovu are EFL debutants. Stead was signed in 2023 after stints at Hitchin, Kettering and Brackley Town. He scored 18 league goals last season, while Ndlovu, 30, joined after impressing at Brackley and Boreham Wood. Others including Nikola Tavares, signed from Dagenham in 2024, and Danny Collinge, who arrived from Dover in 2022, have shone and become leaders within the squad.

That recruitment has been supported by long-serving owner and chairman Kleanthous. Although his commitment to the club cannot be questioned, Kleanthous has not always been popular with fans, notably for overseeing Barnet’s move from their old Underhill Stadium to the current site out of town in Harrow. The club are hoping and campaigning to move back to Barnet, but an application to build a new ground on Barnet Playing Fields was rejected by the council in the summer.

Brennan did have doubts before joining, and he had rejected the job on two previous occasions, but taking the plunge was the right decision and his bond with Kleanthous has driven the success.

‘We've got an honest, straight-talking relationship and I can say things to him that maybe other people wouldn't. At times, we've had huge arguments, but we always make up. It's like a marriage. You have your arguments, but you still love your wife, and Tony knows I love him.'

Brennan, who is enthusiastic, candid, and funny, has a fascinating managerial background. He is only 45 but already has 620 games under his belt, winning promotions at Hemel Hempstead, Wealdstone and Barnet.

He transitioned from part-time to full-time football too, and those experiences, including the difficult ones, have given him perspective. They included a painful exit from Wealdstone when Brennan resigned after a falling-out between his long-time assistant Stuart Maynard - now York City boss - and the club’s owner. Or his four-month stint at Billericay during the chaotic era of the eccentric Glenn Tamplin. Tamplin was heavily involved and spent huge sums on players, signing former Premier League stars Paul Konchesky, Jamie O'Hara and Jermaine Pennant, but also courted controversy off the pitch.

‘The four months I had at Billericay taught me everything about what not to do at a club,' says Brennan. 'The way I left Wealdstone, the loyalty I showed to them on several occasions, and what happened to me helped me as well... These things make you a better coach.’

Brennan is supported by a united and young group of staff, and he likes to give opportunities to former players. He managed his assistant Connor Smith, 32, at three clubs, while first-team coach Jerome Okimo, 37, retired from playing after the Bees' promotion last season.

It was Smith who helped secure the statement signing of Britt Assombalonga last month. The iconic EFL striker, now 32, was keen to be closer to family after two years in Turkey. Smith was a team-mate of Assombalonga when they came through the ranks at Watford and a conversation between them sparked the move.

Having lost their first three games this season, Barnet’s run since is proof they are good enough to compete and thrive in the EFL.

The Bees have had a sole season in the third tier in their history - all the way back in 1993-94 - and despite not explicitly setting promotion as a target, Brennan refuses to rest on his laurels.

‘In the last 11 games, we’ve got 21 points,’ he concludes. ‘If we can stay on that points-per-game, we'll have an amazing season. That's going to be our aspiration and our drive.

‘I never get too carried away with where we're at or what we're doing. But if we can stay on the points-per-game, I'll be pleased.’