Caldwell out?

[GrecianGrain]

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?

How do you propose we achieve ‘something really special’? Does it start with sacking Gary? Or the board? Putting all the money into the playing budget? Being bought out by an American? I’m satisfied I’ve got a club to go and support, who are transparent in their decision making, and continue to invest in the club on and off the pitch. Oh and we’re currently above all those teams bar Stevenage. It’s also a league that contains 6 former premier league sides

 

[grecIAN Harris]

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?

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.

 

[Antony Moxey]

How do you propose we achieve ‘something really special’? Does it start with sacking Gary? Or the board? Putting all the money into the playing budget? Being bought out by an American? I’m satisfied I’ve got a club to go and support, who are transparent in their decision making, and continue to invest in the club on and off the pitch. Oh and we’re currently above all those teams bar Stevenage. It’s also a league that contains 6 former premier league sides

I’m not. It’s not enough just to have a club to support - that was over 20 years ago. We’ve moved on so far from that, yet still supporters think we should be eternally grateful just to have something. Well no, it’s not enough, there needs to be more. At the very worst we should never be below mid-table L2 - there will never be a situation where that is acceptable, not just be thankful we’ve got a club at all.

Right now we’re mid table L1. Our sights should be L1 survival as the minimum, and there’s no reason to think that’s not achievable. This season we’ve been on the worst run in living memory and arguably the worst in the club’s history yet in the end we’ve survived comfortably, so all of this be thankful to have a club at all is so small time it’s ridiculous and frankly insulting to those that have got us to where we are now.

As for moving forward, I don’t think at this time any changes are required anywhere, all we need at the moment is an improvement to our front line - I don’t think if the current squad started next season we‘d have a run like we did pre Christmas, so I think all things being equal next season should at the very least eclipse this in terms of points gained and final league position.

We’re so village in our thinking at times, it’s laughable that supporters label the club as lacking in ambition, they should look to the terraces first because there’s no-one more small time than us in the stands.

 

[geoffwp]

Correct. This club of ours is light years away from the club I started supporting and which constantly demoralised me for years (it's a hard habit to break). it's a zillion years from the club I worked for and the term well run was more apt for my car than my club (sorry Ivor God bless your soul). A nod to the past is always relevant as we can't ignore that we have largely been pretty crap for almost our entire existence and spending 90% of our existence in the bottom league is frankly embarrassing. However, it is what it is we can't re-write our past but we can do something about our future! Therefore, Gary has a very very low bar to become one of our most successful ever managers. Spending three seasons in L1 in itself with a nod to the past can be considered successful as an Exeter City manager regardless of whether we are Gary in or Gary out. For me if GC were to remain in post for another three seasons and we finished Top Ten in those three he would de facto join Brian Godfrey as best ever managers if we had five seasons in L1 and three in the top 10.

The challenge isn't for the manager, it's for the fans to start evolving mindset. Clearly we have limitations (financial and ground) however ambitious we are. Stevenage with all their limitations have challenged this season and Lincoln who we are on a par with are in the play off's. With the right recruitmnent (let's not open that debate again now) we can be a Top 10 L1 club challenging for a play off place next season. Gary will be targetting that and I believe so must we as fans

Hang on, from conference to league 1 in 2 seasons . No one else has ever taken us on a consecutive promotions ride before or since. Regardless of cravats and odd interviews Tisdales double promotion puts him top still. Also no mention of division 4 winners trophy?

 

[JGrecian23]

How do you propose we achieve ‘something really special’? Does it start with sacking Gary? Or the board? Putting all the money into the playing budget? Being bought out by an American? I’m satisfied I’ve got a club to go and support, who are transparent in their decision making, and continue to invest in the club on and off the pitch. Oh and we’re currently above all those teams bar Stevenage. It’s also a league that contains 6 former premier league sides

Anthony has beaten me to it. I'm not sure why you would think we need an American investor to try and aim for stability and promotion from this division. I've already listed all the average clubs in the league. Rotherham, Huddersfield etc don't worry me. Lose Pompey, Derby and Bolton possibly and the league looks weak.

Everyone in the club should aim for promotion, fall short then and its mid table again which is fine. Aim for mid table and fail and we are in trouble at the wrong end.

I want to see some ambition (doesn't mean we have to spend millions), it's more to do with the attitude of the club and supporters.

 

[edwin_price]

Hang on, from conference to league 1 in 2 seasons . No one else has ever taken us on a consecutive promotions ride before or since. Regardless of cravats and odd interviews Tisdales double promotion puts him top still. Also no mention of division 4 winners trophy?

For sure, it's a massive achievement, but a GC double promotion would see us in the prem, so there's got to be different bars according to where we are when they take over.

 

[haka]

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.

Whenever people say "the likes of", the list seems to be based on a simplistic assumption that if the town or the ground isn't very big, or a similar size to Exeter, then the football club must be at a similar financial level. That just isn't true.

Being in League One doesn't mean equal financial backing, equal wealth. The differences are huge.

List of owners of English football clubs - Wikipedia

That doesn't mean City can't have a decent season, make the play-offs, enjoy success for our level (although it probably does mean we'd do even worse than Argyle in the Parachute Championship). But every season it gets harder (look at who's coming up from L2 next season, most richer than ECFC).

 

[edwin_price]

Whenever people say "the likes of", the list seems to be based on a simplistic assumption that if the town or the ground isn't very big, or a similar size to Exeter, then the football club must be at a similar financial level. That just isn't true.

Being in League One doesn't mean equal financial backing, equal wealth. The differences are huge.

List of owners of English football clubs - Wikipedia

That doesn't mean City can't have a decent season, make the play-offs, enjoy success for our level (although it probably does mean we'd do even worse than Argyle in the Parachute Championship). But every season it gets harder (look at who's coming up from L2 next season, most richer than ECFC).

Nearly every season the teams coming up are better set than the teams they replace. At the top end we get some weaker clubs than the one that leave. Meanwhile the ones that stick around fluctuate in strength and the league as a whole stays about the same

 

[JGrecian23]

Whenever people say "the likes of", the list seems to be based on a simplistic assumption that if the town or the ground isn't very big, or a similar size to Exeter, then the football club must be at a similar financial level. That just isn't true.

Being in League One doesn't mean equal financial backing, equal wealth. The differences are huge.

List of owners of English football clubs - Wikipedia

That doesn't mean City can't have a decent season, make the play-offs, enjoy success for our level (although it probably does mean we'd do even worse than Argyle in the Parachute Championship). But every season it gets harder (look at who's coming up from L2 next season, most richer than ECFC).

Carlisle rich owners finished bottom. It's not as important this level as some think.

I refuse to accept we should just accept being in the same league as Burton, Fleetwood, Northampton, Port Vale etc etc. I could name 12 clubs in this league who I don't feel we should be scared of and sp accepting to be in their company.

 

[grecIAN Harris]

Carlisle rich owners finished bottom. It's not as important this level as some think.

I refuse to accept we should just accept being in the same league as Burton, Fleetwood, Northampton, Port Vale etc etc. I could name 12 clubs in this league who I don't feel we should be scared of and sp accepting to be in their company.

What you seem not to factor in is they all think the same about us, little old Exeter, held together by the fans, no financial clout, punching above their weight, we shouldn't be worried by them.