Taylor takes parting shot at players let go by City

EXETER City manager Matt Taylor has given his reasons behind the decisions made on his summer retained list, with defender Tom Parkes coming in for criticism for the way he handled himself during lockdown.

The 29-year-old defender was a virtual ever-present for the Grecians last season, up until March, when the nation went into lockdown due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

Like all players, Parkes was given a fitness programme by the club to keep himself fit but, when they returned to training, Taylor was left angered by the former Bristol Rovers and Carlisle United stopper, who the City boss claims was ‘unselectable’ due to his physical state.

Although Parkes made a further 33 appearances this season – 74 in total for the Grecians – the City boss felt he was never able to reach the standards of his first campaign, which ultimately led to his release from St James Park.

“When Tom first came to the club, I thought I’d signed an outstanding lower league defender but, unfortunately, he’s not been able to maintain that,” Taylor said. “He’s not been able to maintain his physique, or his agility, in terms of his performance, and I am not scared to say publicly that he struggled in lockdown to maintain what we gave him as a physical programme.

“He was unselectable for the playoff campaign, which is unforgivable, and he was unselectable for the start of the season and since then, it has been a bit of a battle for him to play catch-up.

“I also have to take into account the emergence of Alex Hartridge as a left-footed centre half and someone who has performed pretty well in the last few months. I couldn’t keep them both and we decided to offer Alex a contract, in terms of the value to the football club and in terms of giving our Academy products a pathway.”

There were two names amongst those released – Alex Fisher and Nicky Ajose – that fans would not have been surprised to see depart St James Park with Taylor saying they had been told they did not feature in his plans a year ago.

The signing of Ajose two years ago was met with great excitement by City fans, but he netted only six goals in 25 appearances.

“The first season was the biggest disappointment with Nicky because that was the best team I have had, the best players and the best structure and systems within that and the way we played and the results we got,” Taylor said.

“At the time, we felt we were just

Exeter City manager Matt Taylor has been explaining why he has let some high-profile players leave St James Park short of one or two pieces and we felt Nicky could come in and solve that but, when he played, we were a lesser team.

“We signed him as a dynamic player and someone to play off the shoulder... It ended up that the more time he played, the more he came away from that space at the top end of the pitch and come out of the box.

“Sometimes, that’s the way it goes and sometimes, you have to just hold your hand up as manager and say that signing didn’t work out.

“We made him available (for transfer) at the start of the season and there were no takers for Nicky, so he sat and bided his time and didn’t move elsewhere which would have been more beneficial to the club for financial reasons. But I won’t hold that against him because players have to look after themselves.

“It was the same with Alex Fisher but, unfortunately now, they go out into a market where they have barely played for the best part of two years.”

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