Whoever is chosen to succeed Paul Buckle as manager of Torquay United will face a number of immediate challenges.
Firstly, he will be to keep the current squad of players that Buckle and his assistant Shaun North had assembled, the second will be to add to it and thirdly will be to keep the momentum of the previous four years going, which has seen the Gulls go from being a club relegated from the Football League to a thriving League Two side.
We will now take a look at some of the names that have been linked to the post so far.
Paul Trollope
With Buckle heading North to Bristol to take charge of the Pirates, could one of his immediate predecessors be heading South to replace him. Trollope first took charge of Bristol Rovers in 2005 and led them to promotion from League Two in the 2006-07 season via the Play-Offs when they beat Shrewsbury Town in the final, something Buckle will now be trying to emulate.
A former Torquay player, Trollope made 130 appearances for the Gulls during the mid-1990's before going to play for Derby County, Grimsby Town and Fulham and was also capped by Wales.
As a potential candidate, he ticks a lot of boxes as he has been employed recently and possesses good contacts, which could prove to be invaluable should he be chosen by the Torquay board.
However, it remains to be seen if Trollope would be iuterested in the vacancy as he had been heavily linked to the manager's position at Swindon Town, the club where he began his career as a player, before the appointment of Paolo Di Canio.
He is also still under gardening leave at Bristol Rovers and therefore still on their pay-roll.
Chris Hargreaves
Would be a popular appointment amongst the Torquay faithful after he played a influential role as captain of the Gulls' side that won promotion back to the Football League in 2009.
He would also have an immediate knowledge of the current United squad as he is a former team-mate of many of them and he is also an individual who would command immediate respect.
Following a playing career which has seen him play for a range of clubs, including Grimsby Town, Hull City, West Bromwich Albion, Hereford United, Plymouth Argyle, Northampton Town, Brentford and Oxford United, he is not likely to be short of contacts in the game.
One thing that could count against him is his lack of coaching experience at senior level, as his only experience of coaching is with Exeter City's Under-16 side. However, as Terry Skiverton has shown at Yeovil Town, it is possible to make the transition from being an on-field leader to an off-field one.
Alex Russell
One of the most naturally gifted players to have appeared for the Gulls in the quarter of a century, Alex Russell is currently mulling over the offer of a new one-year deal from Yeovil Town at the age of 37.
However, it would be unlikely that the Glovers' would stand in his way if he was offered the position of manager at Plainmoor. The fact that he would still be able to play could be an advantage for him as whoever takes charge of the Gulls will be working with a limited budget. So he could combine the managers' role with playing, whilst working alongside a non-playing assistant.
Bruce Rioch
Following a playing career that saw him captain Scotland and win a league title with Derby County, Bruce Rioch started his managerial career with Torquay in 1982 after spending the previous season as player-coach under Frank O'Farrell.
He stayed at Plainmoor until 1984 as he then moved on to enjoy a managerial career which saw him take charge of Middlesbrough, Millwall, Bolton Wanderers, Arsenal, Norwich City and BK Odense and Aalborg in Denmark.
Career highlights include leading Middlesbrough and Bolton to the top-flight and he was also responsible for bringing Dennis Bergkamp to Arsenal during his one-year reign at Highbury.
In recent years, he led Aalborg to the group stages of the Champions League in the 2007-08 season and was linked with the Plymouth Argyle job last year before they finally decided on appointing Peter Reid.
Although it is often said that lower league management is a young man's game, there are a few exceptions to the rule such as Graham Turner who led Shrewsbury Town, the club where he started his managerial career in 1979, to 4th place in League Two this season after they had finished 12th in the 2009-10 campaign.
There would also be the potential for him to mentor a younger coach or player-coach in the same way that O'Farrell mentored him all those years ago.
Lee Hodges
Another recent member of the Gulls' playing staff, Lee Hodges spent two years at Plainmoor from 2008-2010, after leaving Plymouth Argyle, mainly as a squad player before taking charge at Truro City.
In his first season in charge at Truro, he led the White Tigers to the Zamaretto Southern Premier League title, which means they will be playing in Conference South in the 2011-12 campaign.
Whilst leading the Cornish side to the title in his first season is an impressive achievement, it remains to be seen whether Truro owner Kevin Heaney would allow Hodges to speak to the Gulls as Truro will surely be looking to reach the Blue Square Conference sooner rather than later.
