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July opens with the signing of Sean Canham, Dan Connor, O'Neill Thompson, and Stuart Fleetwood in the first two days. Next up is two departures, with the deeply unpopular Lindley Catering shown the door while club accountant Hugh Brooks leaves the board with David Keyte taking over the books. The pre-season friendlies open with a comfortable, if surprisingly goal-short 2-0 win over Ledbury before Swansea are beaten 2-0 in a game that suggested the Bulls were a very capable unit. Sam Malsom and Michael Townsend pen Edgar Street deals before news of a failed move for Toumani Diagouraga. Daniel Stratford joins on a one year deal before the Bulls lose to Swindon. Sam Gwynne resigns after his summer release, with the Bulls then winning at Telford before hammering Lydbrook.After a narrow loss to Plymouth Joe Colbeck signs from Oldham. Pre-season ends with a 6-2 win at Neath.
August's first act is the appointment of Janos Kovacs as captain. Samba Kanoute agrees a deal at Edgar Street joining youngsters Zac Evans and Aidan Thomas in the 21 man squad. The season opener sees a raucous Bulls support cheer on a 1-0 win at Crewe. It's back down to earth with a bump as Colchester win 3-0 in the Carling Cup. Adam Stansfield dies at the age of 31 after a battle with cancer. The home match with Gillingham sees Exeter fans in the home end but no goals. The Bulls get £60,000 out of a tribunal over Marc Pugh's move to Bournemouth, but nothing from their trip to Chesterfield but a 4-0 tonking. Russell Hoult is appointed as the Bulls' keeper coach, while a temporary stand will be erected for the season at the Blackfriars End while the club seek a larger development than originally planned. The Bulls lose at home to Rotherham and sign Dominik Werling and Amadou Rabihou as the transfer window closes.
September sees Dan Connor ruled out with a freak injury caused by getting out of his car. A third straight loss, and fifth straight goalless outing, sees the Bulls lose 3-0 at Burton while a fourth straight loss at home to Oxford sees the Meadow End turn on the manager. Guillem Bauza joins until the New Year in a bid to end the goalless run and it works as he scores from the spot at Bury in a 1-1 draw to stop the clock at 660 minutes. The only thing stale at Bury is the pies, unsurprisingly served by Lindley. The winless run continues at home to Southend with their 3-1 loss prompting a "worst team in years" text to BBC H&W, while by the following Tuesday's 4-1 loss to Stevenage even the hardest-worn of fans can't see the manager surviving much longer...
