FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED FROM TORQUAY UNITED'S FESTIVE FIXTURES

After Torquay United's bumper festive fixtures with Forest Green Rovers, which saw the Gulls pick up four points and score nine goals in the process as they won 4-3 and drew 5-5, we will now look back at what we learned about Kevin Nicholson's side.

1. Dan Sparkes is a goal scoring wing wizard.

As a Braintree Town player, Sparkes famously netted a hat-trick for the Iron in their 5-1 win at Plainmoor against United in the 2014-15 season. In the current 2016-17 campaign he is the Gulls' joint-top scorer alongside Kieffer Moore with five after netting twice against Forest Green on New Year's Day.
The signing of Sparkes represents quite a coup for manager Kevin Nicholson, as the former Histon winger could have quite easily followed Danny Cowley, his former manager at Braintree, to Lincoln City last summer. Having scored 19 times for the Iron in the past two seasons, with returns of nine and ten in each campaign he is on course for a similar return this time around with the Gulls.

2. Width is key for United.

As well as the five goal that the aforementioned Sparkes has scored on loan AFC Wimbledon wide man also netted a goal in each game. Width played a key part in the Gulls' revival last season, which was provided by full back pairing Durrell Berry and Dan Butler in their 4-4-2 diamond system. However, with Berry has been missing through a broken leg since March and Butler having departed for Newport County, width has been hard to come by for the Gulls but the arrival of Fitzpatrick on the right has given United a new dimension to their play and has allowed Sparkes to play his natural game down the left.


3. The Gulls raise their game against the top sides.

The four points from the possible six that the Gulls could have won against Forest Green is part of 14 they have won from a possible 24 against the current top six sides in the National League. Having failed to take any points in 2-1 defeats against Lincoln City and Tranmere Rovers, United did the double over Dagenham and Redbridge - earning six points in the process, defeated Dover Athletic and picked up a point against former manager Paul Cox's Barrow side.

4. Lightning can strike twice.

The Gulls' Boxing Day success over Forest Green was the second time in the space of 12 months on Boxing Day. United famously beat Rovers 4-1 on the feast of Stephen in the 2014-15 campaign, a result that gave the Plainmoor faithful hope that the Gulls could make a improbable escape from relegation at the time when they were adrift at the bottom of the league.

5. A small amount of investment could go a long way.

Finances have been tight at Plainmoor in recent season's following United's relegation from the Football League and competing with teams who possess budgets far in excess of their own, including that of Forest Green who are, of course, bankrolled by Green Energy tycoon Dale Vince.
Following the club's recent takeover by Riviera Stadium Ltd, after which they pledged to bring 'a high level of football entertainment' to Torquay, surely these results prove that a small amount of money made available to manager Kevin Nicholson could make a real difference to the Gulls' fortunes.
With the sale of striker of Nathan Blissett to near neighbours Plymouth Argyle set to go through soon for a fee in the region of £30,000, the monies raised from the fee and freeing up of Blissett's salary from the wage bill could give Nicholson some room to strength his squad and edge United closer to an eventual return to the Football League.

GULLS NARROWLY COME OUT ON TOP IN BOXING DAY CRACKER

For the second year in a row, Torquay United secured a Boxing Day victory over Forest Green Rovers and scored four goals in the process.

The first half proved to be a tale of two Moores - Brendan in goal and former Gulls loanee Kieffer up front for Forest Green, as Brendan made two important saves to deny his namesake to help keep the score level at 0-0 at half-time.

Nathan Blissett poked home a cross from Dan Sparkes on 55 minutes and then turned provider to tee up David Fitzpatrick for double the Gulls lead. Sparkes then provided the assist for Sean McGinty's third.

Then back came Forest Green as substitute Christian Doidge pulled one back before Charlie Clough turned home to reduce the arrears to a single goal in the space of two minutes in the 73rd and 74th minutes.

Four minutes the visitors were level when Ethan Pinnock turned the ball over the line for Forest Green's third.

However, the Gulls showed great resolve to score a fourth in the 81st minute after McGinty headed a corner back across goal which ultimately proved to be enough for Kevin Nicholson's side, whose new owners Gaming International were in attendance.

ARGYLE BEAT NEWPORT TO SET UP LIVERPOOL DATE

Last season, it was Paul Tisdale's turn to face Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool with Exeter City, this campaign will give Derek Adams to do so as Plymouth Argyle manager after the Pilgrims defeated Newport County.

A Graham Carey penalty deep into extra time - after David Goodwillie had been fouled - proved to be enough for Argyle, as they came out on top in the tie which saw the League Two leaders defeat the division's bottom-placed club.

It was Carey's tenth goal of the campaign and it ensure that the Pilgrims will feature in the FA Cup third round for only the second time since 2010. His effort sets up what will be the 11th meeting between Argyle and the Reds, the last of which occurred in the 1961-62 season.

NEW OWNERS MUST ENSURE GULLS ARE PITCH PERFECT

In many walks of life, five year plans are used as a barometer for future progress.

Most famously, they were first used by Jozef Stalin as a list of economic goals based on his policy of Socialism in One Country in the Soviet Union in 1929.

Fast forward to the present day and the term 'five-year plan' has been used in connection with the recent takeover of Torquay United by Riviera Stadium Ltd - a subsidiary of Gaming International who were in talks to buy the club in the summer before the deal collapsed.

Following the completion of the takeover, GI Chief Executive Clarke Osborne issued a statement in which he talked of a five-year plan which was issued on the club website stating: "Our initial work is to ensure that the Club is stable whilst compiling a 5-year plan to secure the Clubs future and bring high level football entertainment to Torbay."

There has been speculation that a number of former directors of the club could be approached to oversee the day-to-day running of United and a role for the Torquay United Supporters' Trust has also been mentioned.

Osborne has also spoken of immediate investment in the first team, rebuilding the club's youth scheme and a possible stadium move in the future with Nightingale Park in Barton a likely favoured destination.

Whilst a new stadium could help generate revenue streams for the club, a return to the Football League for the Gulls, and helping them to stay, there has to be central to any ambitions for relocation.

In 2005, Burton Albion - then still a Conference side - left Eton Park, their home since 1958, to move to the Pirelli Stadium. Four years later, the Brewers were celebrating promotion to the Football League for the first time ever and have since progressed as far as the Championship.

If Gaming International's plan eventually is to move Torquay United away from Plainmoor, then they will need to get things right at the Gulls' present home first on the pitch.

Much speculation has been made of GI's possible plans for Plainmoor should a stadium move occur and many still remain sceptical. Nevertheless, the ultimate success of their venture - and this is what makes the industry of football so unique - is that the overall performance of the business is ultimately defined by the fortunes of the team on the pitch.

MONK FOLLOWING IN ILLUSTRIOUS FOOTSTEPS

"Listen son, if you're looking for autographs why don't you go and ask that ginger haired lad over there because he's going to be a really good player one day"

They were the words of Torquay United Chief Scout John James, the man responsible for discovering amongst others Lee Sharpe, Darren Moore and Dan Gosling, and someone who recognised talent when he saw it  given to your correspondent's younger self.

The player he was referring to was a young defender who had just broken into the Gulls' side as a first year apprentice by the name of Garry Monk and was being tipped for bigger things.

It wouldn't be long before those 'bigger things' would materialise for Monk. At the end of the 1995-96 season, which saw United retain their status as a football league side due to Stevenage's ground not being up to league standard, Monk was snapped up for Southampton by Graeme Souness.

However, he would only make 11 appearances for the Saints in the top-flight, which included their final two fixtures at the Dell against Manchester United and Arsenal, before joining Swansea City in 2004.

His move to the Swans would coincide with a rise up through the leagues that later saw Swansea reach the top-flight in the 2010-11 season under Brendan Rodgers - after promotions in the 2004-05 and 2007-08 campaigns from League Two and League One.

Another 27 Premier League followed with the Swans before he was appointed as manager, following the departure of Michael Laudrup, on February 4th, 2014. His first game in charge was a 3-0 win South Wales derby win over Cardiff City and Monk managed to guide Swansea away from the relegation zone.

The 2014-15 season saw the Swans build on the strong start made by Monk as they finished 8th in the Premier League - their highest league finish since they finished sixth in the 'old' First Division under John Toshack in the 1981-1982 campaign.

Sadly his 12-year association came to an end of December 9th, 2015 after Swansea went on a run of one win in eleven matches.

Nevertheless, Monk wasn't out of work for long as in the following summer he was appointed as manager of Leeds United - following in the illustrious footsteps of Don Revie, Brian Clough, Jimmy Armfield, Jock Stein, Howard Wilkinson, George Graham and Terry Venables to name but a selection.

On his arrival, Monk become the West Yorkshire club's fifth manager in the space of two years but he brought some much needed stability to Elland Road.

At the time of writing, Leeds are sixth in the Championship and on course to reach the Championship Play-offs for a shot at a return to the top-flight. With Swansea currently in the Premier League relegation zone, there is a strong possibility that both sides could swap places come the end of the season.

Should Leeds win promotion, either this season or next, Monk's first professional club Torquay United stand to gain a windfall to the tune of £200,000 courtesy of the transfer that took another former Gull Eunan O'Kane to Elland Road last August, as revealed by Torquay chairman David Phillips at the Gulls' fan's forum on November 3rd.

NO OLD PALS ACT FOR ADAMS AS ARGYLE RETURN TO SUMMIT

Childhood friendships were put to one side as Derek Adams’ Plymouth Argyle came out on top against Darren Ferguson’s Doncaster Rovers.

The fact that the duo have ended up facing each other in opposite manager’s dug outs is probably no surprise when you consider that Adams’ father  George Adams  was the first signing of Sir Alex Ferguson – Darren’s famous dad – for East Stirlingshire in 1974 before serving Ferguson senior as a coach at Aberdeen.

Graham Carey’s stunning opener and Jake Jervis’ second half penalty proved to be enough to see the Pilgrims replace Rovers at the summit of League Two.

However, the drama didn’t end there as Liam Mandeville missed a late penalty for the visitors and Doncaster skipper James Coppinger was dismissed.

On this evidence there is every chance that both sides could end in the season in the top three, especially if Argyle can keep hold of Carey.

An abridged version of this article appeared in the Football League Paper on 11/12/16

FATHERS, SONS AND FOOTBALL

For the first time on Saturday, the second generation of two managerial and coaching dynasties will go head to head as Derek Adams' Plymouth Argyle play host to Darren Ferguson's Doncaster Rovers.

Their parent's paths also crossed professionally as Adams' father - George - became the first signing in their illustrious career of Sir Alex Ferguson - Darren's famous father - for East Stirlingshire in 1974.

Four years later Adams senior - whose playing career by this time had been ended prematurely through injury - was appointed as a youth coach at Aberdeen by Ferguson senior, who was embarking on a managerial appointment that would later lead to him being appointed as Manchester United manager in 1986.

Whilst they worked together at Pittodrie, the Dons would break the stranglehold of the 'Old Firm' of Celtic and Rangers on Scottish football and also lift the European Cup Winner's Cup in 1983 - which is the last time a team from Scotland has won a major European trophy.

Whilst Ferguson the elder was busy collecting silverware with the Red Devils, Adams the elder managed Keith and Peterhead in the Highland League before going on to work in the youth development departments of Celtic, Motherwell and Rangers. In 2005, he was appointed as Director of Football at Ross County and hired Adams junior as manager two years later.

Over the course of two spells in charge of the Staggies, Adams the younger would guide them to their first domestic final in 2010, where they faced Dundee United in the Scottish Cup final after beating Celtic in the semis, and guided County to their first promotion to the top-flight of Scottish football in 2012. He succeeded John Sheridan as Argyle manager in the summer of 2015.

Ferguson junior - who started his playing career at Old Trafford in 1990 before later appearing for Wolves, Den Haag in Holland and Wrexham - also started his managerial career in 2007 with Peterborough United. During two spells with the Posh, between 2007 and 2009 and 2011 and 2015, he won three promotions - two from League One and one from League Two - and the Football League Trophy in 2014.

In addition to this, he also managed Preston North End briefly in 2010 and became Doncaster manager in 2015.