TT REVIEW

@Joe_Ugs

Joe discusses who might be in the frame now for the managerial position following Paul Wotton’s departure

With Neil Warnock’s tenure as interim manager likely to be anything between one to fifteen games (Play-Offs dependent) I look at who the club may be looking to bring in either straight away or this Summer!

SCOTT BARTLETT

The obvious name which has been banded about a fair amount of times over the last 24 hours. It does sort of make sense, South-West based with a decent record at Weston-Super-Mare often out-performing his budget as well as good links to potential parent loan clubs like Bristol City & Exeter City. However, a lack of a promotion from the NLS on his CV does concern me a little and you do wonder if he would be similar to Paul Wotton, a good manager at this level on a reduced budget, but not capable of taking that next step when given all the resources.

His time at Eastleigh didn’t go to plan culminating in a 4-0 loss to Morecambe which got him the sack just over a week ago. Whether he can be judged on his time at Eastleigh remains to be seen, Chris Todd barely stuck around as Director of Football there which hints at bigger problems at that football club. An interim position until the end of the season might suit both parties if he is keen to jump straight back into management, with the dangling carrot of a long term deal if promotion is secured, much will depend on his severance agreement from Eastleigh.

KEVIN NICHOLSON

Gulls fans love a returning ex-player/manager and given ‘Nicho’ has done both, don’t be surprised to see his name thrown into the ring. Still living locally he has carved out a very decent coaching career for himself at Exeter City and no doubt would have been disappointed to be overlooked as interim manager following Gary Caldwell’s departure.

You only realise what you’ve got once its gone and I think all Torquay fans would agree that in hindsight, given the terrible budget and circumstances he was handed, Nicho did a fantastic job keeping us in the National League twice. Having worked under Gary Caldwell for the last three and half years, who’s an incredibly good manager at that level, he would have no doubt grown as a coach and can boast of keeping Exeter in League One for the last three seasons, and looks likely to do that once again this season too. No mean feat given their budget constraints.

That may be one aspect to consider though, that he hasn’t played a part in a promotion bid throughout his coaching & managerial career, but one things for sure he’d have all the fans behind him. A thoroughly likeable bloke with a good understanding of the football club & the area.

PHIL PARKINSON

A slightly left-field appointment but I hope the club looks beyond the South-West in their search for a new manager. There will be plenty of managers who would move down to the Bay for a chance to manage this club and Ex-Altrincham Manager Phil Parkinson may be one of those. Having transformed Altrincham from a Northern Premier League club to an established National League side, Parkinson was dispensed with earlier this season by Alty.

Winning the Northern Premier League at the first time of asking in 2018 showed his managerial credentials and he followed that up with a strong campaign in the National League North ending in Play-off defeat. He wasn’t deterred though and took Alty up the next season via the Play-offs and consolidated their position in the National League in the following seasons. They flirted with promotion to the EFL in 2024 losing to Bromley in the play-offs and PP earned a good reputation for playing a good brand of football at the J.Davidson Stadium.

He has this week taken an interim job at Fleetwood Under-21s but you’d imagine he’d be desperate to get back into senior men’s management & having commented that Torquay is a great club numerous times during post-match interviews, may well be tempted to come down and give the job a go!

DARREN SARLL

Often mentioned whenever we have a managerial vacancy having done extremely well with Yeovil & Woking over the years. Having left Hartlepool in 2024, Sarll now finds himself in Canada in a Technical Director role at Kamloops United but if he does want to return to the UK then this job might be what tempts him back.

Two Play-off finishes in the National League certainly show Sarll’s non-league credentials but his time away from the UK may mean he’s not ready to hit the ground running for a late-season promotion push. A potential option for the summer perhaps, Sarll will be familiar with at least one member of the United squad having coached Sonny Blu Lo-Everton at Watford and Yeovil.

DARRELL CLARKE

It’s been thirteen years since Clarke managed at this level, when he took his Salisbury City side up through the play-offs to the Conference at the time. Since then he’s enjoyed relative success, winning the Conference Play-off final with Bristol Rovers in 2015 & then won a second successive promotion into League One the following year. He probably stayed too loyal to Rovers, turning down approaches from Leeds United & Norwich City before eventually stepping down in 2018 after a poor run of defeats.

He then moved on to Walsall where Covid scuppered any hopes of a late play off push, and after another midtable showing the following season he departed the Bescot Stadium. Port Vale were next for Darrell, and after steering them away from relegation in his first season, a strong start in his second season saw them fighting for promotion from League Two. In February 2022 Clarke took a period of absence after the sudden passing of his daughter but he returned in May and helped to secure promotion to League One in the Play off Final against Mansfield.

Since Vale he’s spent time at Cheltenham, Barnsley & Bristol Rovers without relative success so a drop down to our level at a club our size may be what he needs to reinvigorate his career. His captain at Rovers the first time; Lee Mansell may well fancy coming down too as his assistant.