The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The offer went to Blackburn Rovers this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Everything agreed with Queens Park Rangers, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Duván Riascos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
10 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Squad26 Aug 2030
Dino Putsén falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Exeter City asked and Portsmouth said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
The coaching staff has emptied out entirely and there was nobody internal to promote, so the club has appointed a name almost none of its supporters will recognise. Clubs recover from this; none of them enjoy explaining it.
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Interim Coach recited it perfectly.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.51 for the rest of it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stoke City have kept their man, and Exeter City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Leicester City pay $280.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Add another name to the list: Ludogorets have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Vitor Reis. The answer from Exeter City has not changed — yet.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Exeter City can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Dino Putsén falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nottingham Forest have kept their man, and Exeter City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Exeter City are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager's exit leaves Zico Asare exposed
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom29 Jul 2030
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Exeter City
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The clubs have shaken hands with Queens Park Rangers; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Duván Riascos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Aaron Nour has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Exeter City have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Reading have kept their man, and Exeter City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Exeter City have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Duván Riascos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad22 Jul 2030
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Putsén is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Exeter City have made the call to Bristol Rovers. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vitor Reis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ollie Shield will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Exeter City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Exeter City can pretend not to have heard.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Norwich City have kept their man, and Exeter City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Everything agreed with Aston Villa, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Dino Putsén falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vitor Reis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlos Amaral was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Exeter City can pretend not to have heard.
Exeter City have gone to Norwich City with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. James Gibbons will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Exeter City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Exeter City had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Aston Villa, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Duván Riascos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad1 Jul 2030
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Putsén is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Exeter City asked and Reading said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Exeter City offered $3.0M; Norwich City said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Exeter City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Duván Riascos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Arseny Medvedev has, at Exeter City, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad24 Jun 2030
Dino Putsén falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Exeter City asked and Plymouth Argyle said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Exeter City have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ollie Shield will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Exeter City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Exeter City have gone to Norwich City with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Exeter City can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lincoln City have kept their man, and Exeter City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Amar Sanghrajka is living that version at Exeter City, and it tends to show in the first month.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Exeter City can pretend not to have heard.
Exeter City have gone to Bournemouth with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The offer from Reading for Jack Bycroft was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Everything agreed with Huddersfield Town, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
$370.0K on the table at Lincoln City. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dino Putsén was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” James Gibbons has his answer from Exeter City; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Exeter City will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Alfred Emoni is living that version at Exeter City, and it tends to show in the first month.
Duván Riascos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad3 Jun 2030
Dino Putsén falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Leicester City have kept their man, and Exeter City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Exeter City has been clear about where Jordan Thomas stands, which is more than many ever get.
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Jack Bycroft has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Duván Riascos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Bolton Wanderers will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Jack Mawditt has pre-agreed a move to Exeter City, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Exeter City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Exeter City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Reis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Exeter City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jamie Sterry trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lautaro Ahumada will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Exeter City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Carlos Amaral has, at Exeter City, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad13 May 2030
Vitor Reis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Millwall will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Frankie Baker has pre-agreed a move to Exeter City, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cruz Ibeh trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. James Gibbons will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Exeter City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Jamie Sterry and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vitor Reis signs something — a contract at Exeter City or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Exeter City will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Position 16 on 62 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Santino Cavagna provided it, and the 8.21 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings29 Apr 2030
A brace, and Dino Putsén takes the afternoon — 8.10
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dino Putsén provided it, and the 8.10 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Duván Riascos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad29 Apr 2030
Vitor Reis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Reis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
13 goals and a season average of 7.21. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings22 Apr 2030
Kuryu Matsuki was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.00. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 6.91, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Exeter City can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Exeter City told Jordan Thomas something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vitor Reis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Duván Riascos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad8 Apr 2030
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Exeter City can tell you which week it ends in.
Barrow AFC left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout8 Apr 2030
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by David Harvey to a room that had heard them before.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Duván Riascos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Reis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Exeter City would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Jack Bycroft is on it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Exeter City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Exeter City told Cruz Ibeh something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.09, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Vitor Reis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Brian Gutiérrez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” David Harvey after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
The dugoutLuca Woodhouse dropped after a run of poor form
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Duván Riascos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad11 Mar 2030
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout11 Mar 2030
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by David Harvey to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout11 Mar 2030
Jordan Thomas is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Igor Ribeiro
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Exeter City can pretend not to have heard.
Duván Riascos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A 1‑0 win over Oldham Athletic, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Marked 7.79 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Exeter City had the best player on the pitch.
Squad4 Mar 2030
A place in the month's best eleven for Dino Putsén
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Dino Putsén has come out of that comparison in the side, and Exeter City have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout4 Mar 2030
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” David Harvey, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
0 appearances, 0 clean sheets, and a goalkeeper no further forward than the day he left. Whether that belongs to him, to the club that borrowed him or to the people who arranged it is the argument Exeter City will have this month.
In brief
The dugoutIgor Ribeiro knocks on the manager's door
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ollie Shield will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Exeter City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Ollie Shield has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Reis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Exeter City are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“I watch every Exeter City game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Sheffield Wednesday runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Exeter City can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings18 Feb 2030
Up for the corner, and James Gibbons delivers — 7.94
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. James Gibbons scored, was marked 7.94, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
7.75, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Exeter City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Reis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings11 Feb 2030
Dino Putsén, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.03
A mark of 8.03 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Exeter City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. James Gibbons will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Exeter City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Exeter City heard it as anything else.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Jack Barrett reports back to Exeter City with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Duván Riascos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match9 Feb 2030
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for Exeter City. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom4 Feb 2030
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Exeter City until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad4 Feb 2030
Vitor Reis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kuryu Matsuki. 3‑1 against Barnet, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Martin Linnes and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The deal with Huddersfield Town is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Reis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Exeter City asked and Sheffield United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sinclair Armstrong provided it, and the 8.56 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Exeter City have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Exeter City can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Exeter City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.03, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bradford City have kept their man, and Exeter City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Dino Putsén, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.91
A mark of 7.91 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Exeter City can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Exeter City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Lautaro Ahumada has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Port Vale have kept their man, and Exeter City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Reis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Dino Putsén has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Burnley is saying, and nobody at Exeter City is enjoying the guessing.
Duván Riascos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Exeter City asked and Nottingham Forest said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
At 34, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
A 1‑0 win over Milton Keynes Dons, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
Dino Putsén, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.34
A mark of 8.34 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.28 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A season average of 7.03 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Exeter City know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Vitor Reis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Mateo Carmona has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Reis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
9 combined actions and 6.77. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sinclair Armstrong provided it, and the 8.65 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Duván Riascos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Sinclair Armstrong in the middle of it, and Barrow AFC unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Exeter City are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Reis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Vitor Reis has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Exeter City, another week without a signature from Vitor Reis.
“I did not go to Sheffield Wednesday to sit and watch. I want to come back to Exeter City and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 22 matches say the rest.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugoutBen Whiteman knocks on the manager’s door
174Edition
The Exeter City Courier
26 Nov 2029
From our football correspondentUpbeat
Squad26 Nov 2029
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout26 Nov 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by David Harvey to a room that had heard them before.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is James Gibbons’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Exeter City needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Exeter City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Duván Riascos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Exeter City has been clear about where Jordan Thomas stands, which is more than many ever get.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Exeter City told Jordan Thomas something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Exeter City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Exeter City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
29 graduates, from a department now rated 9 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
Duván Riascos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Vitor Reis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kuryu Matsuki. 2‑1 against Newport County, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” David Harvey on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vitor Reis signs something — a contract at Exeter City or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Exeter City, another week without a signature from James Gibbons.
Nobody at Exeter City will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Vitor Reis scored, was marked 7.91, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Exeter City hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Duván Riascos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Sinclair Armstrong and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Stevenage next, and one man in the Exeter City dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dino Putsén did not need any: 8.16, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Exeter City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Duván Riascos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 38 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
A 2‑0 win over Accrington Stanley, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Marked 8.44 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Duván Riascos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Reis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vitor Reis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Exeter City would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Jack Bycroft is on it.
Ben Whiteman and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Exeter City can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“I did not go to Sheffield Wednesday to sit and watch. I want to come back to Exeter City and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 14 matches say the rest.
The dugout8 Oct 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by David Harvey to a room that had heard them before.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Kuryu Matsuki is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dino Putsén did not need any: 7.94, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Luca Woodhouse scored, was marked 7.49, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Exeter City and Bromley in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
It finished 4‑2, and it was Kuryu Matsuki’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Exeter City.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Duván Riascos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
Igor Ribeiro is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Exeter City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Duván Riascos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Blackburn Rovers have kept their man, and Exeter City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Exeter City had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Leeds United, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The deal that would have taken Jack Barrett to Portsmouth has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Exeter City with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Sinclair Armstrong was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Vitor Reis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bournemouth have kept their man, and Exeter City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Vitor Reis scored, was marked 7.76, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 16 arrived, 15 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Middlesbrough have kept their man, and Exeter City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Exeter City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Duván Riascos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Reggiana have kept their man, and Exeter City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Putsén is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Exeter City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑3 to Port Vale, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Exeter City can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jack Barrett will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Exeter City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Exeter City are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom20 Aug 2029
6 academy players handed senior numbers at Exeter City
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Dino Putsén falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Exeter City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Putsén is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad13 Aug 2029
7 new faces, and Exeter City are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Exeter City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. David Harvey has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
The offer from Fleetwood Town for Jack Barrett was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Exeter City heard it as anything else.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Brighton have kept their man, and Exeter City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Dino Putsén falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Vitor Reis has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The words a physio says slowly. 46 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Duván Riascos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Reis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Exeter City asked and Wolverhampton said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Add another name to the list: Fleetwood Town have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jack Barrett. The answer from Exeter City has not changed — yet.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Exeter City know which stage they are at.
Sheffield United have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Exeter City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Exeter City can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bristol City have kept their man, and Exeter City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Reis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody at Exeter City saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Exeter City has been clear about where Ollie Shield stands, which is more than many ever get.
61 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Exeter City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jack Barrett will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Exeter City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
$700.0K on the table at West Ham United. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The deal with Walsall is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Exeter City asked and Leyton Orient said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Dino Putsén falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
68 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Exeter City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Add another name to the list: Charlton Athletic have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jack Barrett. The answer from Exeter City has not changed — yet.
Exeter City have made the call to Walsall. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Exeter City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 75 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Exeter City can pretend not to have heard.
The offer went to Bristol City this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Kuryu Matsuki and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Vitor Reis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. West Bromwich Albion have kept their man, and Exeter City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Exeter City know which stage they are at.
82 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Exeter City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Exeter City can pretend not to have heard.
Exeter City have gone to West Bromwich Albion with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Duván Riascos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Dino Putsén falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
89 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Exeter City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The offer from Valletta for Ben Whiteman was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Brian Gutiérrez has, at Exeter City, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Exeter City have gone to Bristol City with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Harry French has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
$610.0K was the most the club would pay and Hull City were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Duván Riascos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Vitor Reis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
97 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Exeter City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Barnet waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Exeter City can pretend not to have heard.
Exeter City have gone to Derby County with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. James Gibbons is living that version at Exeter City, and it tends to show in the first month.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
$610.0K on the table at Hull City. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $400.0K — a club that wants Cruz Ibeh enough to be asked twice.
Jack Bycroft damages knee ligaments — 104 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 104 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Exeter City can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer went to Bristol Rovers this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The offer went to Barnsley this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Taye Ashby-Hammond commits to Exeter City for another 3 years.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Martin Linnes was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Jack Bycroft damages knee ligaments — 111 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 111 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Boardroom28 May 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Exeter City
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Exeter City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Duván Riascos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 May 2029
Vitor Reis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ben Whiteman trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
118 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Exeter City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Duván Riascos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad21 May 2029
Vitor Reis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Exeter City. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The terraces21 May 2029
Supporters make their feelings known about Vitor Reis
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Exeter City would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
MatchNothing left to play for but pride at Exeter City
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Martin Linnes
146Edition
The Exeter City Courier
14 May 2029
From our football correspondentUneasy
Squad14 May 2029
Jack Bycroft damages knee ligaments — 125 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 125 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Exeter City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Duván Riascos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jordan Thomas, and the manager let it.
Squad14 May 2029
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Putsén is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Exeter City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
The dugoutMartin Linnes asks for a word with the manager
The terracesThe stands have heard the Dino Putsén talk too
BoardroomThe Exeter City production line keeps running
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Exeter City can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Reis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Exeter City has been clear about where Pharrell Brown stands, which is more than many ever get.
In brief
The dugoutJordan Thomas knocks on the manager’s door
Position 19 on 51 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
A brace, and Nikola Jojić takes the afternoon — 8.49
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nikola Jojić provided it, and the 8.49 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Up for the corner, and Ben Whiteman delivers — 7.24
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Ben Whiteman scored, was marked 7.24, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Duván Riascos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Exeter City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Duván Riascos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Dino Putsén falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A point taken on 85 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
It needed Florian Bianchini to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Fleetwood Town, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” David Harvey chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Exeter City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Reis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Marked 8.12 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Martin Linnes was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
Player ratingsDino Putsén did the work nobody counts — 7.49
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Exeter City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Vitor Reis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 6.80, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” David Harvey after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Exeter City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Exeter City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Duván Riascos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Putsén is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad2 Apr 2029
A place in the month's best eleven for Dino Putsén
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Dino Putsén has come out of that comparison in the side, and Exeter City have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Vitor Reis is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
In brief
The dugoutVitor Reis asks for a word with the manager
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Duván Riascos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Vitor Reis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Florian Bianchini trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” David Harvey was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Exeter City dressing room was either.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Igor Ribeiro
MarketThe clock does Dan Butler’s negotiating for him
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Reis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Dmitry Chistyakov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Exeter City told Igor Ribeiro something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
The dugoutJordan Thomas asks for a word with the manager
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Exeter City can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dino Putsén was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Dan Butler will call it something else in private.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” David Harvey after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Player ratings5 Mar 2029
Dino Putsén, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.23
A mark of 8.23 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Harry French will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Exeter City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Oldham Athletic were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Vitor Reis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Exeter City can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Vitor Reis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Luca Woodhouse was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Exeter City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Duván Riascos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Stevenage left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Putsén is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
In brief
Player ratingsThe game went through Dino Putsén — 6.91
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Crystal Palace have kept their man, and Exeter City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Exeter City know which stage they are at.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Exeter City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Dino Putsén, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.96
A mark of 7.96 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Exeter City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Exeter City until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Harry French will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Exeter City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Duván Riascos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Brentford have kept their man, and Exeter City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Dino Putsén has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jack Barrett will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Exeter City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Exeter City asked and Wolverhampton said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Duván Riascos. 1‑0 against Cheltenham Town, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Putsén is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Exeter City have gone to Burnley with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Duván Riascos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Reis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Burnley have kept their man, and Exeter City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The offer from Birkirkara for Jack Bycroft was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Vitor Reis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The name of Felix Goddard has come up in conversations Exeter City were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Exeter City have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Exeter City have gone to Burnley with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Harry French will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Exeter City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Add another name to the list: Birkirkara have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jack Bycroft. The answer from Exeter City has not changed — yet.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Exeter City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Duván Riascos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nikola Jojić. 1‑0 against Accrington Stanley, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Position 18, 28 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Exeter City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Duván Riascos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Jacob Roberts is 17, and Exeter City have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
In brief
The dugoutHalf-satisfied: David Harvey on the draw
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dino Putsén was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Exeter City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Exeter City told Luca Woodhouse something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Barnet? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Exeter City are no longer polite ones.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Exeter City, another week without a signature from Igor Ribeiro.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by David Harvey to a room that had heard them before.
0‑3 against Colchester United, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Exeter City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Duván Riascos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” David Harvey after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jack Barrett will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Exeter City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Duván Riascos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Marked 7.02 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Marked 6.73 on 11 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Putsén is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” David Harvey chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Something was said to Pharrell Brown and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Newport County defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Exeter City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Newport County next, and one man in the Exeter City dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Jack Bycroft is on it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Exeter City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Exeter City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Exeter City will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The words a physio says slowly. 27 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Marked 7.92. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
Duván Riascos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Liam Oakes has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dino Putsén was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Exeter City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Out, 1‑2 to Manchester United, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Duván Riascos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Reis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
Player ratingsNikola Jojić could not find anything
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Marked 6.76 on 12 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Exeter City told Igor Ribeiro something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” David Harvey after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Duván Riascos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Putsén is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Exeter City told Nikola Jojić something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Tranmere Rovers in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Exeter City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Duván Riascos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at Exeter City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Reis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Frankie Phillips and Exeter City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” David Harvey kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Exeter City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Duván Riascos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Vitor Reis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.