Fame at last (well sort of)

[extaffyjim]

From yesterdays times:

 

Billericay the focus as Exeter keep eye on ball

 

TEN minutes before the draw, the players were dispersing. Down at the Exeter City training ground there was no question of the team listening to the fourth-round pairings. The press had been barred and it was only after the draw was made that Steve Perryman, Exeter’s director of football, emerged to say: “Billericay is No 1, Man United No 2. I do not think our brains could cope with talking about Middlesbrough at the minute.”

 

Most of the team had been sent on their way, some carrying a copy of the local paper. “Heroes”, the front page banner headline screamed.

 

“Cup Winners” was the back page splash. Inside, all 14 who played in the goalless draw at Old Trafford on Saturday had been marked 10 out of 10. The national papers were giving them rave reviews. Somehow Alex Inglethorpe, the manager, and Perryman, who collected the Cup twice for Tottenham Hotspur in the early 1980s, had to try to bring them down to earth.

 

So there would be no media invasion, no listening together on the radio to learn what the reward might be for beating United at home in a third-round replay, as if the near £1 million for their efforts so far was not reward enough. Confirmation yesterday that the replay would be put back 24 hours until tomorrow week, and that it would be shown live on BBC, edges Exeter closer to a seven-figure payout from the United tie, wiping out debts of £750,000.

 

But, before United, Billericay Town away. From underdogs to fancied dogs.

 

Exeter, from the Nationwide Conference, are two divisions above their Ryman League opponents in the FA Trophy on Saturday, although Alex will not be doing a Sir Alex. Might Exeter field the reserves and keep the first team back for bigger challenges? Perish the thought.

 

“Billericay beat Yeading 4-0 in the last round,” Perryman said, having just returned from seeing Yeading hold Newcastle United to 2-0 on Sunday. Perryman is an honorary vice-president of Yeading and knows only too well that Billericay can be a handful. Their manager is Justin Edinburgh, who played for Tottenham when Perryman was assistant manager at White Hart Lane.

 

“We got a good result at Old Trafford, we are very proud of what we have done, and there is more to do,” Perryman said. “But, at the end of the season, we will be judged on where we are in the league and the FA Trophy is a realistic target for us. So let us not throw that away. The FA Cup is wonderful but I cannot say we are going to win that.

 

“There is all sorts of planning going on for the United game, but our job is to keep it away from the players. They have to be thinking about Billericay.”

 

Was he not worried that the headlines would divert attention? “The team mirrors the manager in lots of ways and Alex is a sensible character,” Perryman said. “We are down-to-earth people with not a lot of ego involved. But it is difficult. Lots of people will be pulling them different ways and they just have to keep their feet on the floor.

 

“That is why we did not want a big group thing today. We just wanted to get them back to thinking about the next game.”

 

Is there no end to Exeter’s run of good fortune? Not only will they host another Premiership side if they achieve the still seemingly impossible and beat United, but everybody turned up yesterday in full health.

 

“Everyone is fine, all fit and well,” Perryman said. And, as he looked out across the training ground, splendidly named the Cat and Fiddle, the sun penetrated the clouds to meet his smile.

 

What was he thinking? “How much money can we get out of this episode?” he said. Improvements are needed to the training ground: drainage, a new weights room and a general tidy-up. Outside the changing-rooms is a row of discarded filing cabinets and the entrance sign is in disrepair. Not everything about Exeter, for the moment at least, is functioning as well as the team.