Exeter City have headed to sunny Spain for four-day training camp
But the news has not gone down well with supporters of the fan-owned club.
EXETER City have headed to sunny Spain in a bid to arrest their poor run of form in League One and get their season back on track.
The Grecians flew out to the famous La Manga resort on Sunday morning, just hours after a dismal 3-0 defeat at Charlton Athletic saw them dragged close to the relegation zone. They are due to return on Thursday, but the news – which was officially announced yesterday – has not gone down well with supporters of the fan own club.
“La Manga offers a different climate for their training ahead of Saturday’s match against Northampton Town, with high quality facilities available to the group,” a statement from the club read. “The four-day camp will allow the squad to train in optimal conditions and focus on key tactical and physical preparations.
“La Manga offers a different climate for their training ahead of Saturday’s match against Northampton Town, with high quality facilities available to the group,” a statement from the club read. “The four-day camp will allow the squad to train in optimal conditions and focus on key tactical and physical preparations.
“Following seven new arrivals in the January transfer window, the trip also offers a crucial opportunity to integrate the squad, strengthen team cohesion, and build relationships ahead of the final 15 league matches of the season.
“Funded by the financial benefits of the club’s FA Cup run, the camp will provide valuable additional training time.
“The players have been together since departing the training ground on Friday before the Charlton fixture and will return on Thursday.”
The visit of Northampton is important for Exeter, who are just three points above the drop zone now after a run that has seen them win just one of their last ten league games. The Cobblers are just one point and a place above Exeter, although the Grecians do have a game in hand.
However, the decision to go abroad for four days has not gone down well with fans quick to voice their opinions on the Grecians’ social media posts.
“What a joke,” said Ross Watts. “Something good better come of this or you’ll know all about it by 5pm on Saturday!!!” added Donna Wotherspoon.
Philip Day said: “We better win on Saturday not the best time to go away on a jolly boys outing. It’ll be a disaster if we go down. UTC.”
“Unbelievable, the owners of the club were surely consulted over this….. oh wait WE WEREN’T,” said Phil Miller, with Wayne Moxey adding: “How much is this farce costing ‘fan owned club’”
Not everyone was against the trip, though. “Huge six pointer at SJP on the weekend. Need to see far more effort than we saw at The Valley. Enjoy the sunshine and make sure you all return with your A-Game ready for Northampton. UTC!” said Oldi Chamfer.
“There were a number of players at Charlton who could not be bothered, no urgency, no closing down, they showed they did not care. If this sunshine break works, restores some team spirit and we beat Northampton on Saturday, then fine.
“If the players don’t try against Northampton and we lose the game, this will rebound big time, and the atmosphere at SJP will be toxic at full time on Saturday. Let’s hope they return motivated and win this crunch game,” said David Evans.
Meanwhile, Ilmari Niskanen is expected to join up with his team-mates today after appearing at Exeter magistrates Court yesterday, where he pleaded guilty to a drink-drive charge.
The 27-year-old Finnish international was banned for 18 months, fined £2,000 and told to pay additional costs of £885 by a district judge at a hearing yesterday morning.
Police stopped Niskanen after being alerted by a member of the public, who reported concerns over how a vehicle was being driven on the A30 near Honiton on February 6. He was found to have 70 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – twice the legal limit.
Deputy District Judge Hayes said: “I’m sure that you are extremely disappointed to be in this position. It is of course your fault but in many respects you can consider yourself extremely fortunate.
“Most of us in this court will have seen many other people taking the decision to drive while over the limit and then there’s been an accident. Thankfully there wasn’t an accident in this case and you could have put yourself very possibly in a position of it being a great deal worse than it was.
“There are sentence guidelines relating to your reading in breath that gives me a starting point for sentence. The aggravating manner of your driving was that you were stopped because a member of the public called police because of concerns about how you were driving your vehicle. That would ordinarily cause me to go up the sentencing range.
“But you have cooperated with police and have a lack of previous convictions that act as mitigation features. For me one of the most important factors is you cooperated with the police at an early stage and you have shown genuine remorse. All of these factors mean I can deal with it at a financial level. I doubt I will see you again and this is a lesson learnt. All the best.”
Niskanen issued a statement through the club last week in which he expressed his great remorse and sorrow for the incident.
The Grecians have said they will now hold an internal investigation and they are treating it with the ‘utmost gravity.’
Read more at;https://sportupdates.co.uk
Leave a Reply