Whilst Paul Cox never stayed around long enough as Torquay United manager for the Plainmoor faithful to get to know him properly, the same couldn't be said about Kevin Nicholson.
With 312 appearances over seven years between 2007 and 2014, which included a promotion from the Conference in 2009 and a PFA team of the year inclusion in 2012, the Gulls were on familiar terms with Nicholson when he was appointed as Cox's successor.
The seven years at Torquay is the longest spell that Nicholson has spent at a single club during his career - it is worth noting he is still registered as a player at Plainmoor - which has included spells with sides as diverse as Sheffield Wednesday (for whom he made a solitary appearance for in the Premier League), Northampton Town, Notts County, Scarborough, Forest Green Rovers, the Gulls, Kidderminster Harriers and Bath City.
Given that he spent the longest amount of time at Torquay it is perhaps not surprising that Paul Buckle, who he served under for the first four of those seven years, and Martin Ling - who he played under for two.
Both of those two are vastly different characters, but their respective approaches are likely to have shaped Nicholson's outlook on his fledgling managerial career. A manager with Buckle's organisation skills and Ling's gift for man-management would surely go along way in professional football.
In the past year, Nicholson could look at his stint in charge with the Gulls with some sense of pride, after lifting United away from what seemed like a very precarious position - as they were 12 points adrift of safety by mid- February when the prospect of regional non-league football for the first time since 1927 looked like a distinct possibility.
As a backdrop to this, the players were - and still do on occasions - were driving to away games on the Friday as the club could not both afford a coach and overnight hotel for the same trips. There were other times when Nicholson was driving the players in the team mini-bus to certain games.
However, with a nucleus of new signings made in the January transfer window, that danger was soon averted thanks in no small part to a strong defensive record which saw the Gulls go over 400 minutes without conceding. The goals of Nathan Blissett and Shaun Harrad also proved to be crucial as Torquay finished the campaign in 18th place.
This season, at the time of writing, United are 16th in the National League with 13 points - three more than they had at the time of his arrival - as the next task of building a side that could lead the Gulls back into the Football League remains a work in progress.
