Football Season Guide

Exeter City will be hoping to recover from the heartbreaking end to the 2016/17 season when they were beaten by Blackpool following a disappointing performance in the play-off final at Wembley. Manager Paul Tisdale celebrated ten years in charge of the club last summer and remains the second longest serving manager in English football behind Arsenal's Arsene Wenger. He has faced a series of challenges in that time and like many of their League Two rivals was unable to hold onto his best player for the new season. Playmaker, Ollie Watkins, has been a target for Championship Brentford for almost a year and the Grecians accepted an undisclosed fee which is believed to be in excess of the £1.75m received from Swansea City for midfielder Matt Grimes two years ago. They have also sold 16-year-old defender Ethan Ampadu to Premier League giants Chelsea for a yet-to-be-agreed fee whilst winger Joel Grant’s decision to reject the offer of a new deal to sign for bitter local rivals Plymouth Argyle is certain to stick in the craw. The loss of Watkins will be most acutely felt having formed part of a potent attacking trio, alongside winger David Wheeler and striker Reuben Reid, which reaped 51 goals in all competitions. Wheeler is also attracting interest from clubs in higher leagues and the Grecians will be desperate to resist them if they are to go one better this season. Tisdale has only made one notable addition to his squad so far this summer with defender Dean Moxey making a welcome return the club from Bolton Wanderers after eight years away. However, the gaffer is going to find it extremely difficult to find anyone with the qualities to replace Watkins. The squad still looks a little short on goals at the time of writing and another play-off push is probably the best they can hope for.