Pic: Patrick Tinkler
KEVIN NICHOLSON is confident he's equipped to take on the manager's job at Torquay United – he's been practising all his ideas on himself.
Nicholson, who celebrated his 35th birthday on Friday, has left Bath City to return to the club where he is a legend, as player-manager to take over from Paul Cox, who walked out of Plainmoor a fortnight ago.
The left-back is well-known to Gulls fans having played there for seven seasons and helped the club win promotion into the Football League through the 2008-09 Conference play-offs.
It's a job he's openly admitted he would one day love, and while it may have come sooner than expected, Nicholson is ready to put his forward-thinking ideas into practice.
“I've talked about it for long enough, I've planned it for long enough,” Nicholson told The NLP. “I've now got to put my ideas into action and use all the stuff I've used on myself and experimented with.
“Some things I thought were good and others not so good, now I get to use that as a manager and that's what I wanted.
Advantage
“I maybe didn't expect for another couple of years, but there's never going to be a time when you get to pick it. For it to come up as it has, and to get the job, I couldn't be happier.
“I was loving my time at Bath, they've got some fantastic people there and I've loved every minute of it. But in my career, Torquay has always been my club.
“I've had good times at other clubs, but Torquay's been the one stand-out thing in my life. It came about and I had to give it a go.
“The last week has been a bit surreal. You expect to wake up and it all be a dream. But the lads have been receptive to everything I've thrown at them and hopefully we can take that on.”
With question marks over the health of the club's finances and the team struggling at the bottom of the National League, Nicholson knows finding the feel-good factor is important.
“The atmosphere has been fine,” he said. “A few people have spent the last few months getting hammered – whether it's people behind the scenes or players.
“I've told them nothing that's happened before 10am on Monday when I met them has any relevance. All that matters is what they do from now on. They've all got a fresh start.
“It's an advantage I know the club. I know what to expect. I know they've got the odd issue with the training ground and things like that, but I also know what this place can be when this place is bouncing. It's my job to get the players to see it and start enjoying football again.”
