Gulls hope to soar like Icarus.....without the flames

Torquay United were one of the most inform teams in the country at the end of last season and that form saw them steer way clear of relegation trouble. It was a successful first year for back in the Football League and given that run of form and their two performances against the Imps last year, it looks to be a promising year for the Gulls.

Torquay United returned to the Football League twelve months ago and the mission was simply to avoid relegation back. It started reasonably well with 2 wins in their opening 3 games, with the other game being a rather thrilling 5-3 defeat at Dagenham and Redbridge. However, other than a few wins in cup competitions it started going hideously wrong for the Gulls and they sat 23rd with just six poins and it wasn't until October 31st that they won again.

Their form improved a bit with just one defeat from October 31st until December 28th, a run that included a 5-0 win over Darlington and a 4-0 win away at Stockport. The new year was again harsh on them and they didn't win again until last February, but few clubs in the entire country ended the season as well.

The 2-1 win at Accrington was followed by a respectable 0-0 draw against Dagenham. A 3-1 win at Darlington followed but they only picked up one point from their next three games, including a 3-2 defeat at home to Lincoln. A 2-0 defeat to Morecambe on March 27th was the last time they lost and only Northampton and Notts County prevented Torquay from winning towards the end of the season. Wins came against Rochdale, Aldershot, Grimsby, Macclesfield and Bury.

Interestingly Torquay also kept clean sheets in all of their last seven games, even Notts County didn't manage that. It wasn't just that they were keeping cleansheets, they were scoring for fun as well. They put 5 past Rochdale, three beyond Grimsby and Bury (both away), two at Aldershot and just the one against Macclesfield Town.

That was the sort of form that gave Paul Buckle (right) his reputation as a manager who has a promising future in football. He is contracted with the club until next November, and assuming he stays at the club that long, it would mean he would have been at the club for around four and a half years after joining following a spell as assistant manager at Exeter.

He took over when Exeter had just been relegated and turned Torquay into one of the most exciting sides in the Conference and made the Playoffs two seasons in a row, the second of which proved successful. He didn't show that he was afraid to make the changes to keep Torquay in the Football League though, casting out Tim Sills and Chris Hargreaves, amongst others, their two goalscorers in the Playoff Final.

Buckle's record in charge is excellent, winning 83 of his 170 games in charge, very close on exactly 50%, the other games have seen 38 draws and 49 defeats. He established a side that are difficult to beat and anyone who went to the game that the Imps won at Torquay in March knows that the scoreline didn't reflect the game.

Torquay dominated long spells of the game and it was only the difference of Davide Somma that gave the Imps victory. It was a day that a certain Mr Carayol (left) came to the attention of Chris Sutton. Carayol played exceedingly well that day and Sutton had him scouted from that point onwards before the Gambian agreed to join the Imps in the summer.

The started a war of words between the Imps and the Gulls, with the Devon based side adament that they are entitled to compensation due to Carayol being under 24. City argued that Torquay had little help in his development as he had only been there two years, but then again the Imps expected a fee for N'Guessan after he had only been at City for a similar length of time. It was almost fate that the clubs were paired together on the second weekend of the season.

He was one of several players that left Torquay in the summer with Matt Green, Steve Adams, Michael Brough, Mo Camra, Lee Hodges, Ben Joyce, Tyrone Thompson and Chris Todd all leave. Joining the men from Plainmoor was Guy Branston, Billy Kee, Lloyd Macklin and Danny Potter.

I think Torquay will continue their fine form from the end of last season for the majority of the season and I can see them making the Playoffs relatively comfortably and finishing 6th. They have a half decent squad and a manager who has won almost half of his games in charge of the club. The only thing that will stop Torquay realistically is if they start the season as poorly as they did last year, but I don't think they'll have those problems this time.