Gary Owers wants new Torquay United recruits after getting dream job

By Matt Bishop
New Torquay United boss Gary Owers hopes to have “one or two faces through the door” before tomorrow’s game against Barrow after revealing he has always wanted the Gulls job.
Former Bath City manager Owers, 48, was appointed in charge of struggling Torquay on Wednesday after the club’s lengthy search for someone to replace Kevin Nicholson, and he is already looking to put his own stamp on the squad.
“There may be one or two new faces through the door quite quickly,” Owers told Devon Live. “We’ve already got five loan players though, so we have to be a bit careful that we don’t end up with three or four not being involved in matches.”
Tomorrow’s long trip north to Barrow presents a chance for Torquay to end their winless run of ten games, and build on three consecutive draws that have offered some hope at Plainmoor.
It is a very difficult battle to the one Owers was used to at Bath, where the National League South side are currently looking to build on an impressive start to the season and chase promotion.
Owers and his assistant, Martin Kuhl, know how difficult the task could be, acknowledging “something is wrong” after such a torrid run, but the boss was optimistic and said: “The players aren’t under any pressure, because they have a fresh start now.
“We [the management staff] are under pressure, because we have to get results.
“It’s not a good position to be in, for a club of this size and with the support that it gets. We are here to start the resurgence of the club.
“There’s lots of things we would like to do in the future, like trying to get out of this league and trying to develop a new style of football and bringing more young players through.
“But at the moment we have to come up with something to get that first win and those three points on the board.
“We can’t get out of this situation this week, or next week. It may take six or seven weeks to pull the other teams in the table back to us.
“We just have to move from day to day. But we know where we want to get to, and how we are going to get there.”
Staying up could be tough for Torquay, and you can get odds on the season with the best online sportsbook, but Owers believes he is well-equipped, and understands the role well enough, to get the job done.
Having lived in Devon for a large period of his life, and worked at the likes of Plymouth Arygle as John Sheridan’s assistant manager, Owers knows the size and importance of Torquay United.

He also knows the difficulties they have had in recent years, and his optimism for a resurgence at the club is accompanied by his happiness to get the Gulls job, and take the club back to where he believes it belongs.
The 48-year-old boss said: “This club has a history, it has been a Football League club and it is well-supported.”
“I have lived in this area, when I was at Plymouth, so I know it well, and I have followed the struggles here over recent seasons.
“I have said to myself in the past ‘If I can get the opportunity to do that job, I’m going to do it’.
“I have done my apprenticeship – I’ve been a youth coach, a first-team coach, assistant manager, manager, scout, head of recruitment.
“I always felt that I was working my way back towards a good job, and this is it.”
Some fans have questioned the appointment of Owers, after waiting nearly a month for a new man to be announced at the helm, but the experienced manager has brushed off any claims his style might be ‘old-school’.
The new boss said: “If being middle-aged means that you’re automatically a bit old-school, then maybe, but I don’t really go along with that!”