Grecians boss looks ahead to Oxford match
EXETER CITY manager Paul Tisdale reflected on transfer deadline day and looked ahead to this weekend's home match against Oxford United in his weekly press call on Thursday."We were happy with what happened," Paul said. "We had a good month. One of our young players had an opportunity to move to a higher league, and we've made a significant amount of money from it, which can go back into the team. We've had some good results, and we're on the way up, so all in all there was not much to complain about through January. It all goes back into the football club, and no matter where it goes, it makes the club stronger. I'm happy with how the windfall has been divided up, and it's about spreading it over the next eighteen months. The club has raised some sizeable capital now to look at facilities and infrastructure."
Jake Taylor was the latest arrival at the club when he made the switch from Reading last week, while City have also been boosted by David Wheeler's contract extension.
"You don't ordinarily get a nine-month period to assess someone, and [Jake Taylor] has become better, and a more mature player, in the time since," Paul said. "It was a very simple fit, so as soon as he was available, I wanted to try to sign him, and thankfully he wanted to come back. That's always a good indication that a loan spell went well, that the player wants to come back to us.
"I'm delighted that David is staying. I wouldn't have begrudged him the chance to significantly better his career either, as long as we had compensation for it. To be open-minded, I'm not going to hide the fact that I want to keep as many players as I can, but on the other hand, we are the type of club that has to encourage players to improve and move. I think circumstances, with Tom Nichols playing so well against Liverpool, enhanced his reputation, but of course David was on the sidelines that day. That being said, I'm sure David's got enough about him to make his own mind up about what suits his career. He's making big progress with us, and we're delighted that he's signed. He's coming back from injury now after six or seven weeks, which has probably harmed us and been a real frustration to him, but he's committed to us, and hopefully he'll be a big player for us over the next year. He's turned himself into a week-by-week starting eleven player for us. I hope that continues.
"Ryan Harley is training; whether that will turn into an appearance or not is a different matter. We have to wait until the right opportunity to bring him back in. We still have Jordan Moore-Taylor and Craig Woodman facing late fitness tests for us this weekend, but other than that, everyone's fit and raring to go.
"Oxford have reached the Final of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, so well done to them, and they are a side that will come here and give us a real test. We've now had three or four good results, but we need to turn it into a lot more if we're going to be successful."