Grecians start new campaign on Saturday

The Grecians will begin their League Two campaign this coming Saturday at 3pm as they welcome Portsmouth to St James' Park.

Paul Tisdale, who is the second longest serving manager in current English football, only behind Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger, having been at Exeter for over eight years, will lock horns with newly appointed Portsmouth manager Andy Awford, who joined the club in early May after the club decided to sack Richie Barker.

The last time these two met was in February earlier this year; which saw them battle out a 1-1 draw at St James Park. A 90+4 minute equaliser on behalf of Exeter midfielder Liam Sercombe was enough to share the points.

Although in November of 2013, Portsmouth managed a 3-2 win over their counterparts at the largest ground in the league; Fratton Park which holds over 20,000 compared to Exeter’s stadium which holds just a little less than 9,000.

Last season Exeter City finished 16th in the league with 55 points, just five more points than Bristol Rovers, who were one of the teams to be relegated. Pompey however finished just a little bit above them in 13th place, on 59 points.

A transfer embargo was placed on Exeter in early June after they revealed they had borrowed £100,000 from the Professional Footballers’ Association to cover running costs over the summer months. Tisdale admitted that he would have a “considerably” smaller transfer budget at the time, and that seems to have held true. It seems that they have an extreme lack of manoeuvrability in the market due to their finances, and have yet to sign a single player this summer.

Whereas this weekend’s opponents Portsmouth have signed ten players so far in this transfer window and are still looking for more players to strengthen their squad. News that will please the Exeter fans is rumours of a potential return of fan-favourite Ryan Harley. Swindon Town are looking to offload some players and Harley is believed to be one of those players that is regarded as a surplus to requirements.

This is likely to be a tight match considering how close they finished last season in the league and their head-to-head results. I believe St James Park will play host to a 2-2 draw on Saturday as both teams will look to accumulate early points.