The right mindset in the United dressing room

In the wake of a turbulent fortnight for Torquay United Football Club, the players, coaching staff and backroom team have had the unenviable challenge of ensuring things keep ticking over in a professional manner.

Leading the way in that quest is interim manager Aaron Downes, who was full of praise for the way his players have responded to the worrying news that the club has signalled its intention to enter administration.

“The players have been fantastic in their response to an uncertain situation,” said Downes. “They have taken it all in their stride.

“Once they understood the situation, they’ve just cracked on with the job in hand and they’ve made it easy for me to manage because I’ve not had a queue of lads knocking on the door asking for information.

“I’ve tried my best to explain the situation and the club’s been great in giving them information. They understand it is not an ideal situation but I can’t praise them enough for the professional way they have all responded.”

Aside the understandable concerns raised by the administration news and the club seeking new ownership, Downes has all had to cope with the loss of his mentor Gary Johnson, who left his role as manager within hours of the first announcement.

For Downes, it meant the departure of his leader over the past five-and-a-half years, and also a different voice at the top of the tree for the players. In these uncertain circumstances, the Australian, who enjoyed a fine playing career at Plainmoor, has attempted to steer the ship on a steady course.

“For me, it has been important that I don’t try to change things too much,” he said. “Obviously, there has been a change in the sense that football decisions ultimately come down to me but I don’t want to change things around drastically.

“I’ve tried to stay the same as a character and I’ve been really lucky that the support staff have been great. I had an idea of how we want to go as a team and tried to put that into action.

“It has been an adjustment since Gary left but I feel comfortable in the role right now, and I’m just trying to focus on the players.

“While everything is obviously uncertain for everyone, I’ve tried to approach things like I’m here for the long-term, and looking at how we can win games of football. What’s been important for me is to focus on the things I can control.

“I know that results in the short-term will build momentum and there are certain targets we would like to achieve. The obvious target is to win every single match because that gets us to the play-offs.

“The first focus is on Dartford at home and then Taunton. We need to start by winning those games if we are to have success this season.”

The first two games of the Downes era have ended in draws, starting with a 2-2 at home to Aveley in front of a superb crowd at Plainmoor, and then the 1-1 at Weymouth last Saturday.

In both fixtures, United held leads and Downes knows that his players must demonstrate improved game-management in the weeks to come. The Gulls have 11 games to go in the National League South and sit nine points outside of the play-offs, so only wins will do.

“We were disappointed not to win the game at Weymouth. Certain aspects of the performance were really pleasing but we were really disappointed with the goal we conceded and the time it came,” said Downes.

“There was some good play from us in the game and it felt like the areas we have been working on was coming out in moments. We were happy with certain aspects, we felt we deserved the three points but we now must make sure we have the mindset to see out games when we take a lead.

“There are still areas to improve, of course, but we kept it positive afterwards to at least replicate that when Dartford visit on Saturday.”