Ambitious Paul is man with a plan

FLASHBACK... to November as Chris Taylor puts Athletic 3-0 in front. Then it all went wrong.

EXETER City are a club on the up: that’s the view of highly-rated manager Paul Tisdale, whose snappy dress sense is in tune with some attention-grabbing performances over the past five seasons he has been at the helm at St James Park.

Formerly the boss of Team Bath — the university club he famously guided into the first round proper of the FA Cup in 2002 — the ex-Southampton midfielder (38) managed to avoid the relegation that many pundits expected last term, their first since successive promotions saw City emerge from the Conference to gain League One status.

Even in this division, the Grecians have gone from strength to strength.

Every Athletic fan present at Boundary Park in November will remember with dread the amazing comeback which saw never-say-die Exeter — who were torn to shreds in the first half — return from being three goals down to claim a point thanks to a trio of strikes inside the final 13 minutes.

Wily old strike duo Jamie Cureton and Daniel Nardiello, who had a loan spell with Athletic curtailed by injury last season, both found their way on to the scoresheet that night.

And the pair have again been among the goals more recently, as Tisdale's men threaten to mount a stunning late surge into the play-off places.

Five points adrift with four fixtures left thanks to four straight wins, Exeter may have left their challenge too late.

Their manager, though, can only see more improvement next term despite losing the talismanic presence of cultured midfielder Ryan Harley to Swansea.

"What has been eye-opening is that I have had more agents phoning, saying they would actually like their player to come to us," said Tisdale, who watched Cureton net a double in a 2-0 win at Bristol Rovers, before Nardiello's did likewise to help see off Leyton Orient 2-1 at the weekend.

"The conversation is not about how much money have we got, it is genuine interest in their player coming to the club.

"And for the first time we have had players phoning us to see if there is an opportunity that they can come and play for us.

"We are aiming to make two or three signings in the summer and keep the rest of the squad together."

Cureton (35) has 16 league goals to his name in 30 starts this season. Also flying high in Exeter's scoring charts are Nardiello (nine), Harley (10) and Richard Logan (11).

One familiar name who won't be taking to the field at Exeter in npower League One tomorrow is Marcus Stewart.

The 38-year-old former Huddersfield and Ipswich striker retired from football after the recent defeat of his boyhood club Bristol Rovers.