Grecians confirm signing of Stubbs
Former Grecian Friend gives his mate a glowing reference for new signing
MATT Taylor announced Sam Stubbs as Exeter City’s ‘mystery’ signing with a glowing reference from his close pal and former Grecian George Friend persuading him to make a move for the young centre half.
The 22-year-old Stubbs has had a stop-start career to date, but has joined City on a two-and-a-half year deal after being released by Fleetwood Town. Since arriving in Devon, though, Stubbs has been struck down with Covid, which has not helped his rehabilitation as he recovers from a minor knee operation he had at the back end of 2020.
Despite the fact he will not be available for selection for the next few weeks, Taylor was determined to get his man, though.
“He’s just turned 22 and has big potential,” Taylor said. “He’s a great character and one we are looking forward to developing.
“He’s a player we have followed for a number of seasons now and we got a fantastic reference from George Friend, who played with him at Middlesbrough when Sam was a young lad.
“We also played against him when he was at Notts County. He was 18 or 19 and playing in a team that was struggling. Ryan Bowman actually left one on him in that game and picked up a second booking before Nicky Law scored that famous late winner in the 95th minute, but he’s a great character and someone that likes defending.
“He is an old school centre half and you don’t get that many profiles within a young body. He’s had a loan experience in Scotland, played out in Holland and played a dozen or so games for Fleetwood in League One.
“Due to whatever reason, Fleetwood have made him available and it was one we wanted to move on quickly, so we are delighted to tie him down on a long contract.
“He’s a player we are looking to build a team around. We will have to be patient because of Covid and his knee operation, so he won’t play straight away, but I am sure we will see his value in the next month or so.”
Stubbs, the son of former Bolton Wanderers, Everton and Celtic stopper Alan, started out in the Academy of Everton before joining Wigan Athletic in 2013. Whilst with the Latics, he was sent on loan to Crewe Alexandra and made his Alex debut against Exeter at St James Park in September 2017.
However, Stubbs joined Middlesbrough in the summer of 2018, where he linked up with former Grecian Friend, who was club captain at the time. He did not make an appearance for Boro and spent time on loan at Notts County, Hamilton and Den Haag in Holland before joining Fleetwood in September.
However, despite making nine appearances this season and scoring in a 4-1 thrashing of Hull City, Stubbs was deemed surplus to requirements and allowed to join City for free.
“He came down and watched the Sheffield Wednesday game, but he hasn’t met the lads yet because he then got Covid,” Taylor added. “He’s been locked up in a lodge at Fingle Glen golf club and as nice as that is during the summer, I can’t imagine it’s much fun in the winter!”
Taylor added: “Character is a big thing, especially when you come down to Exeter City. It’s a huge aspect in any players’ DNA and part and parcel of what we look for in a player’s profile.
“The fact that he wants to defend, he’s big and physical, but he is also mobile enough because of his age and we want our defenders to be as aggressive as possible.
“He will be a real asset in both boxes and we have a good record in developing centre halves with Dara O’Shea and Jordan Storey, to name but two. If we can get a little bit more out of his game, then we will have a good player on our hands.
“Like all young players, he has to find consistency and a rhythm and play a whole season. Sam needs to get games under his belt and then we will see the best of him.”