Exeter City look set to avoid James Scott mistake once more

Jay Bird’s already been a great signing by Gary Caldwell.

The fact his comedy finish against Barnet prompted Exeter City’s media team to put out a compilation of gaffes and goals, complete with clown noises, is good enough for some.

In truth, it was actually an excellent finish as he somehow swung a leg while topping over to dink it past the keeper with just enough enthusiasm on it to get it over the line.

Sometimes the camera does lie, and a second angle proved it was a canny finish.

It was a big, big goal, too, and it put City 4-3 up in the 96th minute of a pulsating FA Cup First Round clash against their excellent non-league opponents before Kamari Doyle would go on to pop a cherry on top with the Bees keeper in City’s box as they threw literally everyone forward looking to an equaliser.

How lucrative might Bird’s flick prove to be if City can get past Chesterfield and land a plumb Third Round tie?

Of course, the jury is still out on Bird who has, so far, played 84 minutes across five appearances for City since joining over the summer.

What we’ve seen of him has been promising though, and he’s got two cup goals to his name, with the first coming on full debut against Bristol Rovers in the Bristol Street Motors during last week.

Caldwell’s Bird comments are interesting

His signing was largely met with a shrug, and he soon picked up an injury to delay his arrival on the scene in Devon.

City boss Gary Caldwell said something interesting when the was unveiled.

“He is someone we need to be patient with allow time to integrate with the squad,” The Scot announced. “To allow to improve physically and get used to the different loads we are putting through his body over the next few weeks.

“We see a massive future for him, but I’d ask the supporters to be a little more patient with him.”

More patient? More patient than what? More patient than who?

 

 

Grecians are pretty forgiving as footballing fanbases go, so you probably didn’t need to be Derren Brown to break into Caldwell’s mind palace and unearth the reference to James Scott who had been hounded out of the club in the January 2024 window.

Scott had promise but it soon went downhill. He looked unfit the whole time he was at St James Park, with most giving him the benefit of the doubt in the latter half of his first season.

He started the 2023/24 season okay but then hit the pits, and it suddenly looked like he’d barely seen a football before, let alone tried to control one.

Poor results for the team started to come and so did the boos for Scott. He was moved on to St Mirren for his and the City’s mutual good. He’s scored one goal in 26 appearances for The Buddies if you were wondering.

So it was interesting that Caldwell said we needed to be ‘more patient’ with Bird despite failing to mention the man he was obviously referring to.

To be honest, it was a bit of a masterstroke and expectations were duly dampened, though a quick look at Bird’s resume might have done the job as well.

Jay Bird has plenty of potential

He landed in the Westcountry on the back of a relegation with Arbroath from the Scottish Championship and a run of one goal in his last 10 appearances for the Smokies, though he did finish as their top scorer on seven in a nightmare season for the club that saw them lose 10 on the bounce as they went down the plug hole.

By the time he made his debut for The Grecians on October 17th, many had forgotten that he’d even signed.

Everyone’s well aware of his presence now, and he looks just that; a striker full of potential.

He’s tall and quick enough but could do with a bit of bulking up, which will come in time.

Two goals in his last two games will obviously buy him time with the City faithful and if he can kick on until January, then maybe Sonny Cox can go out and get some regular football at a decent level like Pedro Borges has this week.

Bird looks like he has a better mentality than Scott and this is a huge opportunity for him to go on and have a good career in the game, especially as City are not likely to go on a 10-game losing streak and be relegated this season.

You fancy he will grasp the mantle, but he’s not going to be starting games given Josh Magennis’ excellent performances leading the line since arriving from Wigan.

The thought of Magennis batting defenders around for 75 minutes and Bird running them into the ground late on is an exciting one and one that could become a reality if the 23-year-old continues his encouraging start.

The bare minimum City fans expect is effort at St James Park.

Bird looks like he’s full of the hustle, bustle and physique that Scott was sadly lacking. Let’s see if he’s got the skills to back it up.

One thing seems certain, City fans could fall in love with their No.31 in a way that never seemed likely with Scott.

 

 

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