Behind the scenes with Exeter City, the best away team in 2024 in England’s top four divisions

There’s a picture on the wall of Gary Caldwell’s office that instantly catches the attention.

It’s a half-and-half photo — from his days as a Wigan Athletic player, in the 2012-13 season — which perfectly captures the highs and lows of football. The top picture shows a dejected Caldwell, knee to the floor and surrounded by his team-mates, after a late-goal 3-2 defeat to Swansea City that all but confirmed their relegation from the Premier League. The bottom picture shows Caldwell, four days later, lifting the FA Cup at Wembley as club captain after their remarkable victory over Manchester City.

“I take this photo with me everywhere I go,” he tells The Athletic, who have been invited behind the scenes at Exeter City’s training ground.

It’s apt, really. As the current manager of Exeter, balmy peaks and terrifying troughs have defined their 2023-24 campaign. Caldwell’s side started the season in excellent form. In mid-September, they were top of League One, the third tier of English football, and a couple of weeks later they got to the Carabao Cup’s last 16 by beating Premier League side Luton Town.

But what followed was a remarkable decline in which Exeter did not win a league game for over three months. By Christmas, they were 20th — one place above the relegation zone.

The slide was halted on Boxing Day — a Christmas Miracle, maybe — when they beat Wycombe Wanderers 1-0. Since then, they have won 39 points from 23 games, a run of form only bettered by Portsmouth, Derby County and Lincoln City in that period. For context, Portsmouth have won the League One title, Derby are set to get automatically promoted with them, and Lincoln are in the play-off places with one game to go.

Exeter are nine games unbeaten, have surpassed last season’s points tally (61 to 56), and are on course to beat last season’s final league position of 14th (they are 12th).

Not many outsiders would have predicted that run of form during a wretched winless run of 13 games that included a 7-0 loss at Bolton Wanderers, Exeter’s heaviest defeat for 65 years.

Caldwell did, though. This wasn’t a blind leap of faith but a reflection of the underlying numbers which, despite the results, weren’t as bad. Conveying this helped Exeter’s squad and the board remained behind him.

“It probably kept me in a job,” Caldwell says.

The time is 7.45am on what feels like a rare sunny morning, such has been the extent of the inclement weather in the south-west of England over the past few months. The Cliff Hill training ground is quiet. but Caldwell and head of performance Jon Pitts are already there, planning the day.

The mood is positive. Exeter came from behind to win 4-2 away to Port Vale at the weekend and Caldwell rewarded the players with three days off.

Over the next half an hour, various people pop their heads into Caldwell’s office, from Kevin Nicholson, the assistant manager, and David Perkins, the first-team coach, to analyst Lauren Jones and some members of the first-team squad.

It’s very much an open-door policy, which is designed to “improve and empower” everyone at the club. The noise grows as more players arrive to have their breakfast, get their body fat measured, and go into the gym to perform ‘prehab’ exercises to reduce the risk of injury in the session ahead. PFA (Professional Footballers’ Association, the players’ trade union) reps are dotted around, too, taking votes for the body’s end-of-season League One awards.

Exeter’s collaborative nature is seen during the staff meeting at 9am. It’s led by Nicholson, who outlines how the training session will go as they prepare to play away to Northampton Town two days later.

It’s agreed it will include some possession, shape work and some finishing drills. A brief discussion is had about the number of sprints the players are expected to do, as a balance between intensity and keeping fresh is struck.

The morning staff meeting (Richard Amofa/The Athletic)

After 45 minutes of local media interviews, Caldwell is straight into a team meeting with the players, which is led by Jones. It’s only 15 minutes long, but the detail is dense. The aim is to convey how they expect Northampton to press them — “in a 5-3-2” — and how they can exploit the space in behind.

Jones explains that, due to Northampton’s shape, Exeter should aim to build up in a 3-2 formation, with their two No 10s pushing up to “give their No 6 a problem”. The wing-backs are encouraged to stay on the last line of the defence, chiefly to pin the opposition full-back, but if they decide to push up on the No 10s to support their lone 6, then it leaves space in behind to exploit.

Jones leads the team meeting (Richard Amofa/The Athletic)

As the graphic below shows, the majority of Exeter’s final-third attacks this season have come from out wide — 42 per cent from the left and 36 per cent from the right, largely thanks to strategy but also because of their issues in the central striking areas. That only 22 per cent of touches have come through the middle reflects this.

“What we’re trying to do here is create overloads,” Caldwell explains while demonstrating his approach on a tactics board in his office after the meeting. “We’re constantly just trying to give them (the players) solutions to the problems that they (the opposition) might create, but based on our principles: we always want to play out, we always want to play through the thirds, we always want to threaten the last line through double movements.

“If teams decide to go man for man, then the space (in behind) becomes the free player, so we’re always trying to get the ball in behind (in) the safest, quickest way possible.”

Caldwell explains his philosophy (Richard Amofa/The Athletic)

“In the last 18 months, I’ve definitely changed the way I play,” says centre-back Pierce Sweeney, who is the captain and has played more than 350 games for the club since 2016.

“In League Two, I was often told to put the ball in the channels or cross from deep. It wasn’t a problem and we got promoted playing that way, but now, whenever I have the ball, I always have four options, so I can either play it short or get it in behind with a bit of quality.

“They’ve given me more freedom, more options, and they’re obviously looking to still improve my game.”

When Caldwell arrived in October 2022, he inherited a good side that had just been automatically promoted to League One under predecessor Matt Taylor (who left to manage Rotherham United in the Championship), but he wanted Exeter to have more control in games, mainly through keeping the ball.

This wasn’t just an offensive tactic but a defensive one, too — if you have the ball, the opposition cannot score (unless you’re Blackburn Rovers — see Aynsley Pears’ comical own goal against Sheffield Wednesday last weekend).

Caldwell pulls out an iPad and connects it to the big screen in his office. It shows Exeter’s results this season split into three columns: against teams who play a more direct game, against ones that like to keep possession and, in the middle, against sides with a more mixed approach.

“We’ve not lost a game to a ‘direct’ team this season,” Caldwell says. ‘Direct’ here is defined as a team who average less than 300 passes and less than 77 per cent pass accuracy. Stevenage, Cheltenham, Shrewsbury, Carlisle, Wycombe and Burton come under this category, and Exeter have taken 32 out of 36 points available against them.

“What these (direct) teams will want is to get the ball in your box as much as possible, so we take that away from them by keeping the ball. Every time we play these teams, they’ll have less corners, less final-third entries, less penalty-box entries, hence they get less goals and we keep a lot of clean sheets in these games.”

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High-possession teams, meanwhile, are seen as sides who have over 400 passes per 90 minutes and over 81 per cent pass accuracy: Peterborough United, Wigan, Bolton, Oxford United and Portsmouth.

The remaining teams make up the middle section. Caldwell puts struggles against sides in this category down to their superior physicality; when the game is in the balance, these opponents are able to impose themselves more. “We also need to be better in possession. We’ve got to be braver in these moments and wrestle control back,” he says.

The red boxes on that table mean attention turns to that 13-game winless run; a spell which saw injuries decimate Caldwell’s side and confidence sapped. The 7-0 defeat at Bolton on November 25 was the nadir. The former Scotland international says he saw it coming.

“Even though we were winning games at the start of the season, we weren’t actually playing that well,” Caldwell says. “I warned the management team that we may experience some short-term pain.”

Not that they expected it to last three months. Their squad, at this point, was threadbare following the sales of key players in the summer and injuries exacerbated the situation. Such was the crisis that defender Cheick Diabate was used as an auxiliary forward in that Bolton match, but that, like everything else during that period, didn’t seem to work.

“(That game) was a disaster. We were already on a bad run. We’ve just lost 7-0 — it’s crisis time,” Caldwell says before flicking to the next slide.

The Monday morning following the Bolton defeat consisted of a management meeting where they discussed the next steps. A home match against Shrewsbury Town awaited the following night. “Bolton was like rock-bottom,” Caldwell says, “so we came up with this pyramid (below).”

The Exeter ‘pyramid’ (Richard Amofa/The Athletic)

“Reading at home (at the top; a 2-1 win in August) was our best performance of the season. So, for the Shrewsbury game, we just asked for four things from the boys: run, clean sheet, win duels, compete. It’s very basic. We drew 0-0, so then we went to the next game. How do we now start to change? We actually lost that game (at home against Port Vale) 1-0 but played very well and we then said, ‘There’s something in this’. So every game since then, we’ve given the players four points to consider.”

Despite the results, the underlying data was showing signs of promise that, sooner or later, Exeter would emerge from their slump, which galvanised the squad.

Caldwell’s team have had 11 more wins since that Boxing Day defeat of Wycombe. This calendar year has been incredibly fruitful, with Exeter having the best away record in all four divisions in that period, and with 10 overall, it’s the best record away from home in the club’s history. Overall, they are showing form worthy of a play-off place.

Pictures from Exeter’s wins this season are on display in the corridors at the training ground (Richard Amofa/The Athletic)

Sticking with managers is what Exeter do. The club’s faith in Caldwell acts as a cautionary tale against the hiring and firing nature of management across the three divisions of the EFL: 15 managers have left their jobs in League One this season.

Exeter are renowned for giving their managers longevity — Paul Tisdale was here for 12 years before resigning in 2018 and his replacement, Taylor, who played for the club and later managed the youth team, did over four years before taking the Rotherham job.

First two seasons denote their spell in League Two; League One from 2022-23 onwards

Caldwell and his staff are working on a matrix system, where certain metrics have different weightings and are then calculated to produce a final index score for that game. The aim is to score above 50 every game. Collected over time, the data will show trends as to where the team are heading. So, for example, their average possession is given a weighting of 15 per cent of the overall score, while stats such as duels won and recoveries have a five per cent weighting overall.

“It’s funny,” Caldwell says, “because this game (pointing to the 3-0 win at Wycombe on the opening day); everyone said it’s the best we’ve ever played and we were actually like, ‘We didn’t actually play that great but we won 3-0 because we were ruthless in front of goal’. So it’s trying to get that view of the result and then we can really see what the performances are looking like. If you do that over 46 games, then I think you can be successful.”

As we head to the training pitches, thoughts turn to recruitment. How do a fan-owned club with the second-lowest budget in their division navigate the transfer market?

Shrewd additions have been made off the pitch. The impressive Pitts joined as performance director having worked in other sports such as golf, tennis and Formula 1 and has been involved in five Olympic Games in a similar capacity for the Australian and Swedish teams. Jones, meanwhile, is one of the only female analysts in the EFL, having previously worked for Southampton and Forest Green Rovers. Malcolm Crosby came in as chief scout, having formerly worked with Caldwell at Wigan.

The Exeter squad are put through their paces (Richard Amofa/The Athletic)

The sale of promising young academy talent has formed part of the business model: Ollie Watkins (to Brentford in 2017), Ethan Ampadu (to Chelsea the same year), Jay Stansfield (to Fulham in 2019), Archie Collins (to Peterborough in 2023), Josh Key (to Swansea also last year) to name a few. Sell-on fees are always included in deals so the club can benefit if players continue to progress in their careers — Ampadu’s move from Chelsea to Leeds last summer banked Exeter more than £1million.

Joined-up thinking at the club, aided by chief executive Jeremy Tipper and Joe Gorman, chief financial officer, has also allowed Exeter to think more long-term.

“In my first window (January 2023), we weren’t sure what the budget was going to be — and I came in the October,” Caldwell says. “And then we didn’t know the budget for the following season until much later —whereas now, we know what the budget will be for two to three years in advance.”

This has helped when it comes to securing players on longer-term deals. Previously, there had been a high turnover of players whose contracts had run down, but long-term planning helps the club attempt to keep an established core. Selling Collins, Key and Sam Nombe (to Rotherham) helped raise around £2million last summer, but Exeter’s budget was still dwarfed by the behemoths of League One.

Promising academy players have been blooded: Diabate and forward Sonny Cox have had more game time, while Pedro Borges, 18, and 16-year-old Jake Richards have made their mark. Gems from non-League, such as Vincent Harper and Millenic Alli, were signed. Loan deals were also key: goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo came in from Aston Villa and has kept 13 clean sheets this season. Luke Harris, from Fulham, has scored four times in his last eight games. Dion Rankine, a midfielder borrowed from Chelsea, has performed well.

Then you have the category of players looking for a place to rejuvenate their careers.

Jack Aitchison, now 24, made his debut for top Scottish side Celtic aged 16 but bounced around various clubs in the EFL before joining Exeter last summer. Reece Cole came through Brentford’s youth ranks and made one senior appearance there aged 17 but fell into non-League — he is Exeter’s top scorer this season with seven goals and has attracted attention from Championship clubs.

Tom Carroll, the former Tottenham and England Under-21s midfielder, has gone from being without a club for the whole of last season to playing more than 40 games for Exeter in this one. Ryan Woods was a headline signing of the winter window, joining on loan from Hull City of the Championship to add further experience to the midfield.

“It’s been really positive here, especially after not playing at all last year,” 31-year-old Carroll says. “It was important coming to a team that suits me and the manager explained the way he wants to play. Then, when I saw it for myself, it just clicked.

“It was massive for me because I think it’s a league where not a lot of teams play the way I’d like to see it be played, so it’s worked out really well. We had the dip in form, so it was about working out how we get out of that, but since the turn of the year, we’ve been brilliant and it’s been great to be a part of.”

Tom Carroll was brought in last summer (Pete Norton/Getty Images)

Then, there is skipper Sweeney.

“We’ve got a really good manager, good coaches and players here,” says the 29-year-old Irishman. “He (Caldwell) likes to pass out from the back and he’s been given the funds to get players who can play that way. We’ve brought big players in from Premier League clubs, a couple of players have dropped down from the Championship, so you can definitely see that the club is trying to progress.

“The manager is the key person in that. He can see potential in the club; he wants to get to the Championship with us.”

Sweeney has played more than 350 games for Exeter (Pete Norton/Getty Images)

Training was short and sharp. Club president Julian Tagg — affectionately known as ‘Taggy’ — drops in to watch the session. Chairman Nick Hawker also swings by.

Afterwards, everyone heads into lunch together and queues up indiscriminately, regardless of seniority or position at the club. Staff generally sit at the top table but everyone mingles together. Conversation ranges from set pieces to agents, to the quiz Caldwell and company will be attending with fans later in the day.

The mood is buoyant as the sun shines into the canteen, a sharp contrast from the bleak midwinter the team had gone through.

Exeter end their season today (Saturday) at home to Oxford, who are still in contention for the play-offs. Caldwell’s side will hope to be in that conversation next season.

Additional reporting: Thom Harris

(Top photos: Michael Regan/Getty Images; Richard Amofa/The Athletic)