AT the beginning of January, things were looking pretty rosy in the Exeter City garden. The Grecians had a good look about them, were performing well in the league and through to the third round of the FA Cup.

Manager Gary Caldwell was fairly content, wanting just one or two players to add to his squad for the second half of the campaign. But things can change very quickly in football – and so it proved – as the Grecians lost several key men over the next four weeks turning what should have been a fairly relaxed month into one of unwelcome and unexpected transfer business.

One or two suddenly became four as Tristan Crama’s loan spell was cut short by Brentford, who then sold him to Millwall, and as Crama packed his bags and returned to London, City were dealt a further blow by Johnly Yfeko picking up a second hamstring injury,, which looks set to rule him out for the rest of the season.

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Kamari Doyle and Amani Richards both had their loan spells cut short and when Millenic Alli was sold for a reported £1.5 million to Luton Town, four new signings became seven or eight.

“I don’t love the January window,” Caldwell said, reflecting on a very disruptive start to the year at St James Park. “I don’t think anyone does. I think it’s a short, intense window where so many different things can happen.

“We were prepared for a quiet window and suddenly it became a really busy window, so that ability to adapt and that ability to be ready for any eventuality had to really come out later on in the window.

“In the end, I think we’ve got where we wanted to get to. I think financially, again, we’ve done brilliant for the football club where a player we only signed a year previous has developed under the coaching here and progressed as a player and I think that shows that we can get these players from lower leagues, or we can bring players through the academy, and develop them to go on and that’s what the model of this football club is.

“As disappointed as I’m sure supporters are that our top players are leaving, that is what we have to do and they have to then look at the next generation, or the next player that we bring in, to develop the team but also help the club financially in the future.”

January has perhaps shown both the good and bad in the loan system where you can have an outstanding player like Crama, on affordable wages, but who moves on off the back of how well he has played leaving you staring at a gaping hole to fill not just in your squad, but team as well.

The hope is that Ed Turns will come in and be that man. At 23, he is the kind of player Caldwell is talking about as someone who can get better with the games and training Exeter have to offer and himself earn a big-money move away in the future. And having a former centre back of international standing to teach him the ropes can only help with Turns’ development.

“Hopefully he’s a better player than me!” Caldwell quipped. “Yeah look, I think that, again, we have to look at the model. We obviously sign Angus MacDonald for experience and that stability in the backline but we also sign a 22-year-old centre half and we sign Andrew (Oluwabori) from Halifax, a young forward, so we’re always looking for that younger player that has a quality and has a talent that we feel can get better with our coaching and with the development we can give them.

“Hopefully, they take the club higher but also take their career higher as well and I think it’s clear what we’ve done over the years I’ve been here through the recruitment team and through my contacts in the game.

“Graham Barrow was a big factor in bringing Milli Alli to the club from Halifax. He was somebody that’s seen him a number of times and we managed to get Milli in and there’ll be players like that in the future and hopefully Ed and Andrew are two of those players that can progress the team forward but also progress their careers as well.”

City fans will have to wait a little longer to see Oluwabori in action as he is cup-tied for tomorrow’s FA Cup clash with Nottingham Forest at St James Park, having already played for Halifax this season. Alex Hartridge also misses out for the same reason, only he played for Wycombe, but MacDonald and Turns are both expected to make their debuts against the Premier League side.