Football Season Guide

Exeter City will have high expectations ahead of the 2016/17 season and the pressure will be on manager Paul Tisdale to deliver. He celebrated ten years in charge of the Grecians during the summer and remains the second longest serving manager in English football behind Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger. They say familiarity breeds contempt and City fans are split more or less right down the middle whether Tisdale is the man to bring success to St James Park. A 10th place finish in League Two in 2014/15 was deemed acceptable however expectations had been raised following the sale of 19-year-old midfielder Matt Grimes to Swansea City for £1.75 million in January 2015. They held Premier League giants Liverpool to a 2-2 draw in a F.A. Cup third round tie at St James Park in January 2016 but Tisdale incurred the wrath of fans after selecting a team full of experience in the replay at Anfield which was lost with a barely a whimper. Striker and leading goalscorer Tom Nichols was then sold to Peterborough United but a play-off challenge never materialised and they finished in a disappointing 14th place. He has lost defender Christian Ribiero over the summer and rather surprisingly opted not to offer midfield playmaker David Noble a new deal. He has re-signed defender Troy Archibald-Henville from Carlisle United whilst adding to his squad with the arrivals of midfielder Lloyd James and strikers Liam McAlinden and Robbie Simpson. He will again rely on a talented group of young players, none more so than 20-year-old midfielder Ollie Watkins, who enjoyed an outstanding second half of the season. He has been attracting the attention of many clubs over the summer and the club faces a battle to hold onto his services which could be crucial if they are going to have enough to reach the play-offs.