Report: Former Portsmouth, Ipswich and Wigan boss emerges as 'top contender' for vacant Championship job

Former Pompey boss Paul Cook has emerged as the ‘top contender’ for the vacant manager’s job at Plymouth Argyle.

That’s according to Football Insider, who claim the 56-year-old has held talks with the Championship side as they continue their search for Steven Schumacher’s replacement.

Cook is currently manager of National League leaders Chesterfield, who have won 19 of their 24 league games to date. He also oversaw the Spireites’ recent FA Cup victory over the Blues as the non-league side inflicted a first-round giant-kiliing on John Mousinho’s side in front of the live TV cameras.

Plymouth, who suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Southampton on Friday night, have been without a boss since Schumacher’s decision to move to Stoke earlier this month.  Last season’s League One champions currently sit 18th in the second-tier table but are without a win under caretaker boss Neil Dewsnip.

If appointed, Cook would be Argyle’s third Liverpudlian boss in a row, with predecessors Ryan Lowe and Schumacher all hailing from the city. He might also have to win over the Argyle fans after his well-documented friction with former Plymouth boss Derek Adams during his time as Pompey manager.

The two were often at loggerheads during Cook’s two seasons in charge at Fratton Park from 2015-17 – a strained relationship which Adams recently claimed began after his rival’s failed pursuit of then Plymouth forward Reuben Reid. There was also friction between both parties after Pompey’s League Two play-off defeat to Argyle at the end of the 2015-16 season and after the Blues pipped Plymouth to the League Two title in 2017 on goal difference following their 6-1 hammering of Cheltenham on the final day of the season.

As well as Pompey and Chesterfield, Cook has also managed Ipswich and Wigan. The Spireites are next in action on Monday when they play host to fourth-placed Solihull Moors.