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Dom Roman
@DomRoman
Not many ex-Torquay United managers divide opinion like Paul Buckle! 12 years on from the acrimony of his departure to Bristol Rovers, I look back over his time at Plainmoor…
2007-08 – THE NEARLY MEN
PB – “I still wouldn’t swap that season for the world because that team gave us all so much pleasure, not to mention becoming the first team to reach 50 goals in English football”
The uncertainty and pain of relegation from the Football League was soon pushed to one side when a local consortium swept into Plainmoor in May 2007. Chairman Alex Rowe and Chief Executive Colin Lee took charge of the Gulls ship and quickly installed Exeter City assistant Paul Buckle as manager for our first season in the Conference National. United weren’t messing around and in came seasoned pros such as Chris Hargreaves, Kevin Nicholson and Tim Sills, whilst Chris Todd and Lee Phillips followed Buckle from City.
It was clear that Paul Buckle had come to make a name for himself and with Sills and Phillips joined by loan man Chris Zebroski in attack, the Gulls started scoring goals for fun. Tactically this was no patient passing from the back like Leroy though, this was much more direct and intense. Balls aimed up to Sillsy, whilst Zebs and Phillips caused chaos next to him. Veteran Hargreaves charging around the midfield and Nicho chucking throw-ins and set pieces into dangerous areas. United went for the throat, and for the first few months they wouldn’t let go.
After the drab and depressing past year at Plainmoor the Yellow Army lapped it up, who knew Non-League Football could be such fun! United scored 5 against both Histon and Kiddy in September, and became the first team in English football to reach 50 goals. United were on TV more than ever and there was also a fantastic FA Cup win over Yeovil to savour, as Bucks team pushed keenly on all fronts. A team enjoying playing any day or night of the week.
Christmas saw a Boxing Day defeat to promotion rivals Exeter City at St James’ Park, and after that, despite avenging the defeat on New Year’s Day in the return fixture, the Gulls lost vital momentum and began to drop silly points in the second half of the season. By February Aldershot had stolen a march for the title, and they beat United at Plainmoor in early March to give them an advantage they would never lose. Bucks had become more pragmatic tactics-wise, taking a back step in his approach, and his team were stuttering.
Buckle made some rather desperate looking player recruitment to try and revitalise the squad, and United eventually finished 3rd and reached the FA Trophy Final. But, of course, there was play-off heartbreak against our fierce rivals up the road in the Play-Off semi final and the team could not recover for their day out at Wembley, losing 1-0 to Ebbsfleet in the Trophy. Paul’s energy and enthusiasm, coupled with Colin Lee’s knowhow and contacts, had helped energize the Yellow Army and made us all dream, but his inexperience as a manager had been telling over the course of the season and against his old boss Tisdale. United collapsed tiredly into the summer on the back of a painful defeat.
THE STATS:
CONFERENCE NATIONAL: P46, W26, D8, L12, F83, A57, PTS 86 – 3RD
FA TROPHY: RUNNER-UPS
CONFERENCE LEAGUE CUP: 4TH ROUND
FA CUP: 2ND ROUND
2008-09 – PROMOTION GLORY
PB – “There was still no better feeling than winning at Wembley as a manager”
Over the summer Bucks set about fine tuning the squad for a second crack at promotion, and recruited the likes of Matt Green, Lee Hodges, Mustapha Carlisle, Scott Bevan and most notably Wayne Carlisle from Exeter City. But the hangover from the Grecians loss still hovered over Plainmoor, and the team only won one of their first 7 games of the season (a late winner by Carlisle against Woking).
By the start of September doubts started to be raised over Paul Buckle’s position as manager. This was after all an ambitious Torquay United that had invested plenty in the squad and one that expected to be challenging at the top of the table, so 5 points from 7 games and 18th place was looking disastrous. But then a last minute Sills penalty winner versus Northwich grabbed all 3 points at Plainmoor and just like that the tables turned. United’s confidence and intensity from 2007 was finally back and they went 17 games unbeaten – a club record.
United also made hay in the FA Cup as well and reached the 4th round proper for the first time since 1990, only losing narrowly to Coventry City after dominating the 90 minutes at Plainmoor. This was Buckle’s tactics at their best, pinning City back with aggression and constant hussle, and his team were hugely unlucky not to make the 5th round.
Unlike the previous year United were peaking at the right time, only losing once in their last 16 league games (to Crawley…) and summer signings Nicky Wroe and Wayne Carlisle were making a difference as they settled into the squad. The Gulls eventually finishing 4th, which meant a semi-final against surprise package Histon that they won 2-1 on aggregate (an amazing late save from Michael Poke keeping United in front).
A sunny day at Wembley awaited against Cambridge who had finished 2nd and unlike the Trophy final Bucks had his side right where he wanted them, fit and focussed and ready to push for the end goal of promotion. As so often the case, captain Chris Hargreaves provided the inspiration and scored a fabulous goal to give United the lead, and you don’t need any reminding of Tim Sills’ clincher. Happily lessons had been learnt by the manager from the previous year’s failings and United were back.
THE STATS
CONFERENCE NATIONAL: P46, W23, D14, L9, F72, A47, PTS 83 – 4TH
FA TROPHY: 3RD ROUND
CONFERENCE LEAGUE CUP: 4TH ROUND
FA CUP: 4TH ROUND
2009-10 FOOTHOLD IN THE EFL
PB – “That was the hardest year for me having to part ways with players who had been absolutely fantastic for me”
The 2009 summer was a quiet one at Plainmoor, as Buckle kept faith with much the same squad that finished the job at Wembley in May. But the Gulls and their manager would struggle to adapt to the riggers of League 2, and by the end of October they had only 3 league wins to their name.
The winter did not get much better, United competing well in pretty much every game but lacking enough quality to push them up the league, with Chris Zebroski’s return on loan failing to have it’s desired affect. Buckle looked to evolve his squad over the course of the season, and this meant two high profile January departures in the form of Tim Sills and Chris Hargreaves. The manager wasn’t afraid to make big decisions on established players (letting Steve Woods go in 2009). There was also a notable incoming, a player he had eyed for a while, the one and only Guy Branston!
Relegation was still a scary possibility, but with the ‘Pickler’ settling in, the team found confidence and form from the start of April onwards. A scintillating 5-0 home win over leaders Rochdale was one of United’s finest League performances for years, and with the defence miserly United won 6 out of their last 8 – keeping clean sheets in 7 of them. It had been a rough start to Buckle’s time in the EFL, but he had trusted the process, tinkered smartly with the squad and finally got the results – he’d even got a young chap called Eunan O’Kane to sign. Job done.
THE STATS:
LEAGUE TWO: PL46, W14, D15, L17, F64, A55, PTS 57 – 17TH
LEAGUE CUP: 1ST ROUND
FA CUP: 3RD ROUND
LEAGUE TROPHY: 2ND ROUND
2010-11 – STEVENAGE AND OUT
PB – “As much as I felt I needed to move on, I also felt the club needed a fresh start”
United’s 2010-11 season continued the momentum from 2009-10, with clean sheets galore as the Gulls made it 998 minutes without conceding. Guy Branston was back, and Buckle’s squad had continuity and belief from the learning curve that was the previous season.
A play-off push was on, but the season was not without it’s struggles and a 20 day gap between early December to New Year’s Day due to adverse weather did nothing to help United’s push for a top 7 place. Early 2010 saw the team lose to Crawley in the Cup (a loss that still makes me wince now), top goal-scorer Elliot Benyon leave for Swindon Town and the Gulls deducted a point for fielding an ineligible player (Jake Robinson).
Thankfully that ineligible player was to prove another inspired loan signing by Buckle. Jake Robinson’s direct pace and shooting gave United a new energy to their play, and he scored 7 goals that season, including a memorable double against his parent club Shrewsbury Town. But of course, it was not all plain sailing and the Gulls ended the season with a frustrating four draws from five games, scraping into 7th place on goal difference.
The semi-final would be against Shrewsbury Town and with Chris Zebroski in fine form, the Gulls won the first leg 2-0, before drawing 0-0 in the second leg to ease through. No Wembley this time, instead a trip to Old Trafford awaited and the opposition would be Graham Westley’s stubborn Stevenage side.
The build-up to the big game saw rumours of Paul Buckle’s impending departure to Bristol Rovers, and in front of just 11,484 supporters the game was a non-event both on and off the pitch. Whether or not they were unsettled by their manager leaving or not, United’s players found no rhythm in their play and a first half goal from Mousinho was enough to send Stevenage to League 1.
This was a horribly sobering week to be a Gulls supporter, as our worst fears were played out two days later when Paul Buckle did indeed leave for pastures new – “Obviously I leave Torquay with a heavy heart but it’s right to go now. It’s a massive club and it’s a big step-up for me there’s no doubt about that”.
Was this the end of a successful era in the club’s history as PB came back to take some United players with him? It sure felt like it, thankfully Martin Ling had other plans.
STATS:
LEAGUE TWO: P46, W17, D18, L11, F74, A53, PTS 68 – 7TH (1 pt deducted)
LEAGUE CUP: 1ST ROUND
FA CUP: 4TH ROUND
LEAGUE TROPHY: 2ND ROUND
BUCKS
Paul Buckle never gathered the same popularity amongst the United faithful as Leroy Rosenior or Gary Johnson circa 2018-21. His aura and football idealism didn’t demand chants like Leroy and his sound bites and personality didn’t win friends like GJ, and there was always a feeling that Bucks had a chip on his shoulder as his time at Plainmoor bubbled along.
When the Bristol Rovers job was confirmed, there was understandably a lot of rage from Torquay United supporters. The manner of his leaving left a sour taste in all our mouths, any new managerial matters and discussions could and should have waited until the League 2 play-off final was history. Instead the rumours circled around, and I doubt that helped anybody on what was a very big day for the club.
This matter still angers TUFC supporters now, but I think we should take a step back from agonising over the manner of his departure and appreciate what Paul Buckle actually achieved at the club. Sure he had a budget that made the Gulls a big hitter in the Conference National and sure he had the excellent guidance of Colin Lee to back him up, but that doesn’t mean things would definitely go right.
In his first managerial post he delivered two play-off finals and one promotion, our first appearance at the new Wembley, not to mention two unheard of 4th round FA Cup ties (just don’t mention bloody Crawley) – a number of occasions that will live in our hearts and minds for a very long time. Overall he brought to the table a work ethic and winning mentality, he simply hated losing and that was translated onto the pitch by guys like Guy Branston, Chris Hargreaves, Lee Mansell and Tim Sills (amongst others). We had strong standards and expectations, and Paul Buckle’s ferocious drive was there for all to see.
This was a period when United supporters had control of our destiny and we had proper players fighting tooth and nail for our cause week in week out. With the present day team falling miserably into the NLS and way off any return to the EFL, we can only dream of years like 2007-11 again, and whilst angst over his last days at United is understandable, I believe there should be respect for Bucks, for a period of ongoing improvement, ample success and many good memories.
OVERALL STATS
CONFERENCE NATIONAL: P92, W49, D22, L21, F155, A104, PTS 169
LEAGUE TWO: P92, W31, D33, L28, F138, A108, PTS 115 (1 pt deducted)
TOTAL LEAGUE: P184, W80, D55, L49, F293, A212, PTS 284
ALL COMPS: P226 W104 D58 L64 – 46.02% Win Rate
TALKING BUCKLE
ALEX ROWE – “To summarise Bucks in a few words: brilliant, ambitious, uplifting, demanding, challenging, difficult, inspirational, ruthless – often all of the above within the same 15 minutes! He had exactly the characteristics I would look for in a young manager working in any organisation with which I was associated”
TIM SILLS – “He helped to create a real family atmosphere around the players and we soon became good friends with most of the players and their families, which helped us all feel at home. As well as this positivity, training was good everyday”
COYY – DOM
*Stats from Torquay Fan Stats
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Totally agree Dom. Yes he divided opinion but he brought some great times to Plainmoor and as you said look at look at the state of us now in the bloody NLS !!
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