Exeter City: 2022 arrival has unlocked potent Gary Caldwell weapon - View | OneFootball

Exeter City have been much improved from corners this season and it's largely down to the good work of David Perkins.

EFL legend, coach, long-distance runner, jester, Gary Caldwell’s flatmate and, now, Exeter City's oldest-ever player. David Perkins is many, many things.

The midfielder, who played for Morecambe, Blackpool, Wigan and plenty of others, is now one of Caldwell’s coaches at Exeter City, and he’s having a genuinely telling impact that’s actively winning the club points on the pitch.

And that's not a reference to Perkins' surprise substitute appearance in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy win against Tottenham Under 21s on Tuesday night which made him (almost certainly) City's oldest player of all time at 42 years, three months and three days old.

While managers are instantly accountable for what goes on between the white lines, the coaches usually go under the radar and no one really takes much notice or knows exactly what they’re up to on a day-to-day basis.

But Perkins, who has made over 700 career appearances for 13 clubs over 24 years, has a wealth of EFL experience and he’s putting it to good use working on funky set-piece routines on the training ground, along with the club’s performance analysts.

No City fan could have failed to notice the much-improved output from set pieces this season.

It was something Caldwell spoke about a lot last term, and Will Aimson scored a notable set-piece goal away at Shrewsbury in March 2024 with a cute near-post flick following a run from the far edge of the box.

But actual results from corners have been few and far between over the years and it’s felt like an area where we have been quite poor for a long time.

Delivery was an issue and Reece Cole’s quality has certainly helped. He’s now being backed up by Kamari Doyle who’s taking dead balls both left and right footed.

Throw in some towering centre-backs, and the presence of Josh Magennis in the box, and it’s proving to be a potent combination that’s seen City score three goals from corners in six League One games - with a second of the season in the BSM Trophy on Tuesday.

Exeter City set pieces bearing fruit

Those small moments add up to a big difference and the set-piece routines have contributed to six of City’s nine league points so far.

"It's a big part of what we do, the analysts [Lauren Jones and Alex Mitchell] and Perks on the attacking corners. Kev [Nicholson] does the defensive corners,” Caldwell explained after the Bolton win.

"We need to make sure that we're really good in those moments. That's a progression that we can make to keep this team going on [and improving]."

There was derision last year as City lined up in the ‘love train’ and other mad-looking formations to little effect from corners.

But this season Magennis has flicked on two corners at the near post and also headed one back across goal at the weekend to make it three assists for the season.

The near-post ploy is a clever one and it’s difficult to stop if Magennis gets the flick on right as defenders are naturally drawn toward the front post which leaves room at the back stick for others to capitalise.

There was another special teams-style play on Saturday as a short corner was flicked to Pierce Sweeney to shoot before Ed Francis was the latest beneficiary of Magennis’ knock on moments later, flicking home while tumbling backwards in an effort he’s trying to claim as an overhead kick.

"The first goal was a brilliant special teams corner,” Caldwell said on Saturday. “We tried to get Sweens in for a goal on his birthday, we still couldn't manage it.

"It's been two and a half years now [without Sweeney scoring] I think, but it was worked brilliantly and that's credit to the analysts and the players.

"We had four or five corners and the momentum, the quality of those corners told.”

Perkins having big effect at Exeter

With everything at a football club the improvement is a team effort, with the excellent delivery being complimented by the ability and profile of the players in the box making the right moves at the right time on plays planned by Perkins and the analysts, with all of this being honed on the training ground by City’s coach.

He’s a bit of a Swiss Army Knife, Perkins, and he famously came out of retirement to be named on the subs bench for New Year's Day's 3-2 loss away at Reading to everyone's surprise.

At the time it was thought he was kitted up so he could dish out instructions to the defenders all the way down the sideline and that he was never going to come on.

However, he made his City debut as a 68th-minute sub in Tuesday's 2-0 win over Spurs' kids so there's clearly life in the old dog yet.

But, with all due respect to the 42-year-old, hopefully, we won’t see him in a League One match-day squad again, and it would take an injury crisis to end all injury crises this season given the depth in the side.

While the legs have gone at the professional level, the brain is still ticking and his knowledge of the game and ability to think outside the box is certainly helping City to make hay in their opponents’ areas.