Paul Buckle has today been named as the new manager of Torquay United. Paul's appointment officially starts on Monday 4 June 2007.

Paul is a former midfield player with the Gulls. Having joined from Brentford in 1993 he played in 59 league games (and 14 cup games) and scored 9 goals. In 1995 he left the Gulls to join Exeter City initially as a player and then became their player/coach.

This is Paul's first managerial role, but he will obviously be able to be mentored, and call upon the vast experience offered, by Colin Lee.

Given that the managers post was to be advertised nationally, this does seem to have been a very quick appointment, and can be viewed as a brave decision by the new consortium to appoint an inexperienced manager.

As ever, the important thing is to get behind the new manager and trust that with all the experience available to him, that he is able to attract the calibre of players required to re-establish some stability at the club and which can then go on and mount a challenge for promotion.