Exeter City manager Gary Caldwell feels Ryan Woods will bring some much needed experience to the Grecians squad after signing the midfielder on-loan from Championship side Hull City for the remainder of the season.
The 30-year-old becomes the Grecians sixth loan signing – goalkeeper Vili Sinisalo, winger Dion Rankine, midfielder Luke Harris and strikers Mo Eisa and Admiral Muskwe the others – meaning one will have to sit out matches with only five loanees permitted in a matchday squad.
But Caldwell felt that, while it is not ideal, it was something City had to do if they were to secure his signature with Woods someone that Caldwell has admired for a long time.
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“Ryan was someone we spoke to in the summer. I met him one day in the summer and he was someone that wanted to get out and play more football, find a club and be a part of something.
“I kept in touch with him over the summer, but we couldn’t get a deal done – nothing to do with our club, more to do with Hull – but thankfully, this time, we have managed to get it done.
“We looked at lots of different options and I think, nearer the end of the window, there are more and more things that start to happen with players getting a move to certain clubs and that frees up other players, but I felt we needed competition in that area of the pitch to give us options.
“I also felt that experience was going to be a good thing so that, alongside TC (Tom Carroll) in there, we have someone in the middle of the pitch that knows the game and can understand. You look at Saturday (the 2-1 win at Barnsley) and in the differences within the game in the first half and second half, the momentum within the game.
“Having that experience and know-how is very important, so I think he is going to be a good addition until the end of the season.”
The 30-year-old is vastly experienced having started out at Shrewsbury Town and going on to play for Brentford, Stoke City, Millwall and Birmingham City before joining the Tigers. He has made a total of 410 appearances in a career that has been spent predominantly in the Championship.
He was a stand-out player as a young kid at Shrewsbury, when they won promotion from League Two in 2015/15, which earned him the nickname the ‘Ginger Pirlo’ by Shrews fans, and led to a £1 million move to the Bees.
“He comes with great experience, he is a very good football player and can definitely receive the ball and pass it forwards and he has played at a really high level throughout his career,” Caldwell added. “Hopefully, that experience and know-how he can bring to the club and he can bring a standard where he can push others and he can pass on some of that knowledge of how you go from a lower league club and progress your career to the younger players.
“I am delighted to get him in and adds more competition in an area of the pitch we are a little bit light in. Hopefully, he is another really good signing.”
City were still active going right to last night’s 11pm deadline, but any no further additions were completed. But he was happy with the business done in the month.
“I am really happy. I think it is a difficult month to do business. We knew exactly what we wanted to do and I think we have got probably 90 per-cent that from what we wanted, so we are really happy because it is a difficult month to get things done.
“I thank the board for the financial backing that they have given me and to strengthen the squad at the football club to make this a really successful season.
“You always want more! We missed out on a lot, I’ll be very honest. We were very active and tried a lot of things as a football club, the backing that the board and football club gave me was tremendous; I think we have learnt a lot of things in the last few windows that, as a club moving forward, I think we will be better at. But from where we went in at the start of this window to coming out, I think we are in much better shape in terms of the depth of the squad and the quality we have.
“I think everyone can be happy with that and now it is about putting those players on the .pitch, creating connections on the pitch and making sure we continue the good run of form that we are on.”
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