Caldwell out?

[grecIAN Harris]

There is a group of clubs that we should be aiming to break into whilst maintaining our own operating values and ethos. Those being Oxford, Blackpool, Lincoln, Wigan, Rovers, Charlton and Reading. In general terms if you've got most of them in around you then you should find yourselves in the top half of the table, maybe with a shout of the play offs. There will always be a couple of them that will drop off, as with Charlton (strange season, won four less than us but also lost four less than us) and Reading (very obviously) this season but if we can gain some consistency in that group for a few season we can then look to build again.

 

[Memphis09]

Unfortunately we have a very easily satisfied fanbase. This is proven by the constant 'we are doing well to even compete in League 1' posts, despite it being filled with the likes of Carlisle, Burton, Fleetwood, Shrewsbury, Cambridge, Stevenage etc etc.

It seems no one (or very few) actually really wants to achieve something special.

We now have a manager who is being touted as the best ever in our history (I'll ignore judging that right now) with a bunch of players that everyone keeps telling me are amazing. Surely we should aim higher than we have been?

We should always look to to improve season on season
i think the squad is improving
the summer window yet again is vital
we all know there were several players leaving last season and we lacked that number nine but most of the players have improved the squad
those leaving this summer have been good servants but I am afraid they are not of the standard required for league one
Hartridge started the season well but Jules and Purrington are better
Kite if he could stay fit would be ok but can’t put a run of games together
let’s see who else is released I do think a number of the younger players signed last season will be gone as not many if any have pushed for first team football

 

[larrywilkie]

We should always look to to improve season on season
i think the squad is improving
the summer window yet again is vital
we all know there were several players leaving last season and we lacked that number nine but most of the players have improved the squad
those leaving this summer have been good servants but I am afraid they are not of the standard required for league one
Hartridge started the season well but Jules and Purrington are better
Kite if he could stay fit would be ok but can’t put a run of games together
let’s see who else is released I do think a number of the younger players signed last season will be gone as not many if any have pushed for first team football

Agreed and thinking back to when GC was appointed, he said pretty much the same in that he wanted the club to be more ambitious in our aims, not just be happy with surviving but be challenging higher up the table (I know that's not a direct quote but prety much what he was thinking).
I think as this season has developed, the better players have adapted to the system and style of play that GC is looking for. A Work in progress for sure, and if he can keep the players he wants and add some more quality signings that he sees will fit into that style, then happy days, onwards and keep looking upwards.

 

[Spoonz Red E]

We are on the cusp ladies and gentlemen ....
GLADWELL OUT

 

[larrywilkie]

We've tipped!!

 

[citytillidie72]

We've tipped!!
View attachment 15210

That was me

 

[denzel]

Unfortunately we have a very easily satisfied fanbase. This is proven by the constant 'we are doing well to even compete in League 1' posts, despite it being filled with the likes of Carlisle, Burton, Fleetwood, Shrewsbury, Cambridge, Stevenage etc etc.

It seems no one (or very few) actually really wants to achieve something special.

We now have a manager who is being touted as the best ever in our history (I'll ignore judging that right now) with a bunch of players that everyone keeps telling me are amazing. Surely we should aim higher than we have been?

I would suggest realistic rather than easily satisfied. If we went up to the Championship we'd be the smallest club in it.
Yes, the likes of Yeovil, Burton, Scunthorpe and Wycombe have been there, they've come straight back down.
I don't know how I'd feel if we spent the next five seasons between 10th and 16th in League One, but right now it seems to be a reasonable ambition.
Would quite like a proper (FA) Cup run though...

 

[Colesman Ballz]

We've tipped!!
View attachment 15210

The poll is obviously unnecessary, as we can simply use the league table instead with 12th place as the tipping point !

 

[denzel]

Historically three of those sides have been better positioned than us. Yes, you might have to go a little way back for the evidence but Carlisle, Cambridge and Shrewsbury have all played Division 2 football, I think Carlisle even made it to the top flight
Everyone wants special achievements but, just like playable Academy players, they don't grow on trees. Unfortunately for us success is usually followed by dismantlement. Our stars shine and then they are picked off meaning we have to start again and get all the pieces together. This current season we started with basically nothing (in terms of the Caldwell mould) and have had to build from the back up. Next season we will have some sort of basis of understanding to build from. Pieces will, of course, need to be added and be improvements on what we have, especially up front and then we go again and aim to see some improvement. And repeat for season three whereby, hopefully, we might be close to something special.
That's how it's always been with City, how it is now and how it will always be until we can step up our financial footing. The good thing now, compared to when we had the Cup team and that got dismantled and the Division 4 side and that got dismantled, is a greater ethos on growing our own so we can try and speed up the process and have less fallow time in between.

Sadly i think the days of Carlisle and Northampton getting to the top flight are over, unless they 'do a Bournemouth' and get a billionaire on board.

 

[Antony Moxey]

Thanks for clarifying. Just to be clear I’m not saying I’m happy with getting relegated and having no ambition. No one should be really. But the tone of the post suggested that what we have achieved this season was not enough and lacked ambition.


It’s possible to be towards the top end of the league and I think we shouldn’t limit ourselves at all as I think our model works really well and provides long-term stability which lends itself to long term success. But we are, compared to a lot of clubs at the top end of this league, a small club. Again, that doesn’t mean we should aim for mid/low league 1 finishes, but realistically it’s where we will finish based purely on budgets/players we can attract etc.

I don’t believe I lack ambition or have ‘village thinking’ when I say that, it’s just a strong probability given all we know about how football works. We can’t pull in 15-20,000 crowds, we can’t have a squad of 23 league 1 ready experienced players. We have more hurdles to get over and than say a former prem club like Bolton, or a Peterborough with a rich benefactor.

By hopefully finishing above a lot of those teams around us we have done exceptionally well and it should be commended given we probably still have one of the smallest budgets despite the investment in Jan, and because we do have limitations and it’s not weak to point out those limitations.

The tone of my post was in reply to yours that said you were satisfied at having a club to support. THAT is village thinking and typical little old Exeter thinking. We’re way beyond that and way better than that. We’ve shown, as I said, that even with arguably the worst run in the club’s history that we’ve comfortably avoided relegation and can see out the last four or five games of the season in blissful mid table obscurity. That is so far beyond just happy to have a club to support it’s untrue, we should now be looking to establish ourselves as a stable L1 side with the hope that maybe we can push on a bit for consistent top half finishes, not just at least we’ve got a club to support.

It‘s not the club that lacks ambition, it’s the fans.