Torquay United’s fortunes may have just turned the corner

Torquay United, or “The Gulls” as they are popularly known by locals, may just have turned the corner as far as the remainder of the season is concerned.
The recent appointment of a new head coach Gary Owers (who previously managed Bath City), and new assistant Martin Kuhl (who left Reading earlier this year after coaching their under-23 team for seven years) may now be beginning to pay off.
Owers replaces the previous manager Kevin Nicholson, who as a result of a string of poor results at the beginning of this season had the inglorious position to become the first manager in England’s top five divisions to be sacked when he parted company with Torquay United on 17th August.
Having been in charge of the Gulls for two years, Nicholson was fired after his team had only managed to reap one point from four matches. In previous seasons he had steered Torquay, only narrowly avoiding relegation by three points in each season.
Following the recent 1-1 draw away to Halifax Town and the excellent 1-0 win away at Ebbsfleet, Torquay United have just managed to lift themselves off the bottom of the division. Of course its early days yet, but already the mood of the club is in the ascendency.
The manager of Ebbsfleet was quick to praise Torquay after the game, saying that there is no way that that TUFC will be relegated this season. But Gary Owers refuses to take his eye off the ball, saying that his team must continue to work hard in order to get well out of the danger zone at the bottom of the table.
Torquay have a decent football heritage, having graced League two and briefly League one in their recent history. Their biggest local rivals are Exeter City, and Plymouth Argyle, both of which they have has some mighty clashes with over the years.
Torquay supporters, the Yellow Army, are just beginning to get acquainted with the new head coach. They are coming to realise that he will not be content, nor will he rest on his laurels until United start clawing their way up the table. But if the team spirit and the commitment of the new head coach are anything to go by, you could place a small wager on Torquay avoiding the drop.
A foundation has just been laid, but no-one should get carried away. The next stage in the immediate future, with two excellent away results under the team’s belt, is to make sure the Gulls put up a good home performance in front of the home crowd at Plainmoor against Hartlepool.
For Owers, the immediate priority to be addressed is to attract new players to boost his squad. The team already has seven players on loan from various clubs. So it is going to be crucial to make a number of permanent signings. The good news is that according to Owers, the players that he is most interested in are all free men – all are out of contract.
The head coach will also be scouting for a top quality signing, but he does warn that this can only be achieved at the expense of an existing player.