Former Torquay manager Kevin Nicholson: “As one door closes, another opens”

By Kevin Nicholson – @KevNicho3
FOOTBALL is a funny old industry. If you’re a solicitor and you lose your job, you apply for a vacancy at a company somewhere else.
Football management doesn’t necessarily work like that. Out-of-work managers are sitting and waiting for things not to go the way of some other poor guy, and then you can step into the breach.
I lost my job at Torquay United back in August. It’s a club I was successful at as a player and one I hold dearly to my heart.
You’ve got two choices, either sit and mope or get on with it and make sure you prepare for the next opportunity.
So I’ve studied as much as I’ve ever studied, read every book I can find on other managers and people in sport, inspirational figures and what they did to get where they are.
I’ve read a few books on the NFL – I think it’s a sport football could learn a lot from.
The way it is structured, the way teams train and the coaches work.
Bill Belichick, the head coach of the New England Patriots, has won five Super Bowls and is considered one of the greatest coaches in the history of American Football. I know he’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but it’s incredible the amount of   success he’s had. Especially when you consider it’s a level playing field over there, not like in our football where clubs can just throw money at it.
Those are the people I want to learn from. I’ve read Clive Woodward’s autobiography and another book called ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’ which is about how you react to change and moved forward.
But this period has also been about getting out and watching games in the levels I’m likely to get a job.
In some ways, it’s a strange experience. You sit there thinking, ‘This would be a great job’. Then there’s the inner voice saying, ‘I don’t want to be one of these vultures sitting in the stand wishing ill on other people’. It’s one of the harsh realities of the business we’re in.
I know the National League like the back of my hand. I know the players, the teams, the managers and the styles. I know League Two well too – I was only playing in it a few years ago and there’s not a huge amount of difference between the two. There’s obviously bits of extra quality that we maybe don’t see in the National League often, but generally it’s quite a similar league with similar strategies.
Then, the National League South is blood, guts and thunder, everybody giving their lot. So it’s been good to get about and see how different people work.

The time off has also allowed me to get some of my coaching badges ticked off. Ironically, when you’re in the thick of management you don’t have time to fill in the books you need to.
I’ve also been to the gym every day to make sure I’m as fit as possible. I was player-manager at Torquay and that might be another possibility further down the line.
At the same time, you need to be fit and strong as a manager. I’m going to need that strength, physically and mentally, because the likelihood is getting a job in the middle of the season tends to means it’s a team not doing particularly well.
Torquay was the best first job I could have ever hoped for. The learning curve was incredible. At times, we went through absolute turmoil – I’m pretty sure I’m never going to have to drive a first team coach to a game again. I’m probably not going to have to deal with the constant threat of administration or two years of a takeover that may or may not happen.
To be able to function and manage with all that going off around us was an incredible experience. I wouldn’t trade it for anything because I’m so much better for it now. It’s all about dealing with adversity.
I’ve mentioned before that I’ve got journals packed with information from my time at Plainmoor I can look back on. Having to deal with individuals and things that go on behind the scenes, asking for money I know is not there, wheel and deal to get players in and out – that’s common for every manager but we were doing it under the tightest of financial constraints.
This break has given me the chance to evaluate the things I did wrong, but also the things I did well. I had two seasons at Torquay and finished 17th in the National League both years. If you put that in front of a chairman without any context it doesn’t look like success.
But if you know what we had to go through and deal with to get to that point – year one we were 12 points adrift in February and stayed up with two games to go.
Last year we had the takeover hanging over us and with three games to go we were four points from safety. We stayed up again over teams like York, a massive club, but are now in the league below.
Unfortunately, it’s the stage of the season where other managers will find themselves in my situation.
I have a skillset of digging teams out of trouble.
I’ve enjoyed being able to further myself and broaden my horizons in the time I’ve been out.
But give me Saturday at 3pm any time.
*This article originally featured in The @NonLeaguePaper, which is available every Sunday.