THERE is no denying that the general feeling around St James Park following Exeter City’s 2-1 home defeat to Barnsley last weekend was pretty glum.

The Grecians had done OK in the first half and led 1-0, but it was clear by the actions of manager Gary Caldwell and one or two players as they headed down the tunnel at half-time that not all was right in the City camp.

Both Caldwell and captain Pierce Sweeney alluded to some pretty harsh things being said at half-time, by players and staff, which may have contributed to a poor second half in which the Tykes scored twice to win 2-1.

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Since then, the players have been away in London on a Christmas break, while the staff had one of their own. And when they reconvened on Tuesday, to begin preparations for today’s League One trip to Burton Albion, more was said before a line in the sand was drawn and the Grecians moved on from their fifth defeat in their last seven matches in all competitions.

“It’s been really good and an opportunity to reset,” Caldwell said, looking ahead to today’s game. “We had good honest conversations, players and staff, and got things together again, now we want to start winning games again and look forward to the New Year with real positivity.

“It’s been a good week to have that and the players are refreshed physically, but also ready to go again and get our season back on track by a win and then, like I said, kick on in the second half of the season.

“Football is an emotional game and if the fans see me on the side, they see someone who wants to win football matches. I think our players want to win football matches and at times, you have to be honest with each other – and that’s two-way, that’s players and staff giving opinions so we can find a way to come out of this run better.

“That will always be the case here. The environment we have here is excellent and the connection we have between players and staff is excellent, but sometimes, you have to say things that are pretty uncomfortable and people don’t want to hear and you have to do something about that. You have to take it on board and do something about that, so I think it has been really positive this week in that regard, the players have trained well and now it is all focus on Burton and going to win a game.”

City’s tactical preparations have been clouded by a new manager being appointed at the Pirelli Stadium. Former Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Bradford City, Salford and Dundee boss Gary Bowyer was appointed and unveiled before a Fans Forum, so the Grecians can expect a new manager bounce from the Brewers.

“It has changed our thinking slightly,” Caldwell said. “We were preparing for a Burton team that had been playing under a different manager and playing in a certain way. I don’t think that will change that much in a short space of time, you can only change so much on the training pitch in two or three days.

“We know that Gary Bowyer is an excellent manager, he has an excellent CV in terms of promotions north and south of the border, so we have to prepare for a slightly different version of Burton.

“I think the biggest thing is we learn from the Blackpool experience (when they appointed Steve Bruce just days before playing Exeter) is that they will be a different team in terms of energy, the stadium will be different, so we have to prepare for that as well.

“The biggest thing is we have to be ourselves. We have to prepare to be the best version of Exeter City and if we do that, then it will be Burton that are more worried about us.”

The challenge for Caldwell is to get his players playing with the confidence and belief that he clearly has in them – and not just in flashes. That means being better in all areas, not least in the final third where goals have dried up with only four scored in the last eight League One fixtures.

“I want this group to be better and push this group to limits never seen,” Caldwell said. “I just believe that this group of players can be better, so it’s my job to push them and it’s their job to work together and question the staff, say what they need to get to their very best and together, I think we can do that in the second half of the season.”