Since he succeeded Paul Tisdale as Exeter City manager in 2018, Matt Taylor has either guided the Grecians to an 8th placed finish in League Two or to a Play-off final defeat.
The two seasons prior to Taylor's appointments, Exeter had lost in two successive Play-off finals (in 2017 against Blackpool and in 2018 against Coventry City), and they are being widely tipped by many for another tilt at the top seven.
Off the field, the Grecians are in a relatively strong position from a financial point of view - thanks in no small part to a sell-on clause that they received following Ollie Watkins' move from Brentford to Aston Villa; in addition to this, Watkins' subsequent appearances for England have earned the club additional fees. These amounts have also been added to with the sale of Joel Randall to Peterborough United for a fee believed to be in the region of £1 million.
In addition to the departure of Randall, Taylor has also lost the services of Ryan Bowman, Randell Williams and the experienced centre back Rory McArdle. However, he has managed to retain last season's leading scorer Matt Jay, who has been appointed as club captain following Jake Taylor's move to Stevenage, and long serving defender Pierce Sweeney, who rejoined the Grecians after being set for a move to Swindon Town that collapsed due to ongoing financial issues at the Wiltshire club.
If Jay can repeat the goal scoring heroics that saw him find the back of the net 20 times in 48 appearances in all competitions last season and new signing Sam Nombe can hit the ground running, then another top seven finish should be within the Grecians' reach.
Player to Watch: Matt Jay
After attending the same school and coming through the Grecians' academy at exactly same time as Aston Villa and England's Ollie Watkins, Matt Jay made some headlines of his own last season when he sealed a double figure goal return for Exeter for the first time in his career. Jay also won the League Two Player of the Month award for March 2021 and was handed the captain's armband by Matt Taylor in the close season, and looks set to continue as the Grecians' talisman.
Young hopeful: Sonny Cox
Young striker Sonny Cox signed his first professional contract and has attracted significant Premier League interest since he first trained with Exeter at the age of 15. He has previously had a trial with Manchester United and could yet emulate the likes of Ethan Ampadu and Ollie Watkins in reaching the Premier League.
In: Josh Coley (Maidenhead United), Jevani Brown (Colchester United), George Ray (Tranmere Rovers), Sam Nombe (MK Dons), Timothee Dieng (Southend United), Callum Rowe (Aston Villa), Jonathan Grounds (Swindon Town), Camernn Dawson (Sheffield Wednesday, loan)
Out: Jonny Maxted, Lewis Ward, Tom Parkes, Alex Fisher, Nicky Ajose, Lewis Page, Jake Taylor (Stevenage), Randell Williams (Hull City), Ryan Bowman (Shrewsbury Town), Rory McArdle (Harrogate Town), Joel Randall (Peterborough United)
