Exeter City playing the ‘team game’ in bid for success and hope for another rocking SJP atmosphere
“I think, if we are going to be successful, then the resources that we’ve got and size of squad that we’ve got, the players need to know that it’s not about them, it’s about us.”
Manager Gary Caldwell has previously spoken of key principles he, his coaching staff and the Exeter City players strive to adhere to and his assistant, Kevin Nicholson, has been speaking about another ahead of today’s League One clash with Northampton Town at St James Park: It’s all about the team.
Long gone are the days that you have a starting XI and substitutes and players being dropped to the bench. Now, City are all about starters and finishers with Nicholson striving the importance of football at SJP being a squad game.
“You only have to look at Tuesday night,” Nicholson said in reference to Exeter’s superb 1-0 Carabao Cup win over Premier league Luton Town. “Sweenz (Pierce Sweeney) has played pretty much every minute, but he finds himself as a finisher, he comes on at a time where we needed someone with his skill set to relieve a bit of pressure and get the ball up the pitch with some quality. I think it was 0-0 when he came on and we won the game 1-0.
Read More – Exeter City fancy their chances of Carabao Cup progress after Middlesbrough home draw
Read More – Tom Carroll’s outstanding form since joining Exeter City hailed
“He came on and did his job, he led, and he spoke to the team before we went out, he led in the warm-up, he led as a character and it was exactly what we needed from a player who is one of the captains of the team.
“It is almost expected of him, but there are other players that would have been disappointed not to start. Reece Cole has been doing very, very well for us and played numerous positions in the midfield, he finds himself as a finisher, he is disappointed – as you’d hope he would be – but when he came on, he did exactly what we needed at that time and saw the game out and we ended up winning.
“I think, if we are going to be successful, then the resources that we’ve got and size of squad that we’ve got, the players need to know that it’s not about them, it’s about us. It’s not about me as an individual, it’s about what do I help so this team is successful and the club carries on this wave of positivity. That bubble can burst real quick if it becomes about anything else.”
St James Park was rocking in midweek when the Grecians dumped Luton out of the League Cup, the first time City had beaten a top flight side since overcoming Leicester City 3-1 in that glorious FA Cup run of 1980/81, which saw them reach a club best quarter-final stage.
Only Middlesbrough now stand between them and going the furthest they have ever been in the League Cup, but after the highs of Tuesday night, City must get their feet on the ground and focus on Northampton, especially after losing 3-0 at Oxford in their last League One encounter seven days ago.
“They’ll be prepped, they’ll be ready and we’ll be ready to go. Football moves on quick,” Nicholson said. “We enjoyed Tuesday night, but our thoughts quickly turn towards Northampton.
“The guys that are available will be well prepped, they will know what’s coming. They will understand how we play and that understanding is getting better and better and we are nowhere near the finished article. We know we have so much more that we need to get better at and improve on but, at the same time, we are taking steps in the right direction.”
VIEW GALLERY
Although Caldwell was thrilled with the performance of his players in overcoming Luton, he stressed that they can still be better – especially when in possession of the ball. At Oxford last week, he also felt the Grecians were a bit toothless in attack, but with Admiral Muskwe still injured, James Scott just returning from injury and Sonny Cox still a raw teenager, Nicholson says it is up to others to step up and show what they can do, especially as Demetri Mitchell will be out of Saturday’s clash through suspension after his red card on Tuesdau.
“It’s not just about strikers, it’s about guys willing to get into what we call the scoring zone to do the job,” he said. “We don’t need somebody to score 40 goals this season, we need guys to contribute and understand how we play, understand the role and go and execute it
“Yes, we want all of our players fit and we want competition for places and we want options, but it’s really not about any individual, it’s about guys knowing their jobs, knowing the jobs of others and going out and doing it.”
On Muskwe’s continued absence, Nicholson said: “He’s getting there and we will see about Saturday’s game. Again, it’s nothing major, but he hasn’t played a lot of football and was on the fringes at Luton training in between groups a little bit and sometimes, that can affect your fitness. We need to make sure that when we do get him out on the pitch he’s in as good a condition as he can be to contribute to the team.”
Leave a Reply