Former Portsmouth boss to resume well-documented battle will old managerial foe as ex-Plymouth man makes League Two return

Paul Cook probably thought he’d seen the last of Derek Adams.

The duo’s paths have rarely crossed since their dislike for one another emerged during their respective Pompey and Plymouth days. But that’s going to change next season as both find themselves back in the familiar territory of League Two - where the friction originated.

Cook’s been planning for life in the fourth tier after guiding Chesterfield back to the Football League thanks to their National League title win. Adams’ involvement, though, has just emerged after he was named Morecambe’s manager for a third time on Monday. The Scot was available to return to the Mazuma Stadium after quitting as Ross County manager in February, after just 12 games and 79 games in charge.

Speaking after his appointment was made public, Adams said: ‘I’m looking forward to it! Morecambe FC is a club I know well from my previous two spells at the football club, and I am looking forward to getting started.

‘There is a lot of work to be done over the transfer window to get ready for the start of the new season, and I know the Board of Directors were looking for a manager who knows the football club and how it works. I’m delighted to come back and try and help the football club move forward again.’

How the Cook and Adams feud began

No doubt, both Cook and Adams will take note of their next head-to-head when the EFL fixtures are announced later this month. Neither have been in opposing dugouts since August 2021 - when Pompey’s ex-League Two title-winning manager was in charge at Ipswich and his rival was in his first spell as Shrimps boss.

But how did it all begin? Well, last Ocotber, Adams - who has also struggled massively to endear himself to the Fratton faithful over the years - claimed Cook fell out with him over his refusal to engage in any process that would have seen his then Plymouth player, Reuben Reid, move to Fratton Park.

According to the 48-year-old, there was no way he was going to entertain selling one of his star players to the Blues - a striker who scored 50 goals in 150 appearances for the Pilgrims. And that’s something Cook wasn’t happy with as he refused to shake the Scot’s hand following a Plymouth v Pompey FA Cup youth game at Home Park.

Adams was asked about the hostility that transcended onto the pitch and into the stands as both Pompey and Plymouth battled for supremacy during their League Two days when he appeared on the Pilgrims Podcast last autumn.

He said: ‘I think the Paul Cook story is quite interesting because Paul was trying to sign Reuben Reid at the time and wasn’t too pleased that I wouldn’t pick up his calls to answer him about Reuben Reid going to Portsmouth, because I didn’t want to sell him.

‘He actually came to a youth game, Portsmouth were playing Plymouth Argyle at Home Park in an under-18 match in the FA Cup and he was sat in the front row.

‘Portsmouth won, I think (Conor) Chaplin scored the goals, and after the game I went to shake his hand and say well done and he said: “No, no, no, I’m not shaking your hand”. ‘I said: “What you mean?” and he replied: “No, no, no, you didn’t return my calls”.

‘I said: “well, I’m not going to return your calls when you’re trying to get one of my star players to come to your football club and done it the way that you’ve done it”.

‘So that’s how it all started and it’s amazing that that then transformed into a rivalry that it was on the pitch.’

Play-off battle boils over

Adams said the bad blood between both clubs made Plymouth’s victory over the Blues in the 2015-16 play-off semi-finals extra special.

The pilgrims came out on top 3-2 from the hotly-contested two-legged affair, with Peter Hartley’s stoppage-time header at Home Park in the second game proving decisive. 

‘You wouldn’t believe how pleased I was,’ added Adams, who celebrated the winning goal by dancing down the touchline.

‘You know, to win against Portsmouth - a club that saw us as underdogs, they saw us as a small club!

‘In the two games, we were better than them. We had beaten them just on April 16 at Portsmouth 2-1, you’ve got to remember as well.

‘We had the edge on them and, unfortunately, they didn’t like that.’

Cook, of course got one over Adams a year later when the Blues beat Cheltenham 6-1 on the final day of the 2016-17 to clinch the League Two title over the Pilgrims on goal difference!

The fixtures for next season’s League Two calendar are out on Wednesday, June 26. Both Cook and Adams have four promotion’s each during their managerial careers.