During the close season, it was predicted that Martin Ling faced a season of rebuilding as Torquay United after taking over at Plainmoor following the departure of Paul Buckle to Bristol Rovers.
However, as we head past the half way point of the campaign, Buckle has since faced a mutiny whilst in charge of the Pirates, following his recent departure, whilst Ling appears to have claimed the bounty on the English Riviera.
The Gulls are now closing in on the League Two Play-Off berths following a frutiful festive period, which saw them pick up seven points from a possible, which included wins over Paolo Di Canio's Swindon Town and a second Devon derby win over Plymouth Argyle.
This was achieved despite the absence of talismanic striker Rene Howe who received a four match ban after receiving a red card against Accrington Stanley in December.
At the time of writing, they are currently 10th in the League Two table.
After securing the services of Eunan O'Kane, Lee Mansell and Kevin Nicholson until the end of the 2013-14 season, Ling is currently in negotiations with Chris Robertson, Mark Ellis and Damon Lathrope with similar length deals in order to lay the foundations for further success.
Even if the Gulls were to miss out on the Play-Offs this season, Ling would still be able to take pride in helping Torquay achieve two consecutive top half finishes, something that they have not achieved as a league side since the reign of Leroy Rosenior, when they finished 9th and 3rd in the 2002-03 & 2003-04 seasons.
