Hello friends and welcome back to the English Riviera as Torquay United prepare for a new season in the Coca cola Championship after a tense and dramatic end to last season at Wembley where we edged past Colchester in the Play-Off Final
One of the first pieces of business was to conclude the deal with our new shirt sponsor and that added a tidy little sum of £160,000 to our back account which was quickly followed by a parachute payment of £400,000.
My intentions going into the upcoming transfer window was again to focus on the back four as many of you know this was a problem area of sorts last season with the exception of Kamil Wiktorski. Also my back room team saw the necessity to replace both Scott Bevan and Michael Poke between the posts and as for myself I was on the hunt for a new left and right midfielder.
From those two sources of revenue previously discussed the board only gave me £55,000 to work with but at least the salary budget went up over £10,000 to £50,000 so that should give me a bit of room to entice any out of contract players. I will however be looking for some decent loan signings as well.
I’ve promised the board that we will attempt to avoid relegation which seems reasonable enough to me.
I had a fair idea of which players were leaving Torquay though before any of that was going to happen I wanted to make sure I got in decent replacements to fill those positions and here they are.
Austrian Jurgen Macho will wear the No1 shirt and brings some international experience to the side and will replace Scott Bevan. I had made an offer of £40,000 for Welsh keeper Lewis Price but when Macho popped up as a free transfer I swiftly signed him.
Former Man city player Shaleum Logan will compete with former City team mate Kieran Trippier at right back and has good physical attributes as well a half decent cross on him.
Phil Jones was re-signed on loan from Man United for the season as he performed well along side Wiktorski last year and should provide some “steel” in the back four.
At seventeen Sean McGinty was noted as having great potential and was picked up on a free transfer from Man United. He’s a bit weak on technique so may rotate in and out of the first team squad
Frederic Veseli was released by Aston Villa and for his young age has some good all round qualities and could provide decent cover throughout the season
Recommended by the backroom staff Andre Wisdom was trained by Liverpool before being released. Apparently he is one for the future and will most likely go out on loan this season.
Finally after all these young players I decided to go for a seasoned veteran in Lucinao to add a bit of Mediterranean flavor to the squad. Doesn’t have top quality attributes but this signing was all about gut feeling.
Josh Payne (Aston Villa) and Jake Livermore (Spurs) both return to The Riviera as Torquay players due to their contracts expiring and so I quickly snapped them up to the delight of the home fans. Also returning though on loan is Barry Banan whose name just flows off the tongue and whom I expect to be a big hit this season.
Up front I brought in Jay Simpson who you all know from parent club Arsenal and Andy Page, an interesting looking ‘poacher” from Aston Villa.
Of my transfers out the most eye catching one was New Zelander Shane Hooks who went off to Ana’s Real Union!
Transfer Actvivity
As been the case all summer long Espanyol have once again came looking for John Guidetti and so I slapped a £1.5million price tag on him. Somehow I think the board are going to accept any offer that comes their way.
Our preseason games went pretty well all in all though we could and should have scored more than we did.
The latest betting puts us as clear favorites to go back down so I hope we can prove the bookies wrong.
So that’s the pre-season activity and now its on to the real thing where we open our campaign with a home game to newly promoted Southampton followed by a League Cup encounter against Southend.
Thanks for reading.
Lye
13 сентября, 2010 at 01:50
Hi Kevin, plenty of reshuffled at the back and some quality signings in too. I believe you should have no problem in avoid relegation and i hope you have a good start as the Championship is tough.Good luck.
Kevin Mayo
13 сентября, 2010 at 10:18
Thanks Lye
The defensive situation certainly required some aggressive attention and I hope to avoid going down too:)
Johnny Karp
13 сентября, 2010 at 08:24
You brought in some good solid players there, the keeper is very good and also the new defenders look fairly solid. Bringing in the same loanees as last season is a smart move, they won’t need any time to settle in. Things look quite promising, good luck! :)
Kevin Mayo
13 сентября, 2010 at 10:21
Thanks Johnny
I»m glad you agree with my loanees as I was thinking why bring in new when these players are available already. I was really happy to get Livermore and Payne for free as well as Banan on loan again.
Darren Smith
13 сентября, 2010 at 11:34
Hey Kevin, you made some good signings there. The jump upto Championship football is huge, but I am confident you’ll avoid relegation. Depending on how quick the new players settle I think mid-table is a realistic goal. Goodluck mate.
Kevin
13 сентября, 2010 at 12:45
Hi Darren
A mid table finish is what I’m expecting as well :)
Laxeyman
13 сентября, 2010 at 16:25
Hi Kevin, looks like you have a solid team with some good defenders. Hopefully that means you’ll be very tight at the back, and I believe that you’ll comfortably avoid relegation. Good luck!
Kevin
13 сентября, 2010 at 17:06
Hi Laxeyman
I’m please with all those defenders I picked up though some may soend aseason in the reserves or on loan. I’m not sure yet.
hils
13 сентября, 2010 at 19:06
Hi Kevin,great team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A good defensive line up will really help you in the championship. Good luck. (My prediction is 8th)
Kevin
13 сентября, 2010 at 19:38
Hello hils !!!!
I’m glad you like my team and thanks for the prediction.I»ll try and do better for you though :)
hils
14 сентября, 2010 at 18:35
Replying from pm: im male
hils
14 сентября, 2010 at 19:09
Replying from pm:Liverpool fan through and through.
hils
15 сентября, 2010 at 19:32
Replying from pm:No i have never considered that
Sears
13 сентября, 2010 at 19:34
You’ve signed some fantastic players there Kevin. I believe you have the quality to avoid relagation, so I think you’ll finish mid table somewhere. Goodluck!
Kevin
13 сентября, 2010 at 19:43
Hi Sears
A mid table finish would do nicely as Torquay are probaly not the stronhest of teams in the league but looking forward to the challenge.
Ana Garcia
14 сентября, 2010 at 00:30
Some good players you have bought! Always nice to see a Spaniard!
What is a ‘parachute payment’? I havent heard of it.
Kevin
14 сентября, 2010 at 00:42
Hi Ana
This is the description I found and hope it is right.
It is when a club that had recently been relegated from the Premier League wins promotion again. The parachute payments that they would have got in the Championship no longer apply and are shared amongst the other clubs instead.
I tried to get a Canadian in to join the Spaniard but didn’t have any luck. I think Luciano will do well.