By Pete Oliver

Fairclough has taken his side to sixth in League Two

Barnet's enlightened approach towards referees is providing welcome evidence that nice guys can win.

After falling foul of officials too often in the opinion of manager Paul Fairclough, Barnet's players were told they had to clean up their act.

A poor disciplinary record last season, which triggered a further FA fine, showed little sign of improvement when Barnet had three players sent off in the opening weeks of the current campaign.

Fairclough admits that "interesting decisions" also contributed to three penalty calls against his side as they lost three and drew one of their first four matches.

But rather than wallow in a blame culture, Fairclough put the onus on his players to provide the answer to their disciplinary problems.

I am the leader and I guide them along the path but it's their team and they have to be accountable Paul Fairclough

"The players wanted to resolve the issue and they came up with the idea that they would only allow one person to talk to the referee," Fairclough told BBC Sport.

"There is one allocated person, which sometimes changes, and they police that. That allows the players to focus on what they are doing as footballers, rather than moaning at each other, the opposition, the linesmen and the referee.

"They are focused on what they are doing as a member of the team. I'm not saying it's the complete reason for the improvement but it has certainly helped.

"Because of that, we are doing more of the right things more of the time."

Coincidentally, Barnet's self-imposed policy is also to be adopted by the FA in an experiment planned for lower league football in a bid to improve behaviour and restore respect towards referees.

For Barnet it was a case of getting their own house in order and getting the best out of players who are encouraged to think for themselves by Fairclough.

"I am always challenging players to come up with new ideas. It's their team," he said.

"I am the leader and I guide them along the path but it's their team and they have to be accountable. If they have ideas that enhance the team we respect that.

"I challenge them to set up free-kicks, styles of play and to solve disciplinary problems. I said 'it's your problem, you solve it'.

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"We needed to do something. I felt it was a good idea and it led from there. And the players are doing great."

Fairclough added: "They might get booked for a tackle but our ratio (of bookings) for the first four games was probably the worst in the division. For the last seven games it's probably been the best.

"It works for us. It may not work for other teams. It might need to be tailored a bit more before it's perfect.

"There may be some hiccups but since we've been doing there has been a direct correlation in improved discipline and results."

The facts speak for themselves with Barnet's first four games yielding seven yellow cards and three reds. The next seven have produced eight cautions and no dismissals.

And since the start of September, Barnet have put together an unbeaten seven-match run in League Two, including four successive wins, to move up to sixth place in the table.

They have done it with a side Fairclough, who led the Bees up from the Conference in 2005, has re-built after losing 13 players in the summer, including the key trio of Dean Sinclair, Nicky Bailey and Simon King.

Striker Tresor Kandol also left last season to join Leeds but Fairclough stuck to his blueprint of recruiting young hungry players by bringing in Neal Bishop, Max Porter, Ashley Carew and Anthony Thomas from non-league clubs and teenager Josh Wright on loan from Charlton.

At the other end of the age scale Sagi Burton has strengthened the defence, while according to Fairclough, midfielder Jason Puncheon has been a revelation.

He was making poor decisions as a person and we have helped to give him a different viewpoint. Now he's making good decisions Paul Fairclough on Jason Puncheon

No stranger to problems on and off the pitch earlier in his career, the former MK Dons player, 21, has been a guiding light with six goals in 11 games.

"He's had a real journey of life for such a young body," said Fairclough. "He's had a lot of colourful experiences but he has turned his lifestyle around and I believe his football career has turned round at the same time.

"He was making poor decisions as a person and we have helped to give him a different viewpoint on life and to support him.

"He's a very intelligent boy but very intelligent people don't always make the right decisions. Now he's making good decisions and we're very pleased with him."

Barnet as a club also have obstacles to overcome as they battle on-going ground issues and look to mount a promotion challenge in front of a home support of only around 1,500.

"My ambitions and the players' ambitions don't reflect that," Fairclough added.