Managerial uncertainty could well be the New Year theme for Devon’s professional football clubs, but all for very different reasons.

Exeter City boss Gary Caldwell saw his side drop into the relegation zone with a 3-2 defeat at fellow strugglers Reading on New Year’s Day and one win from their past 16 league games is a run that has to change quickly if the Grecians are to survive in Sky Bet League One.

Down the road at Plymouth Argyle, the Pilgrims enjoyed a thrilling 3-3 draw with Watford to start 2024 and the club hopes to have a new manager in place ahead of the weekend visit from Sutton United in the FA Cup. The Greens said farewell to manager Steven Schumacher just before Christmas, as he took the job at Stoke City.

Torquay United boss Gary Johnson, a bit like Caldwell, is under a great deal of scrutiny from the club’s fanbase. The Gulls are not fighting relegation but their full-time status and general history means they are expected to win promotion from the National League South this season. A gloomy 1-0 defeat to Truro City on Boxing Day did little to lift the gloom at Plainmoor.

Exeter, however, are probably the team under the greatest current spotlight, and the defeat at Reading must have been incredibly frustrating for Caldwell, who would have hoped his side had turned a Christmas corner.

A tense 1-0 victory over Wycombe on Boxing Day was a massive relief and the Grecians followed that with a gritty 0-0 draw at home to a powerful Portsmouth side, who are sitting pretty at the top of the division.

The Reading trip was a huge game for the Grecians and they twice fought back from going behind. Harvey Knibbs scored early for the Royals but Zak Jules replied with a terrific long-range strike, only for an unfortunate own goal to gift Reading a second lead on the stroke of half-time.

Exeter showed tremendous spirit to recover for a second time, Dion Rankine finding the net midway through the second half, but Reading had the final word when Femi Azeez drilled home the winner 13 minutes from time.

The result dropped City into the bottom four for the first time this season, although they do have a game in hand on the teams around them. Carlisle are the visitors on Saturday and this already looks like a massive game, with the Cumbrians one place below Exeter in the table.

Caldwell spoke to the club website after the Reading defeat. He said: "I don't think the overall performance was bad but if you concede three goals the way we did away from home, you give yourself a mountain to climb. There were poor individuals errors for the goals, but some of our play was good. Some of our possession was good but when we lost the ball, we looked poor defensively.

"The long balls Reading played, we have to defend so much better - the type and timing of the goals, we have to do better.

"A lot of the players were carrying knocks and all credit to them for stepping out on the pitch. The January window is open now, so we have to add depth and quality to the squad."

Argyle, meanwhile, have been under the stewardship of Director of Football Neil Dewsnip and coach Kevin Nancekivell over the Christmas period, and the entertainment factor has been particularly high at Home Park.

After a 3-3 draw with Wayne Rooney’s Birmingham City, the Greens drew 2-2 at Cardiff City on Boxing Day before slipping to a 2-1 loss at promotion-chasing Southampton.

New Year’s Day brought Watford to Home Park and a first-half described by the Sky Sports reporter as the ‘most exciting he had ever witnessed’. Argyle led 3-2 at the break, all five goals were crackers, before Watford pinched a point after the break.