“I’ve always had a fascination about people’s characters and how they learn and develop,” David Webb says as he recounts a journey that began with scouting for players on park pitches in Croydon and could hit a high if he plays a part in Georgia reaching Euro 2024 via the playoffs in March.
It has been a long, colourful career in coaching and recruitment for the 43-year-old who has been assistant to Georgia’s manager, Willy Sagnol, since last year. Webb, who brought Wilfried Zaha to Crystal Palace after spotting the winger playing for Whitehorse Wanderers, has held a variety of roles at academy and senior level at Bournemouth, Huddersfield, Millwall, Östersund, Southampton and Tottenham. He impressed during a three-day study trip to Bayer Leverkusen and was asked by the German club to watch players for them.
“During my visit I went with an under-21s coach to look at a national tournament,” Webb says. “I didn’t know the German youth teams too well. When we came back we had to say what we saw. I had no knowledge of the players. Rudi Völler, who was technical director at the time, said: ‘Why are you talking about character? You’re English, we were expecting you to talk about physicality.’
“I said: ‘I don’t know the player so I’m talking about the technical and tactical side but also about his character.’ From there they said: ‘We like the way you do this – maybe you can watch some players for us.’”
Webb, who worked with Eddie Howe at Bournemouth and Mauricio Pochettino at Southampton and Spurs, took on the challenge. The long-term aim, though, was to be a manager. Webb remembers a childhood fascination with Bill Nicholson, Bill Shankly and Terry Venables. He devoured information about their managerial styles and realised so much is based on working out what makes people tick. “If you really understand people you have a huge chance of being a success,” he says.
Does Webb understand people? “Yeah,” he says. “Naturally. It’s one of my big strengths. Getting the best out of people. Eddie Howe once said: ‘You’re naturally good at seeing things, you’re good at the character side of things.’”
Webb, who is based in Surrey, looked to use those qualities when non-league York City handed him his first chance in management in December 2022. The task was complicated, though, when he ended up in intensive care after catching Covid and contracting pneumonia. “I started the first week of training and then was out for three or four weeks,” he says. “It was a nightmare. I went back on Boxing Day. I was so eager to get back. My first job at that level and I just wanted to make a good impression. I wouldn’t say I went back too early but I was still feeling quite tired.”
Webb looked to build team spirit by getting players to tell each other personal stories. He talks about playing attacking football, with “calculated risks and passion, desire and intensity”. He talks about bravery and the actor Beth Harmon picturing the chess pieces fall into place in the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit.
“I see myself as someone who thinks differently,” Webb says. “I am not a normal, conventional coach. I am quite gifted in a way – I can look at football matches and the way I describe it is like The Queen’s Gambit. She can see the pieces moving around. I was told I am a little bit neurodiverse. I was told: ‘Your creative thinking is very different in how you see things.’ I can understand how to change it when you see things going wrong. I see it like an invasion game. I see the spaces that need to be attacked or defend.”
Yet it did not work out at York. Webb won three of his 10 games and was fired after two months. However, he does not look back on his time as a failure. “We had positives,” Webb says. “We recruited Shaq Forde and he was the youngest player in York’s history to score a hat-trick. He finished off on nine goals in 20. The win-loss percentage wasn’t too bad. You need time. Especially if you’re going to implement a new style.
“But it was quite hostile between fans and the ownership. The owner couldn’t come to games. If there’s problems above and it’s spilling over it’s very difficult to implement what I wanted. I gave my absolute best. If it was over a longer period of time it would have been a success. Two months is no time at all.”
And so to Georgia. Webb has known Sagnol since meeting the former France and Bayern Munich right-back at a game 10 years ago. “We found we were quite similar in the way we want to play and develop,” he says. “He went to Georgia and we stayed close. He wanted someone who had a broad range of skills. He coaches in English so someone who can coach on the pitch was one. Also work on the players one-to-one and get in their heads a little bit.
“He thought I could add value to him on the pitch and then with the players. When I’m out there I do a lot of one-to-one work with the players and get to know their journey. The Georgians are quite unique. They’re very humble. Quite quiet, very driven. Winning means more than success and money.”
Georgia have never been to a major tournament. They finished fourth in their qualifying group for the Euros but reached the playoffs thanks to their Nations League ranking. The reward is a semi-final against Luxembourg and a potential final against Greece or Kazakhstan. The path to Germany is open. Webb hopes to help Georgia find their way.
