Tom Carroll’s outstanding form since joining Exeter City hailed
“He is the brain of our team and he dictates the tempo we play at,”
There is no doubt that one of the main reasons behind Exeter City’s decent start to their season has been the outstanding form of midfield playmaker Tom Carroll.
At 31, Carroll is one of those players that has been there and done it. He played over 50 times for Tottenham Hotspur, where he came through the youth ranks, before joining Swansea City in a £4.5 million deal in January 2017. He spent three and a half years in South Wales as the Swans battled for Premier League survival before the injuries started. He then spent a season at Queen’s Park Rangers and one at Ipswich Town before being released by the Tractor Boys in the summer of 2022.
Last season, Carroll was without a club and spent the year keeping fit with Tottenham’s Under-23 squad. But after a chat with City boss Gary Caldwell and missing that match day buzz, Carroll felt Exeter was the right place for him to get back in the game.
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“It was a tough decision to make,” Carroll said on that year out of the sport he loves. “I had options to come back and play in the League, in League One and stuff, but I didn’t particularly enjoy my time at Ipswich. I had a couple of niggles and stuff as well.
I have a young family at home and spent some time with them and I was training at Tottenham, so I stayed fit, but I was obviously missing the match day buzz at 3pm, so that was the hard part. This year, I knew I wanted to get back and play.
“The location never bothered me at all, I spoke with the manager and got a really good vibe from him and how he wants to do things. He asked me to come in and see what’s what and probably to both look at each other and see if I could get through a training session!
It was also good for me to see how he likes to do things and play and it just felt like a good fit and I am enjoying it. I am enjoying working under the management and staff, it’s a really good dressing room and group of boys and I am hopeful we can have a good season.”
Carroll has featured in nine of Exeter’s 12 games so far this season as he continued to build up to peak fitness, missing only the Carabao Cup win over Crawley, the 2-0 win at Carlisle United and the 9-0 mauling by Reading in the EFL Trophy.
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When he does play, though, his class is evident and it is easy to see why he has played at the top level and amassed over 20 caps for England Under-21s. Now, Carroll is enjoying his football again and as a veteran of this youthful Exeter team, he is happy to play minder to City’s next generation as they make their way in the professional game.
“Last year, Tottenham were really good with me and I spent all year training with them and the 23s there, but when there is no game at the end of it, I think any professional will tell you that’s what they live and breathe for,” Carroll said. “Football is the game, it’s the three points and that feeling in the dressing room after a win and to have that feeling back has been great.
“It has probably been a new role for me. Obviously I have got that experience and players can ask me whatever they want and I am happy to help. I think back to when I was their age and some of the senior players – people like Michael Dawson, who was club captain and brilliant with the young lads, Jake Livermore was a great character, Tom Huddlestone and Jermaine Jenas – they were great with me and it does help you along the way.
“It is a bit sink or swim as well I guess, they are all good players – internationals – and you have to deliver to those standards. But the boys here have been brilliant, the standards in training have been great and we have a good squad.”
Manager Gary Caldwell is equally delighted with Carroll’s contribution so far adding: “When we brought him in, it wasn’t a trial, or to see if Tom Carroll was good enough to play for Exeter City in League One because he clearly was.
“We wanted to look at him physically over a longer period of time and all credit to him, there was no ego. He understood that process and that we were doing it to look after him but, after about two minutes of the Taunton game, I was getting the papers ready to sign him because he was clearly that good.
“He is the brain of our team and he dictates the tempo we play at, whether we play fast, or slow the game down and control the game. He has that understanding and experience that he knows when to up that, or take it down a level.
“He’s been absolutely brilliant for us, I think he’s great for all of our younger players with the way he plays, his professionalism around the place day in, day out and what he’s done to get himself back to that physical level to play at that level has been incredible, so it was a huge bonus for us that we were able to get him in and he’s played so many minutes so far. Hopefully he continues to do that.”
The question now is just how long Carroll will stay with Exeter. He penned a one year deal in the summer but with a family based in Hertfordshire – and given his superb form – there are sure to be clubs that will be watching his situation closely.
“I’d been down to the ground years ago when I was on loan at Orient. I was injured, but still had to travel down! I was familiar with Devon and Cornwall from holidaying, but being here now and seeing the facilities, it’s great and shows where the club want to go,” he sai
“The main thing for me this year was to come and enjoy my football and I have been so far. It’s great to have that feeling of playing and winning and celebrating goals – that’s what I missed.
“I signed for a year and God knows what will happen in that time! I just want to concentrate on delivering on the pitch and seeing where that takes us.”
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