Since 2010, Davids had been living in North London with his partner and had been participating in street football as well as managing Sunday league amateur side Brixton United. On 11 October 2012, Davids joined League Two side Barnet in a player-manager role, alongside Mark Robson. The next day, on his managerial debut for Barnet, his side lost 4–1 at Underhill to Plymouth Argyle which Davids had left himself out of the squad for this League Two game. They followed this up with a 4–0 home win over Northampton Town where Davids played the full match, captaining the team and being voted Man of the Match. In November, he started against Morecambe which Barnet lost 4–1. Near the end of December 2012, following the departure of Robson, Davids took charge of the club by himself. Davids scored his first goal for Barnet in February 2013 in a 2–0 home victory over Southend United.