Exeter City star failing to live up to summer Blackburn Rovers links and pushing Gary Caldwell’s buttons | OneFootball

There were high hopes for Millenic Alli at Exeter City this season but it's not worked out and he's been frustrating boss Gary Caldwell.

There's no other way to say this; it feels like there's something strange going on between Gary Caldwell and Millenic Alli.

Exeter City boss Caldwell always seems to be demanding more from his forward, but things boiled over at halftime of the 2-1 loss to Barnsley last weekend.

The Grecians were leading going into the break thanks to Josh Magennis' deflected free kick.

But all was not well and Caldwell came onto the pitch to scream at Alli as the ref blew his whistle to signal the end of the first 45.

The Scot remonstrated with Alli as they headed towards the tunnel, and it looked like the cause may have been that the former Stockport County attacker hadn't challenged for the ball from the goal kick that ended the half, presumably because he correctly assumed that the whistle was about to blow.

It was probably an accumulation of little things and Alli was also chastised for failing to go all in for a loose ball.

The halftime stramash was not necessarily an isolated incident, but it was certainly the most explosive we've seen played out in public to date.

Gary Caldwell demanding of Millenic Alli

It's notable that Caldwell is often in Alli's ear, frequently yelling at him for his positioning or being wasteful on the ball.

And boy, oh boy, is he wasteful at times.

There were high hopes for Alli this season as he finished the 2023/24 campaign strongly following his transfer from Halifax in January.

He arrived injured and needed and got some time to get up to speed but then went on to bag four goals and an assist in the final four games of last season, and it was hoped he'd provide the goal-scoring foil to Magennis' line-leading play.

Remember, this is a guy who was being mooted as Blackburn Rovers' potential Sammie Szmodics replacement in the summer.

But, frankly, it looks like he's gone backwards and, as it turns out they've probably dodged a bullet by being cautious and not pouncing on that late-season form.

Alli's decision-making is so poor and he's regularly shooting from mad angles, he never seems to pass to anyone when in the final third, and often runs down blind alleys.

It's time for Millenic Alli to start delivering

Those things might be fine when on form but when it's not going well, as it isn't for City at the moment, that kind of behaviour can make you a lightning rod for criticism.

This season he's got two goals in 17 League One outings and is symptomatic of a team that's struggling to score with just six goals from open play and the fewest big chances created in the division.

He's a maverick player and that's probably why he's keeping his place in the team, but there has to come point where he needs to start delivering and we've reached that now.

Things appear to be coming to a head at Exeter City and both Caldwell and captain Pierce Sweeney revealed that there were full and frank discussions in the St James Park changing rooms on Saturday - and that was while they were winning.

There's a player in Alli and he's got some excellent attributes. Clearly, Caldwell is frustrated by what he sees, as are a growing number of the Grecian faithful as he runs the ball out of play, misplaces a pass or watches another shot fly into the back of the Big Bank.

With the fixture list now easing for City, and with Saturday's row fresh in the mind, hopefully Alli can get it together and start to unleash that talent that saw him linked with a move to the second tier.