3 Gary Caldwell replacements Exeter City must consider | OneFootball

Three managers who may be on Exeter City's radar to take over from the departing Gary Caldwell

Exeter City's biggest fears of the last week are about to be realised, as manager Gary Caldwell looks set to depart the club and return to former side, Wigan Athletic.

The Scottish boss has done a more than admirable job of keeping a fan-owned club, with one of the lowest budgets in the third tier, well above the dreaded dotted line of relegation since he took over from Matt Taylor in October 2022.

That has seemingly earned him another crack at the Latics job, though, with Alex Crook reporting that the switch will be confirmed at the start of the week.

Ultimately, the Grecians will feel aggrieved that their manager has chosen to move to a side currently staring League One relegation in the face, but they can't afford to lick their wounds for too long.

The Exeter board have seemingly given themselves until the end of the campaign to make a decision, with popular coach Dan Green set to take charge between now and May, according to Crook's report.

Nevertheless, here are three options they could consider before the start of the 2026/27 campaign.

Dan Green

Starting with a slightly safer option, Dan Green may be the next man up in the progression of Exeter managers, especially if he puts in a good account of himself between now and the end of the season on an interim basis.

The 34-year-old has a long-standing relationship with the Grecians, going all the way back to his playing days, where he spent a couple of years with the Under-18's side at St James Park.

Additionally, he's managed the Under-18s and Under-23s sides at the club in the past, and since his return in 2024, has been part of Gary Caldwell's coaching staff.

With a low budget, promoting Green may be the most sustainable option available to Exeter currently, but if he can continue to maintain the seven-point barrier between themselves and the bottom four that Caldwell helped create, maybe he could be the best option, too.

Matt Taylor

Exeter are currently in the midst of their fourth successive campaign in the third tier, and all that became possible due to the work of Matt Taylor in the dugout, as he was the man in charge during their 2021/22 League Two promotion campaign.

The work he put in to help Exeter into the third tier didn't go unnoticed across the pyramid, and when the then-Championship side, Rotherham United, came knocking in 2022, not many held it against him for wanting to test himself in the second tier.

Taylor has arguably not had a similar success rate since he departed St James Park. Although he did oversee the only campaign in which Rotherham remained in the Championship in their last five seasons at the level. So many feel that there's still a quality manager there.

When revealing the shocking details of the family issues that saw him step away from management following his departure from Bristol Rovers in December 2024, he said that he's ready to return to management.

Perhaps he could find his way back to Exeter and have a crack at continuing from where he left off in 2022.

Darren Ferguson

Granted, Darren Ferguson's managerial stock has recently taken a slight nose-dive, having been relieved from his duties at Peterborough United with Posh sitting rock bottom in League One, only for the results to drastically improve under his replacement, Luke Williams.

However, there's no denying what the Scotsman has achieved in his time with Peterborough, especially given that he's had to watch top-quality players depart year-on-year, with the replacements being exciting but relatively unknown youngsters.

Exeter will operate similarly, transfer-wise, given their desperate need for revenue as a fan-owned club, so opting for someone like Ferguson, who has overseen the development of the likes of Harrison Burrows, Ronnie Edwards, Malik Mothersille, Kwame Poku and Emmanuel Fernandez in the last couple of years, may be a smart choice.

Plus, in Darren Ferguson, there's someone who knows what it takes to win in League One and in the EFL Trophy, so he could help Exeter continue to sustain themselves in the third tier successfully.