Club statement

[brucie]

Rosenior - no thanks. I would rather stick with Taylor.

[gullno4]

get well soon lingy, as has been said there are more important things than football. prayers are with you !!

[tufcbrett]

Hope Ling gets better soon, all the best to him and his family. if I was the club now, bring someone in now and gibe Martin the rest of the season to recover. Nothing worse than rushing back. Give the big man a bug break and if he can return fresh for the new season then brilliant, Bring someone in to manage the playing side and leave any contracts to the board/Ling if he returns.

I hope for Martin he recovers even if he was not to return. Life and health before football.

[Gullscorer]

The club statement says we are looking for 'an individual with management experience', which shortens our list of possible contenders..

[miltonkeynesgull]

you don't forget to ride a bike even if you haven't ridden one for many years, I doubt he has forgotten how to coach a team even though he has been out of the game for years. he isn't exactly old and he has the ability to manage players. a gift he obviously had.
I doubt he was really sacked as such. He was told that a take over was likely. The new board had thier man in mind. It wasn't his fault. he did nothing workng and I doubt the board did either. he knew the situation. i doubt there is any bad feelings over this. and how can anyone say he isn't going to do a damn good job.
The other conclusion is that you don't want his image tarnished with a return that goes the way of so many when they go back to a club they have left previosuly. In which case I fully undertsand you point of view. otherwise I cannot fathom the logicality of the argument.

Rosenior actually clarified it in an interview recently, saying that Bateson had asked him to come in as manager in the knowledge that he was looking to sell, the current consortium saw him being announced and gave Bateson the price he was looking for and he sold up. It was more like 48 hours, not the 10 minutes that has become something of a legend!

But I digress. I'm 99% Leroy is very happy doing punditry, and wouldn't fancy a return to management. I'm not sure he'd be the right man for the situation anyway, as much as I remember him fondly for what he did for us.

One name that occurred to me is Bruce Rioch. Isn't he in Cornwall nowadays? Very experienced head who could do a short-term job.

[Behind-the-Gulls]

Agree with Milton Keynes Gull-Rioch knows and is fond of the club and would be ideal for a short-term role.

[SBP]

Bruce Rioch is still in Cornwall, my friend had lunch with him the other day and is apparently happy being retired/media work, however this could always change

[HardofHerringGull]

I allways thought that the Torquay Managers job should come with a health warning!

[SBP]

Wonder if they might think about Hargreaves??he is still local

[Richinns]

Wonder if they might think about Hargreaves??he is still local

Experience is key here - so I would doubt that.

[miltonkeynesgull]

Rioch certainly fits the bill of being:

a). Experienced.
b). In the game until pretty recently (having been managing in Norway).
c). Local (not a stipulation I suppose but would be advantageous, especially from a financial point of view).
d). Familiar with the club.
and e). More inclined to take a short term role (I'm assuming so anyway, with him being 65).

Whether he'd want to do it is another thing, like SBP says it would seem he's happily retired, but I think it would certainly be beneficial if he were able to come in and lend his experience to Taylor and Herrera.

[SBP]

I guess loads of names will be banded about over the next few days. What a nightmare situation. Get well soon ML

[ROADRUNNER]

get well soon martin

[Plymgull]

Get well soon Ling.

[Plymouth Gull]

As with everyone else, I wish you a speedy recovery Martin.

I'm glad the club have acted now rather than a week or two's time, though. As Forever says, a £40k bill for a short-term manager or £400k for losing our league status - it's not a tough decision. Obviously the worst case scenario is somebody comes in and we still get relegated, but depending on who it is then I think we have enough about ourselves, with the right leadership.

It's the sort of role Ian Atkins would thrive in.. Isn't he up in Sunderland scouting?