Gary's January Transfer Window

[Devon Red]

Unfortunately I can't see us ever really being able to maintain a competitive League 1 side under Trust ownership (I know this will annoy most).

We are able to get a decent League 2 side together with excellent recruitment of rough diamonds but as soon as we get promoted the vultures are inevitably circling. Take Archie Collins for example, he's probably on £1500 ish a week, he will definitely get better offers and leave. If we were to replace him with someone of his ability we would have to pay at least double that, we can't afford to do it.

Hope I'm wrong and perhaps I'm being negative but I just don't think the numbers stack up. There is another thread where many are discussing a bigger ground should we get to the championship, I think avoiding relegation in the next couple of seasons would be a massive achievement let alone promotion.

 

[tom_ecfc]

All good for now, we have a decent team, but can we really bring in 12-15 players between now and August?

Derby did, and look where they are now All jokes aside, looking at in on black and white paper is a real eye opener at how small and like you say how many players we need to get in. On the other hand i’m looking forward to a refreshed team and new players coming in to play for the mighty Grecians. The new era?

 

[Devon Red]

Derby did, and look where they are now All jokes aside, looking at in on black and white paper is a real eye opener at how small and like you say how many players we need to get in. On the other hand i’m looking forward to a refreshed team and new players coming in to play for the mighty Grecians. The new era?

Do you think we will be able to get players of the required quality on the same wages as our departing players? That's what concerns me.

 

[tom_ecfc]

Do you think we will be able to get players of the required quality on the same wages as our departing players? That's what concerns me.

I think with GC as manager now that opens up a new avenue/contact of players/agents/clubs that were previously unknown to ecfc.

The problem we have is some of the potential departing players are from our academy and will be on lower wages than the ones that we potentially will bring in. We’ve been blessed with so many good academy players for L2 football but look up the pyramid and the number of academy players drops coming into a team. L2 is the level we should be looking to loan out our academy players rather than non league to get them up to speed with L1 football.

On the flip side we have increased attendances and from the recent club financial presentation it sounds like we are trying to increase revenue in all ways possible.

I’m really optimistic that the summer will be a good one for us and a ‘fresh start’ for the club in L1. Having the new training building and very good pitches at the Cliff Hill, stadium looking the best it has ever and a feel good factor around club atm special things are happening in Devon‘s capital.

 

[Devon Red]

I think with GC as manager now that opens up a new avenue/contact of players/agents/clubs that were previously unknown to ecfc.

The problem we have is some of the potential departing players are from our academy and will be on lower wages than the ones that we potentially will bring in. We’ve been blessed with so many good academy players for L2 football but look up the pyramid and the number of academy players drops coming into a team. L2 is the level we should be looking to loan out our academy players rather than non league to get them up to speed with L1 football.

On the flip side we have increased attendances and from the recent club financial presentation it sounds like we are trying to increase revenue in all ways possible.

I’m really optimistic that the summer will be a good one for us and a ‘fresh start’ for the club in L1. Having the new training building and very good pitches at the Cliff Hill, stadium looking the best it has ever and a feel good factor around club atm special things are happening in Devon‘s capital.

Love your optimism and I really hope you're right!

 

[Jim Dale]

I'm getting quite concerned about next season. We don't have many players tied down and whilst I was for Dieng and Jay moving on, this wasn't just to fill the squad with loans (however good they are)

Contracted next season:

Lee

Caprice
Hartridge
Diabate
Sweeney

Kite
Taylor
Coley

Nombe
Cox

That is very, very light. Key players not signing extensions and a fairly poor summer in the window has left us in a pickle down the road. Nombe, I cannot see being with us in 23/24.

All good for now, we have a decent team, but can we really bring in 12-15 players between now and August?

I made this very point while recording an episode of the My New Favourite Football Podcast with Dave and Jon last week. It’s so difficult to recruit to this part of the world on the wages we can offer… just about manageable in L2 given the need for players to ‘prove they can play’ and our record of career making. Very very difficult in L1 as proven quality comes at a price beyond our means.
A lot of our players- especially who came through the academy- are on L2 wages… If we want our better players to stay, we’ll need to offer competitive L1 money, then find the cash to fill the sizeable gaps in our squad with suitable talent for the level. I’m not sure we can offer enough to get those players to come down to Devon, to be honest.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this season… it’s been a real joy… but even last summer I was of the opinion that our stay in league 1 would likely be over by the 23/24 season, given how many of our better players will be off at the end of the season, either to progress their career or return to the parent clubs at the end of a loan.

It’s a big 10 days ahead for GC recruitment wise… but it’ll be the summer where he really earns his money. Let’s hope his contacts and pedigree can get both the numbers and the quality through the door in the off season.

 

[SaintJames]

Unfortunately I can't see us ever really being able to maintain a competitive League 1 side under Trust ownership (I know this will annoy most).

We are able to get a decent League 2 side together with excellent recruitment of rough diamonds but as soon as we get promoted the vultures are inevitably circling. Take Archie Collins for example, he's probably on £1500 ish a week, he will definitely get better offers and leave. If we were to replace him with someone of his ability we would have to pay at least double that, we can't afford to do it.

Hope I'm wrong and perhaps I'm being negative but I just don't think the numbers stack up. There is another thread where many are discussing a bigger ground should we get to the championship, I think avoiding relegation in the next couple of seasons would be a massive achievement let alone promotion.

To a degree yes. However, being able to maintain a competitive League 1 side is not as black and white as being about the ownership model per se imo. Notwithstanding that I have raised that the Club and Trust should consider seeking additional investment through new minority shareholders the main factor is the undeniable fact we are a small provincial football club. The Trust model imo has actually enabled us to historically overachieve over the past five years by bringing into the club millions of pounds in transfers that wouldn't have been available under private ownership. Those millions enabled the club to have increased player budgets above the norm to be a Top 5 League Two team and one that finally achieved promotion. As importantly those millions have modernised fifty years of neglect by modernising the ground, pitches and training ground. This I would argue wouldn't have happened under private ownership who would have put money into short term gain in the playing budget only. Every club should be ambitious to over achieve and progress up the pyrmid otherwise what's the point? However, history shows us that Exeter City has always been one of the very smallest minnows in the football league because of the size of our gates and our location. It could be argued that potentially we have been competing against the likes of Torquay, Barrow, Carlisle, Hartlepool, and Workington as provincial outposts. There are smaller clubs that we are in the football league but they are located in the footballing hotbeds of the North West or the south east which gives them a massive advantage in recruiting that's undeniable. We can hold our own I believe in L1 under Trust ownership providing that transfer income continues to come in. The reason we fell so quickly last time in L1 under Tiz was that we weren't at that point raising the transfer money we have done subsequently. This season we are competing against the likes of Shrewsbury, Morecambe, FGR, Accrington, Burton, Cambridge, Cheltenham, Flletwood and Lincoln to stay in the division. In any given season there will be a similar number (8-10) who are competing to remain in L1. Accrington have managed it by canny recruitment and I don't see why we cant do likewise given we can supplement our squad each season with home grown players something other clubs don't have. Replacing (or even retaining) the out of contract players will be a huge challenge but I believe we can compete in the short term in a L1 mini league. The challenge is how long can we keep the cash tills of player sales going?

 

[manc grecian]

Let's hope we're better prepared than the season we were relegated from league one.

 

[Simba3011]

Potentially more chance for some youth players to breakthrough unexpectedly

 

[arthur]

Let's hope we're better prepared than the season we were relegated from league one.

We have a better manager, that's one thing