Jimmy Ball is in no mood to panic.
Torquay United’s manager has watched key players walk out of Plainmoor in recent weeks, yet he cuts the figure of a man determined to build, not scramble. The exits of striker Jordan Young, defender Sam Dreyer and winger Dylan Morgan would rattle plenty of managers in National League South. Ball has chosen a different route: slow the pulse, trust the plan.
He has already moved decisively. Plymouth Argyle prospects Tegan Finn and Caleb Roberts have come through the door, joined by defender Oludare Olufunwa and winger Angelo Cappello as the Gulls reshape after a turbulent few months. The squad looks different. It also looks younger, hungrier.
Even so, Ball is not done.
“There’s a couple of positions within the squad I’d like to strengthen,” he told BBC Radio Devon, before making it clear he will not be bounced into the wrong deal.
The temptation, after a play-off heartbreak and a stuttering start to the new campaign, would be to grab at whatever is available. Ball has deliberately stepped away from that cliff edge.
He knows where the gaps are. He also knows the damage a rushed signing can do to a dressing room that has only just started to settle.
“I’m in a position now where I can take my time and make sure of the decisions that I’m making,” he said. The message is obvious: Torquay will add, but only on their terms.
The club have long lists and extensive scouting, the manager insists, and the players already recruited were not plucked from nowhere. The difference now is that the league table no longer feels like it is closing in on them.
They earned that breathing space.
After a sluggish opening to the season, Torquay have finally strung together back-to-back wins to climb to eighth in National League South. It is not yet the imposing position many fans crave after four seasons stuck in the sixth tier, but it is a platform. From the wreckage of last season’s drama at Hornchurch, it feels like the first sign of a steady climb rather than another lurch.
Ball’s own story at Torquay has been anything but gentle. He arrived in March, in the wake of Paul Wotton’s sacking, and was dropped straight into a promotion race that left no room for missteps. He guided the Gulls to third place, then watched them fall in a dramatic play-off final in May. That kind of defeat leaves scars. It also sharpens ambition.
The manager has made it clear that promotion remains the target. The tone around the club has shifted from survival and firefighting to structure and long-term thinking. Recruitment sits at the centre of that.
“I’d like to bring one more in for sure,” Ball admitted, before repeating his mantra: “But there’s no rush about it, it’s going to be a calculated one.”
Calculated. It is the word that keeps resurfacing around Torquay now. No wild swings, no last-minute gambles. Just a manager convinced that the right player, at the right time, can turn a promising revival into a genuine promotion charge.
The squad is not complete. Ball knows it. The supporters know it. The question, as autumn settles over National League South, is whether that final addition can push Torquay out of this division at last.
