Unusual Goings-On At The Top
Nothing surprises you in football, or so the saying goes. Well, actually, some developments do – and this one definitely did.
Paul Cook waves his no 2 off to pastures new on Friday, September 12, and no doubt keeps an eye on developments when his long-time right-hand man takes the managerial reins on a match-day for the first time.
On the day that Chesterfield beat Newport 4-1, Danny Webb oversees a 1-0 National League defeat for Yeovil at Tamworth.
Two days later, Webb resigns from a contract due to run until the summer of 2027, citing personal and family reasons.
A week and a half after that, he is reinstated by Cook and The Spireites, just in time to be in the dug-out for a 6-2 defeat at Colchester. You could barely make it up.
We can only speculate over the reasons for the about-turn after Webb had posed for the obligatory scarf-round-the-neck photos and spoken of his intentions to help get Yeovil fans off their seats.
“I like goals, I like balls in the box, I like flair players,” the 42-year-old said in an interview with BBC Radio Somerset. “I like to see things that, as a supporter, I would pay and watch.”
What made the spectacular change of heart all the more surprising was that Webb had briefly served Yeovil during his playing career and his dad, the FA Cup-winning former Chelsea defender Dave Webb, managed The Glovers in 2000.
So there were firm Webb family roots at The Huish long before Terry Cooper’s son, Mark, was sacked there as manager this autumn.
Cook’s past assistants have included Leam Richardson, who worked with him at various clubs before himself becoming a manager and subsequently having Rob Kelly at his side at Wigan and Rotherham.
Interestingly, though, Poole-born Webb wasn’t Cook’s personal choice at the start of his second spell in charge of Chesterfield. Webb had been on the staff since 2021 and was retained by the former Wolves midfielder rather than brought in by him.
The duo inspired The Spireites to become the runaway winners of the National League in 2023-24 and have had them up with the leading bracket in League Two again this season after their play-off semi-final defeat against Walsall in May.
Webb has named his father and Cook as his biggest influences in the game, along with the late Justin Edinburgh, who he worked with at Leyton Orient.
Our regular readers will know we regard ourselves as being good friends with Paul Cook, as well as firm admirers of his managerial record, and we wish he, Webb and the rest of the Chesterfield staff well for tonight’s Vertu Trophy home game against Burton and beyond.