TT BLOG
TT Contributors discuss the arrival of Warnock, Wotton and more!
Jonny Jones – @Jonny_Jones
“I’m absolutely delighted Neil is involved”
ON WOTTON: Some may say a slightly underwhelming appointment and I wouldn’t go that far. I think it’s a solid option. Clearly gets on well with Warnock and will know the local scene inside out. Wouldn’t underestimate the job he did at Truro either. To stay up with that fixture schedule was a great achievement, I have no doubt they would’ve been comfortably mid-table if their ground share had worked out more favourably. Was impressed with them on Boxing Day: not only did it highlight just how bad we were, it showed how well-drilled his side were and also how fit they looked as a part time outfit.
ON WARNOCK: What else is there to say about Neil? A bit of a celebrity these days and if that is what we need to bring back some spark and excitement then I’m 100% onboard. Let’s not forget he knows a thing or too as well, and his contact list must be huge. I’m absolutely delighted Neil is involved.
Paul Dennis – @paulden2310
“This has the feel of 2007”
The worst kept secret is now out and Paul Wotton is our new manager.
This has the feel of 2007 when new owners came in to clean sweep Plainmoor with a new CEO in Colin Lee and a new team manager in Paul Buckle.
Fast forward to 2024 and again new owners with a football advisor in Neil Warnock and a new team manager in Paul Wotton.
Now this may sound weird but if you are like me and associate certain music with certain times then weirdly I heard Amy MacDonald on the radio today for the first time in ages and I always associate her track “This is the Life” with the start of the Buckle era. Lets hope that it’s a good omen and Paul Wotton can bring equal or even more success than Paul Buckle did!
Now the speculation starts of new signings, new kit, and the price of season tickets which I hope everybody can buy to give backing to the guys who have rescued and saved our club. Roll on season 24-25!!
Dan Elliott – @dan_torquay_man
“What a journey, and it’s not even started”
What a difference a few months makes.
From Daniel Storey dropping his article raising awareness of Clarke Osbourne, his chequered past and devious plans to a new incredible set of owners who are passionate fans who get it, a legend of a football advisor, a new manager and an announcement video dropping on social media.
What a journey, and it’s not even started.
Where do we all start? What a day!
We start with the owners. Smart, clever, honest, transparent and above all passionate. Listening to Michael Westcott on BBC Radio Devon, every answer he gave a PR agency could have not scripted it better. It was from the heart, it was honest and above all it made common sense. Christ, we’ve not had that for a long time.
The Neil Warnock, genius. It’s perfect. Great role, great location for him, he is still in the game but has more of a holistically focused role, what’s there not to love? He will have contacts, connections and he will know how to get things done. I reside not too far from Peterborough and it’s very much the Barry Fry role at The Posh.
The owner is the businessman and Barry is the football man, and it works! Barry makes a fortune getting lower league players and then selling them to Premier League clubs.
Neil Warnock will be the football infrastructure to make us competitive and it commercially beneficial also.
Then the the new gaffer, love it. Love the Plymouth connection, love that he knows the league and love the connection with Warnock, all makes sense. I believe that as he knows the league he will know the starting point and hopefully as a club and as a manager we will grow together.
Michael Westcott was clear, there is a budget for the playing squad it’s down to Neil Warnock to spend that money how he sees fit. There is not FT or PT cap or target, it’s just a budget. Confirmed by Westcott when it was submitted to The National League and the feedback was it’s one of the highest still in the league.
And then the social media post, bravo Dom and bravo everyone involved. More the same please. Brilliant work.
So, today 14th May, Day One, clean slate, we have our club back.
Last season was Hell or High Water, as it was Hell on the Pitch and High Water as it never stopped bleddy raining.
What will next season be? What story will be told?
Whatever happens we have owners, a board, a support staff, a football advisor and a manager we can all get behind. We have a football club folks. With these owners also, it’s ours, as they are one of us.
Yellow Army, we have our club back!
Chris Wade – @tufcchris
“The hearts of the new owners are in the right place”
When the club first called in the administrators in February, this was the week that we all dreamed of. The previous regime gone, new owners arriving and a fresh approach to the football side. All of this is almost ready to go.
The consortium of local businessmen have made a series of crucial and timely decisions. Firstly, their decision to make this happen. This looks like being everything that the club has not been in recent years. A positive and forward thinking environment, where the happiness and influence of all is paramount to the group desire to be a success. The hearts of the new owners are in the right place, putting a focus on the community and engagement with the fanbase, something that is vital to any football club and had been so desperately lacking in recent years.
Then the involvement of Neil Warnock. It was clear in the closing weeks of the season that he was going to be involved, with him present at the final home matches. His role as Football Advisor is key to attract players to the club, and to work with the new First Team Manager in shaping the mould of how we are going to go about this. His contacts will also be vital in shaping a squad to be everything that we all want it to be.
And then there is new manager Paul Wotton. Remembered as a no-nonsense and solid defender, his first press conference suggests his management style will be similar. The thing that struck me about his first interviews was his emphasis on the players giving it their all and how this was non negotiable for anybody that will be pulling on the famous yellow shirt. That is all I have ever wanted of any team I watch represent my club. Play as if it means as much to them as it does me, and the signs of this look good already.
Now to conclude the takeover, and go about building that squad. Save up your pennies, as season tickets will be flying out of the door very soon I reckon.
Clive Hayward – @Byehorse
“It’s hard to do, but let’s take it one game at a time”
The Football Advisor & The Manager
Neil Warnock and Paul Watton have been front & centre today. First a jokey little Princess Pier double act for the clicks– obviously filmed midway through Monday’s deluge- and then a nice interview for ITV on the terrace of the Livermead Cliff Hotel, with picture postcard views over the Bay.
Warnock needs little introduction. He’s widely loved (not least at Scarborough, Notts, Huddersfield and of course Torquay) and despised by some (Leeds and Gary Megson!). With, as is well known, a contacts book thicker than Nadine Dorries, he says he has joined the board to “put something back” at a club where he has fond memories.
It looks like Wotton and Warnock intend to be a double-act. It was interesting that the newly-unveiled manager referred to his old Plymouth boss as “Gaffer”. This is a big opportunity for the former Argyle stopper. He has quietly built a good reputation at Truro and this is a step up the ladder for him at the fairly advanced age of 46. He has been given a 3 year contract and he will want to repay that faith.
No-one Likes Us: Should we Care?
Let me explain. At the moment, Torquay are still surfing a huge wave of goodwill from fans all around the country. I feel this is likely to be the high tide mark though. We will again have a target on our backs in the NLS. Co-Chair Michael Westcott has said that although this season’s playing budget will be smaller than last year the National League has told him it will be one of the biggest in the division. Mr Westcott has also said that he believes that Wotton’s team will play an “uncompromising” brand of football.
Wotton took few prisoners in a green shirt and there was definitely some steel behind the smiles this afternoon. Sometimes it is better to be feared than loved, and I would expect there to be no hiding place for underperforming players under the new regime. If this leads to, let’s say, more resilience away from home I will be all for it. But we might be coming off a few Christmas Card lists.
Under New Ownership
Well, technically not quite, but all the mood music is that within a couple of weeks the Bryn Consortium will be officially in charge. Creditors need to agree to an arrangement which will see them paid in full within 6 months. That is surely a no-brainer when the alternative might be getting nothing.
The Bryn Sextet- all said to be Torquay fans- have each put an equal amount of money where their mouths are, and in doing so they have earned our undying gratitude. The Administrators had to go back to them when the person or people who may only ever be known as “The Former Preferred Bidder” didn’t come up with the necessary money despite obviously having talked a better game early on. Messrs Westcott, Bowes-Cavanagh, Allen, Hawes, Robinson and a recent and as yet unnamed sixth horseman of the Osborne Apocalypse have committed to looking after the club and getting people back on board who felt (and absolutely were) disenfranchised by the previous regime.
I was very touched when Mr Westcott mentioned that his Dad’s ashes are under the Plainmoor pitch and that he said: “That’s for you Dad” on the day the Bryn bid was accepted.
One promise was delivered today: in Saturday’s Radio Devon interview he said that a manager would be announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Another commitment from Saturday was to meet with the Supporters Trust on Monday and hopefully to announce within 10 days arrangements for fans to invest in the club. The issue of fan ownership has gone a little quiet of late and it’s something I am eager to hear much more about.
Great Expectations?
It’s easy to get giddy with all the positive news.
Here is the reality check.
Warnock and Wotton have a massive task on their hands. Torquay United has one professional contracted for next season, and Austen Booth won’t be able to win games on his own (!). Granted the two W’s come with good reputations and you’d like to think that they will be able to repair strained relationships with clubs from whom we may need to borrow players.
There must also be considerable room for improvement in coaching and the sports science needed to get through a 46 game league season, but if last season taught us anything it was that there are any number of well run clubs in National League South who are more than capable of pulling our trousers down.
Please, please can we not fall for the “We’re the biggest club in this league” hype again? We’ve got a long, long road back to be anywhere near the force we used to be. It’s hard to do, but let’s take it one game at a time!
Up the Gulls.
Thomas Kelly – @tommyktufc
“I’m sure we’ll start to see better recruitment than what we’ve seen over recent years”
Firstly, I’d like to put on record my extreme gratitude to Aaron Downes, who helped guide the Gulls to safety when the proverbial sh*t hit the fan when Osborne decided to no longer fund the club.
Although his exploits as a “defensive coach’ left little to be desired on the pitch, there is no doubt that he truly had the club at heart and the fact he always came over to the fans at full time, win, lose or draw earns him credit in my eyes. A really nice guy but in order for our club to progress, it was a necessary change. All the best Aaron and thank you for your efforts when the club was at our lowest ebb.
I really like the appointment of Paul Wotton. A manager who has a good reputation at this level and with a strong relationship with Neil Warnock, it looks to be an exciting combination going forward for the Gulls.
The one thing we must do as a fanbase is be patient. We are weeks behind most clubs in this division and there’s plenty of transfer activity in our near future to sort out ahead over the summer. Things will take time to settle a squad hopefully competing towards the top end of the NLS next season but this really does feel like a positive change in the dugouts.
There are still plenty of questions to be answered. Are we going full time or a hybrid model? Either way, I’m sure we’ll start to see better recruitment than what we’ve seen over recent years. Let’s look forward to a much brighter future for our football club. Up you wonderful Gulls!
COYY
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For someone who saw their first home game in 1955 I can only express what I feel and that is an immense sense of relief !!
Can’t wait to start the lead up to the new season and a return to watch my team at Plainmoor!!
cmon you Gulls!
Tony Counter
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