Wycombe Wanderers conceded twice within the opening four minutes, allowing Exeter City to run riot at Adams Park in a 3-0 opening-day defeat.
The League One campaign kicked off today, but perhaps many in Wycombe wished it hadn’t after the first 60 seconds when Jack Aitchison put the visitors ahead.
Defender Will Aimson doubled Exeter’s lead and Charlton Athletic-linked striker Sam Nombe could have tripled it from the penalty spot in the ninth minute but for goalkeeper Max Stryjek’s heroics to deny the prolific striker.
Then, less than ten minutes before the end, James Scott put the Grecians 3-0 up, piling on the Chairboys’ misery.
Matt Bloomfield blames preparations
After the game, Wycombe head coach Matt Bloomfield was questioned over what went wrong for his side in what was an embarrassing home defeat.
Bloomfield put the heavy loss down to pre-season preparations and injuries sustained by key first-team players [quotes via the Bucks Free Press]:
“We missed a lot of bodies during pre-season where we had to cancel games and rearrange matches as we didn’t have enough players.
“We also had far too many trialists play and we had a lot of our top performers not take part a lot during pre-season.”
“Josh Scowen and Sam Vokes have only had four training sessions, Jason McCarthy and David Wheeler haven’t even been on the grass yet and Ryan Tafazolli has been in and out.”
However, the manager believes that his team were more than capable of getting a result against Gary Caldwell’s men:
“However, I still believed in the team I sent out – there’s no question about that, but we’re missing a lot of top players.”
Chris Forino’s situation
Chris Forino-Joseph started on the bench today for the hosts and has been heavily linked with a move away from Adams Park, with QPR said to be the favourites to secure his signature.
Bloomfield admitted Forino’s head has been turned as the club negotiates his departure:
“Chris Forino has had a situation which we have had to deal with as sensibly as we possibly can due to interest from elsewhere.
“That’s obviously turned his head, but we have a responsibility to look after him as a young boy where can try and negotiate the best we can.”
Writer’s View
Bloomfield feels as though a poor pre-season was to blame for the result and it’s hard to disagree. Wycombe played as though it was pre-season.
The Chairboys could have been three down in the opening nine minutes as Exeter City made light work of an ill-prepared side.
Lots of work is needed on the training ground but there’s little time to fix the issues at hand as Bloomfield’s men travel to Milton Keynes this Tuesday to take on MK Dons in the first round of the EFL Cup.
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