Ball patient as Torquay rebuild accelerates
Jimmy Ball is not in a hurry. Not now. Not after the month Torquay United have just had.
The Gulls boss has already reshaped his squad in the past week, bringing in Plymouth Argyle youngsters Tegan Finn and Caleb Roberts, along with defender Oludare Olufunwa and winger Angelo Cappello. Four fresh faces, four different profiles, all dropped into a side still smarting from last season’s near miss and this season’s stuttering start.
At the same time, key men have gone. Striker Jordan Young, defender Sam Dreyer and winger Dylan Morgan have all moved on in recent weeks, leaving gaps in a group that had already been through the emotional wringer.
So yes, Ball wants more. But he wants the right more.
"There's a couple of positions within the squad I'd like to strengthen," he told BBC Radio Devon.
"But I'm in a position now where I can take my time and make sure of the decisions that I'm making.
"Not that we didn't have all the lads we've brought in on a list, on a radar, but there's no rush now.
"But I'd like to bring one more in for sure. but there's no rush about it, it's going to be a calculated one."
That word – calculated – fits his short reign at Plainmoor.
From play-off heartbreak to a slow burn
Ball walked into Torquay in March after Paul Wotton’s sacking, inheriting a club drifting in National League South and a fanbase drained by four seasons in the sixth tier. He jolted them awake. Torquay surged to a third-placed finish, then reached the play-off final, only to lose in dramatic fashion at Hornchurch in May.
The hangover lingered.
This campaign began with a stumble rather than a stride, the Gulls struggling to find rhythm or results. The promotion talk that had hummed through the summer quietened quickly.
Then came a response. Back-to-back wins have lifted Torquay up to eighth in National League South, close enough to the play-off spots to feel relevant again, but still far from where a club of their size believes it should be.
The recent run has given Ball something every manager craves in a window that never really stops: leverage. He does not need to grab the first available body. He can wait for the right one.
A manager backing his own blueprint
Behind the calm tone sits conviction. Ball believes in the recruitment work being done behind the scenes, the lists, the scouting, the constant re-checking of character as well as quality.
He knows Torquay cannot afford to get many wrong. Four seasons in the sixth tier have stretched patience and budgets. One more signing, he says, but it has to count.
The squad is evolving, the table is tightening, and the margin for error is thin.
Ball has chosen his stance: slow, deliberate, and utterly focused on finding the player who can turn a promising revival into a sustained promotion push.
