Following Martin Ling’s resignation as Swindon Town manager, we will
now take another look at his reign as Torquay United manager.
When the Torquay United board were undertaking the
recruitment process to choose Paul Buckle’s successor during the summer of
2011, it seemed as though they saved the best for last.
Former Leyton Orient and Cambridge boss, and one-time
Swindon Town midfielder, Ling was the final candidate to be interviewed by the
United directors. Nevertheless, he was the man they selected to replace the
Bristol Rovers-bound Buckle.
One of the first tasks requiring his immediate attention was
to rebuild a squad that had gone incredibly close to promotion to League One –
after losing 1-0 to Stevenage in the League Two Play-off final in the previous
season.
Goalkeeper Scott Bevan and Chris Zebroski both followed
Buckle to Bristol, whilst Player of the Year Guy Branston decided his future
lay up north with Bradford City – thus ensuring that there were plenty of gaps
for Ling to fill.
Amongst his first signings were Austrian goalkeeper Bobby
Olejnik, Brian Saah – a central defender who appeared under him at both Orient
and Cambridge – and Rene Howe, a much travelled striker from Peterborough
United.
Once the season got underway Ling experienced an
indifferent start, as the Gulls drew his first game against Burton Albion 2-2
before beating Buckle’s Bristol Rovers 2-1 at the Memorial Stadium.
These results were then followed by a 3-1 home defeat to
Crawley Town, who had recently been promoted from the Conference, which served
as a reality check for Ling’s new look United side.
For the next few months, inconsistent results that included
a 3-3 draw with Rotherham United and a 5-2 home defeat to Gillingham served to
leave the Gulls firmly entrenched in the mid-table positions.
However, a 4-1 defeat on October 22nd 2011 against
Southend United– one of Ling’s former clubs –proved to be a turning point for
both himself and United.
For their next fixture, Ling switched the team’s formation
from the 4-4-2 system, which he had been using up until that point, to a 4-3-3
that saw skipper Lee Mansell form a midfield trio with Eunan O’Kane and Damon
Lathrope.
The change paid dividends as, within a week for their defeat to
Southend, the Gulls defeated AFC Wimbledon 4-0 and Hereford United 2-0.
In the following month of November, the Gulls secured their
first league over Plymouth Argyle since 1972 with a 3-1 win over the Pilgrims
at Plainmoor, inspired by a brace from O’Kane, and by the end of the month Ling
had won the League Two manager of the month award.
When the two sides met again at the turn of the year, the
Gulls won again to complete the double over their local rivals for the first
time since the 1970-71 season with Mansell and loan signing Billy Bodin finding
the target, whilst future Gulls’ skipper Luke Young replied for the Pilgrims.
This proved to be the start of a near- club record breaking
of seven matches – one short of the eight- match run of Kevin Hodges’ side in
the 1997-98 season – and Ling won his second manager of the month award,
scooping the prize for January 2012.
Their excellent form lifted them into contention for
promotion and United were as high as second as late as the Easter weekend.
However, the failure to win any of their final five league
matches, which saw them settle for a fifth placed finish, set up a Play-off
semi-final showdown with Cheltenham Town.
After losing the first leg at Whaddon Road 2-1, United were
beaten 3-1 by the Robins at Plainmoor – as they fell short of winning promotion.
Nevertheless, the Gulls could look back on a season in which
they had set a club record of 23 clean sheets and Bobby Olejnik, Kevin
Nicholson, Lee Mansell and Eunan O’Kane were all named in the League Two PFA
team of the season.
Unfortunately for Ling, whilst most of the country were
enjoying the summer sporting display that was the 2012 Olympics in London,
three players vital to his side’s success of the previous season – Olejnik,
Mark Ellis and O’Kane – left Plainmoor for pastures new.
Olejnik joined Peterborough for £250,000 – with an extra
£100,000 on appearances, Ellis signed for Crewe Alexandra for £80,000 whilst
O’Kane left for AFC Bournemouth – who later helped to win promotion to the
Premiership – for £175,000.
To replace them, he brought in Australian Aaron Downes, from
Chesterfield, as a replacement for Ellis and three-time former loanee Michael
Poke returned on a permanent basis. Ling also signed Ryan Jarvis and Billy
Bodin, following successful loan spells, with £50,000 of the £70,000 fee paid
to Swindon Town for Bodin funded by a donation from a fan.
All of these signings ensured that Ling would go into the
2012-13 campaign with a stronger squad than before, but with a weaker side as
he failed to fill the void left by the sale of O’Kane.
It was a scenario not too different from the one facing
Andre Villas Boas and Brendan Rodgers when Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool’s
respective sales of Gareth Bale and Luis Suarez.
Irish midfielder Ian Morris, former Everton starlet Nathan
Craig and ex-Dundee United, Leyton Orient, Swindon and Scotland Under-21
midfielder Craig Easton were all used by Ling, but none proved to be as truly
as effective as the diminutive Ulsterman.
Once Ling’s second full campaign got underway, his methods
were still working – the Gulls reached a season high position of 7th
by the beginning of November 2012 – but weren’t proving to be quite as
effective.
Another 4-1 defeat at the hands of Southend on November 17th
2012 proved to be another tactical turning point for Ling, as the Gulls were
run ragged by the Shrimper’s forward pairing of Britt Assombalonga – then on
loan from Watford – and former United loanee Gavin Tomlin.
Ling tweaked his tried and trusted 4-3-3 system, which had
served them so well in the previous campaign, and changed to a 4-2-3-1
formation. Initially, the change seemed to work as the Gulls recorded a 2-0
away win over York City which was followed by a 2-1 home win over Dagenham
& Redbridge.
Sadly, the conceding of a succession of late goals in their
next five fixtures - against Bradford City, Northampton Town, Plymouth Argyle, AFC
Wimbledon and Burton Albion – proved costly as they failed to win in any of
them.
A draw in a re-arranged fixture with Exeter City at
Plainmoor followed before United won the return fixture at St James’ Park 1-0,
courtesy of a Rene Howe penalty, which was when Ling first fell ill and his
assistant, Shaun Taylor, stepped into the breach.
However, a run of five successive defeats under Taylor
prompted the board to look elsewhere and eventually plumped for Alan Knill as
interim manager. He later replaced Ling on a permanent basis at the end of the
season, after steering the Gulls away from relegation with two wins in their
last three games.
Ling learned of his dismissal through a mobile phone
conversation with then Chairwoman Thea Bristow for what was described as
‘footballing reasons,' after it emerged that he had been suffering from depression.
Whether Ling would have kept United clear of the relegation
zone had he not been taken ill nobody will ever know.
But, given the tactical awareness he displayed when changing
from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 and then to the 4-2-3-1 used prior to his absence suggests
he could have solved another formation conundrum had he been required to.
Knill would later change the formation of the Gulls’ side
back to 4-4-2, which was a move that went down well with the fans. There is also the argument had it not been for their poor run during Taylor’s caretaker spell, then the need to employ the services of Knill, and later his assistant Chris Brass, may not have arisen.
Ling’s brief spell at Swindon – which lasted for 56 days –
saw him show his aptitude for management as he won five of his nine games in
charge, but – in the end - he decided that his health and personal well-being
was more important to him.
As he showed at Plainmoor, he certainly had an eye for a
player with more of his signings proving to be hits than misses. Scouting could
be a niche that he could fulfil in the future, having worked as Chief Scout for
Walsall under his friend and former Leyton Orient teammate Dean Smith.
And should a club pay Bournemouth a fee for O’Kane in the
forthcoming transfer window - the Gulls have a 15 % sell-on clause with the
Cherries – his transfer dealings could still net United in excess of £1million,
which could yet prove to be one of his greatest legacies to the club.
