Tisdale voices his appreciation for club support

City manager Paul Tisdale clarified the contract situations with a few of the players that are yet to put pen to paper with the Grecians for 2013/14.

Experienced pairing Matt Oakley and Steve Tully have not yet agreed terms to remain with the Grecians, but Paul is confident in the knowledge that he and the club are doing their utmost retain both players within the constraints they have.

“Matt Oakley hasn’t signed yet, but he’s come back to training and he wants to play for us,” said Tis. “We’ve been very transparent over the last month or two that we’d like to sign him and we’ll try to find a way.

“In very tough times, the club have been doing all they can to make it possible for me – so I’m hoping that will get done.”

Tis admitted that funds could be an issue with the attempt to retain right-back Tully. The defender was offered terms at the end of the season, but he admitted that the original offer has had to be put aside for the moment.

“The club is doing everything they can to make funds available for me, but there’s no guarantee that I’ll be able to make that signing,” Tis continued. “Steve was in training with us yesterday and he’s not yet signed elsewhere, so it’d be great if I could keep hold of him – but that’s the way things are. It’s a ‘wait and see’ on that one, but there’s no guarantee that I’m going to be able to do it.”

Paul went onto make it clear that the door would always be open for Tulls to continue training with the club up until his future is resolved.

“There’s not even a question on that – he was here yesterday, and I’ve got a very good relationship with him as he’s played for the club for six and a half years. We have to be honest with each other, and I’ve been honest with him over the last month – if he was to get a good offer elsewhere, I couldn’t promise him something here unless it was there in front of me.