Exeter City

Taylor extends contract at Exeter
Exeter City defender Matt Taylor has signed a new contract to extend his stay at St James Park until 2010. Taylor, 25, joined the Grecians from Team Bath during the summer and has since started 18 league games for them. "He was untried at this level but looks like he has been playing there for ever," manager Paul Tisdale told Exeter's website. Taylor follows fellow defender George Friend, 20, who has also penned a new two-year contract at City.

Grecians boss rues missed chances
Disappointed Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale blamed missed chances for his team's 3-2 defeat at home to Ebbsfleet in the Setanta Shield. Tisdale, whose team lost to a goal late in extra time, said: "We played very well in the first half and could have killed the game when we had the chance. "We then got a bit sloppy and that was probably our downfall. "When you don't take your chances you invite a problem later in the game, and we came unstuck."

Tisdale hopes Osman will stay on
Exeter manager Paul Tisdale hopes to agree a contract to keep interim assistant boss Russell Osman at the club until the end of the season. The ex-England defender joined City in November after Tisdale's previous number two Joe Gallen joined Millwall. "We are in the process of talking with Russell about him staying," Tisdale told the Express & Echo newspaper. Meanwhile, Exeter midfielder Matt Bye has joined Southern Premier Division side Tiverton Town on a month's loan.

Tisdale trying for more players
Exeter City boss Paul Tisdale is hoping to bring in two or three new faces before the end of the transfer window. The Grecians have yet to make a signing in the January transfer window, but sold top scorer Jamie Mackie to rivals Plymouth Argyle for £145,000. "We've spent the last three weeks trying very hard to get two or three players in," he told SSB. "As yet we've been unsuccessful so we'll continue to do that over the next six days." Tisdale says the weeks of speculation which surrounded Mackie's departure have had no bearing on who he wants to sign. "We were looking at players whether Jamie was to stay or go, or any other players was to stay or go." It is not clear how much of the £145,000 Exeter got for Jamie Mackie will be made available to Tisdale to buy new players.

FA bans former Exeter directors
Former Exeter City directors John Russell and Mike Lewis have been permanently suspended from all football activity, with no review for 10 years. Ex-chairman Russell was jailed for 21 months in 2007 for fraudulent trading. And he did not respond to two Football Association charges of improper conduct over fraudulent trading and obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception. Lewis, who was sentenced to 200 hours of community work in 2007, admitted his own FA improper conduct charge. The former Grecians vice-chairman had, like Russell, been charged with improper conduct in respect of an offence of fraudulent trading. Russell and Lewis both pleaded guilty to fraud at their trial at Bristol Crown Court in May 2007. They left Exeter £4.5m in debt when it was sold to the club's Supporters' Trust in May 2003, shortly after Russell and Lewis were first arrested by Devon and Cornwall Police's fraud squad investigating financial irregularities at the club. At the end of the 2002/03 season, City were relegated from the Football League to the Conference after a campaign in which three different managers had taken charge. Also that season, celebrity spoon-bender Uri Geller was announced as 'co-chairman' but was never registered as a director with Companies House or the Football League - and he subsequently distanced himself from Russell and Lewis. However, the FA, the game's governing body, has now ruled that the pair will be "permanently suspended from football and all football activity, with no review for 10 years". The suspension takes place with immediate effect.

Edwards gets Exeter coaching role
Defender Rob Edwards has been given a full-time role as player-coach at Exeter City until 2009. The former Wales international was given the role at the start of January on a temporary basis. Edwards signed from Blackpool at the start of last season and has previously played for Preston and Bristol City. "The players are relaxed with him. He adds value to Monday to Friday and match days for us," City manager Paul Tisdale told BBC Radio Devon.

Trust increases Grecians funding
Exeter City Supporters' Trust has increased its funding of the club by 8% to £65,000 for the 2008-09 season. The trust, which became the majority shareholder of the club in 2003, is also anticipating putting in £75,600 in 2009-10 and £78,000 in 2010-11. It means the trust will have paid over £850,000 to City since it formed. "If the Trust had not provided significant financial support in recent years, Exeter City might not exist today," said treasurer Nigel Banks. On top of the cash contribution the trust is also looking to repay £20,000 to fans who lent it money when it bought its majority shareholding in 2003.

Stewart 'adds value' to Grecians
Exeter City boss Paul Tisdale says he brought veteran striker Marcus Stewart to the club for the influence he can have over the rest of his squad. Former Ipswich and Sunderland forward Stewart, 35, signed on a free transfer from Yeovil Town on Monday. "A large part of his remit with us will be to add value," Tisdale told BBC Radio Devon. "That doesn't mean necessarily just the 90 minutes that we play on a Saturday afternoon, it's Monday to Friday." Tisdale added: "If he can add 5% to all the players around him on the field in the same way that Rob Edwards has done in the defensive role that he's had, then it's more than just the value of his own performance that we're talking about." The Grecians boss also confirmed that Stewart will play a part in Wednesday's friendly with Portsmouth at St James Park, provided he is fit. "It's our first competitive game back at the Park since our promotion, so I'm hoping people are going to come and watch that game," Tisdale said. "We're playing against a Premiership team so people can come and watch Premiership players and international players play and see how well we do against those players. "I'm pretty optimistic we'll put on a good show."

Promotion winners get Tisdale nod
Exeter boss Paul Tisdale says he will stick with the players that got his side promoted to the Football League. City spent five years out of the league and Tisdale says the men that got them back there deserve a chance. "I've made no secret of the fact that the players that played those last 10 or 12 games of last season and got us through deserve their chance," he said. City have made a host of new signings over the summer, including former Ipswich Town striker Marcus Stewart. But Tisdale told BBC Radio Devon that those new faces will have to bide their time. "Unless someone gets injured or plays themselves out of the team, most of the players that played last season will get their chance to start," he said. "The players that have been signed recently have been told that and the players on the fringes have been told that. "I think it's reasonable and it also gives me a chance to assess the level we're going into alongside a team I'm familiar with." City's first match back in the Football League is away to Darlington on Saturday, 9 August.

Exeter hunt 'racist' supporters
Exeter City say they are investigating allegations of racial abuse against Bournemouth players during Saturday's League Two match between the two sides. City won the game 1-0 at Dean Court but received reports of racist chanting and abuse directed at Cherries players. "The club would like to make it clear that it totally condemns any behaviour of this sort," said a statement on the Grecians website. The club are asking anyone who can help to call or email them. The club added that it "...disassociates itself with completely with these so-called City fans. They are not welcome at the club and will not be tolerated". "We want watching Exeter City - at home or away - to be an abuse-free experience," the statement added. City had two black players in their squad for the match. Striker Richard Logan played the full 90 minutes while Emmanuel Panther was an unused substitute. Two black players were involved in the match for Bournemouth. Marvin Bartley started the game while Ricky Sappleton came on as a substitute in the 57th minute.

Tisdale relieved with gritty win
Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale has said he is relieved that his side got back to winning ways with Saturday's 2-0 victory over Chester. City had gone seven games without defeat before going down 6-1 at home to Chesterfield in midweek. Tisdale told Radio Devon: "It wasn't particularly easy on the eye, but it was job done. "We're absolutely exhausted and relieved after a long four days. It was a gritty, professional performance."

Tisdale unhappy at Gills defeat
Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale has said he expected his side to hang on and come back from Gillingham with a point in League Two on Saturday. Adam Miller scored the only goal for the Gills with 10 minutes to go to seal an away defeat for the Grecians. "I had us down to hang on to that today," Tisdale told Radio Devon. "We feel very disappointed to get to the 80th minute and concede the goal," he added as his side dropped out of the League Two play-off places.

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