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The road signs dictated you could only turn right out of Barnet s training ground, but Edgar Davids would point his car down the bus lane. He incurred fines for turning left each day but, for him, traffic restrictions in north London were merely suggestions. It was the quickest way home.
Barnet s director of football at the time, Paul Fairclough, knew such behavior was typical of Davids. He s his own person. No one s going to tell him what to do.
Davids launched his managerial career in October 2012 with an aim to improve technical play throughout English football. The fact that he was player-manager of fourth-tier Barnet - a club that had spent 107 years of its 124-year existence outside the country s professional leagues - was just another roadblock he could ignore. He was confident he d make an impression.