I always love it when Exeter comes around, because I have a chance to talk to any number of good people.
My uncle and his lad are both Exeter fans, but I’m also friends with Chris Sumner, (@sumsECFC on X), a hugely respected figure at Exeter City and, like me, a one-time mascot. I know when I put questions to Chris, I’m going to get some valuable, insightful stuff, and he hasn’t disappointed me at all.
Ahead of the game tomorrow, I started by asking him how the season has started for the Grecians.
“It’s not been the best of starts, nine points out of a possible 30 is pretty alarming, ten games in. There’s a little bit of unrest behind the scenes at the moment regarding the leadership of the Supporters’ Trust, with views that they may not be being as open as they can be with supporters with regard to the club’s current state.
“I think the off-pitch matters may well be affecting things on the pitch. The football has not been great to watch, with the players seemingly shackled to a game plan that’s not coming to fruition.”
The Exeter City supporter-owned model has been an example of how lower league clubs should do it for many, but 20 years in, it does feel like they’ve hit their ceiling. Given that other clubs have big investment, I wondered how Chris felt about their model and the potential for growth.
“At the moment, I think we’re at a bit of a crossroads. Although the trust own the club, the club haven’t been accountable to the trust as the owner and that’s something that desperately needs correcting.
“For instance, in the summer, money was loaned to the club from the trust without question, whereas although you’d want to help the club out, something like that still needs to be scrutinised accordingly to uncover why the money was needed, and what could be put in place to prevent it from happening in the future.
“The next AGM for the Supporters’ Trust is in just over a month’s time, so it’ll be interesting to see how things go from there.
“As for going to the next level, that’s possibly where outside investment may be required. I think the main aim for us right now is to be a sustainable League One club. Historically, we’ve spent most of our existence in League Two, so it’d be nice to stay up here for a few more years at least.
“Can we ever get to the Championship? Who knows, but as I say the main focus for me right now is staying in this division.”
With a focus on staying in the division, I switched my questioning to Gary Caldwell, their manager. I admire Caldwell, I don’t like him, but I feel he got a lot out of his budget last campaign, and has always put out compact teams, combative and difficult to break down.
That’s the outside looking in, but from the inside looking out, Chris feels a little differently.
“Personally, I think a change is probably required, as there is a sense of apathy around the place at the moment and the football just hasn’t been enjoyable.
“I like the man and think he’s done a lot for the club to keep us in the division and used his contacts to bring in a lot of good loan signings; however, he seems very stubborn in his approach to how he wants to play the game, with no real Plan B if the game is crying out for tactical changes.
“We have more than capable players for this division at our disposal, as we’ve seen in our games against Blackpool and Peterborough earlier in the season, but it seems as though the players are shackled to the game plan in a lot of games I’ve witnessed this season.
“Another thing that has been a little concerning during GC’s time with us is his reluctance to make use of our academy, which in the years before his arrival was the very cornerstone of the club. Some argue that there isn’t as much talent in the academy as there was back then, but part of me wonders if they are being told to play the same way as the first team.
“In terms of who we get in as a replacement, I’d like to see Dan Green, who is one of the current coaches, given the opportunity, as he took a few of the U21 Premier League Cup games last season in which we had a good run.”
Coming around to more immediate matters, the Exeter side feels like it has evolved over the summer, whether that is for better or worse is not up for me to decide. I wondered if any of the new faces jumped out as ones to watch.
“In terms of summer signings, Jayden Wareham has signed from Reading and has been given the famous number 9 shirt that was worn by both Stansfield father and son. The jury’s still out but he started well in his early games.
“One of the most surprisingly impressive signings for me has been midfielder Jake Doyle-Hayes, a youngster signed from Irish side Sligo Rovers. At the back, Jack Fitzwater’s been a rock for us and has put his body on the line on numerous occasions.”
If last season is anything to go by, don’t expect goals. Both games were 0-0, but there were red cards for David Perkins, Ryan Woods and Gary Caldwell, as well as a disallowed goal. Like me, Chris found that to be about the sum of both matches in terms of highlights.
“You’ve probably hit the nail on the head with the talking points there, apart from that there wasn’t much to shout about. The disallowed goal in the game at your place was gutting as it was so late on, but had that been allowed, then I think we would have got away with a smash and grab that day.”
As for the game itself, Exeter’s style does seem to play into our hands in terms of playing out from the back, and if Caldwell is stubborn, we might finally see a goal in the matches between us. If we were to score twice, it would be the first time since March 2018 we’d bagged two or more in a game against them at the Bank.
“We are very predictable at the moment in our style of play, which is hugely frustrating,” finished Chris. “We have a tendency of playing out from the back and playing a possession-based game, when there’s been some games this season that have been crying out for a more direct approach and going back to basics.
“This has sadly led to a very negative approach, if we concede first the stuffing seems to get knocked out of us. I think it’s an issue throughout the game now though that too many managers treat the game like they’re playing human chess, and it doesn’t make for a great watch for the average fan on the terrace.
“My head says 2-1 to Lincoln, my heart says a 1-1 draw. Considering your great start to the season and our poor start, I’m not expecting a lot on Saturday – of course, I hope I’m wrong!”
Huge thanks to Chris for taking the time to give us such thorough answers, and best of luck to the Grecians for their season after this weekend.
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