“I thought it could be exciting,” David Webb tells Sky Sports about joining Georgia’s backroom staff in 2023. That initial curiosity turned into something far bigger, taking the young English coach to Euro 2024. “It turned out to be amazing.”
Being part of Georgia’s first major tournament is now part of the country’s football history. Webb’s time working with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and the squad has ended, however, and he says he is ready to pursue his ambition to be a head coach.
“I have had a good grounding, so many experiences that can give me an edge, working with big clubs and small clubs, at home and abroad. I can manage players and manage up. I have had so many different roles and that has helped. My profile is very different.”
For Webb, football never felt like a conventional career choice but more like a calling. He never signed a professional playing contract, instead doing ordinary jobs and working in gyms before turning to coaching. At 21 he had what he calls “an epiphany” and began coaching in academies at Wimbledon and Crystal Palace, surviving on very little pay because he loved it. His first full-time football job came at Millwall.
Webb’s path includes many varied roles: scouting at Southampton, working in Eddie Howe’s initial recruitment team at Bournemouth, study visits around Europe to Ajax and Athletic Club, conversations with Rudi Völler at Bayer Leverkusen, recruitment at Tottenham and a spell as sporting director at Östersunds in Sweden. Despite these detours, coaching remained his primary aim. He knew that without a long professional playing career there was a stigma to overcome and that he would need additional strengths.
That led him to complete a master’s in sports psychology. “You can have all the ideas but if players won’t follow you, if you can’t create relationships, it all falls down. I needed that nailed down,” he says. The degree also helped in scouting work: beyond data and metrics, Webb stresses the importance of understanding a player’s character and how they will affect culture and the dressing room, especially in pressure moments.
With Georgia his role expanded far beyond a single coaching brief. He helped with tactical preparation, set up coaching camps, prepared group presentations and explored the psychological side of managing players. Webb gives an example of one-on-one conversations revealing personal issues — a player who had not disclosed that his son was unwell — showing how off-field matters can affect performance.
Webb attributes much of his growth to Georgia head coach Willy Sagnol, who gave him the chance to work with top players like Kvaratskhelia. Their connection began after a chance meeting at an under-19 match. “We were sat next to each other and just started chatting. We ended up meeting regularly. I learned a lot from him because he is very calm. He can pick up the phone to Zinedine Zidane, to Thierry Henry. It is pretty impressive. But he is very humble.”
Sagnol’s experience — shaped in part by time with Carlo Ancelotti — showed in his man-management and tournament preparation, Webb says. Georgia’s campaign in Germany included a memorable victory over Portugal, featuring Cristiano Ronaldo, to reach the knockout stages. They were eliminated by eventual winners Spain after a game Georgia had led into the latter part of the first half.
Webb is proud of how Georgia approached the tournament. “We were one of the lower-ranked teams so we framed it as feeling like the hunters. It really helped us to get into that mindset.” Over his two years with the country the team evolved from a counter-pressing side to a more possession-based style, which Webb says the players have enjoyed. The squad also consolidated its place in UEFA Nations League Group B, and players have progressed to bigger clubs — Kvaratskhelia now widely regarded as a superstar.
Looking ahead, Webb’s next move could again be in international football, using the precision required when working with players who are available for limited periods. He’s had discussions with several European federations about head coaching roles and attracted interest from clubs in England and overseas.
To date his only managerial appointment was a short spell at National League side York City, an experience with regrets partly shaped by circumstances: a bout of COVID meant he couldn’t take the team initially, and he admits his own fitness at the time wasn’t good. “Physically, I was not in great condition at the time. Players see that. It was not a good look,” he says, adding that the episode changed his view of what’s needed to be an elite coach.
Now 46, Webb says he has worked on his fitness and is focused on the next opportunity. “The most important thing for me is working with ambitious, successful, good people. But I am open-minded and adaptable. This job is about fitting players into the jigsaw puzzle and working out how to connect with them. And I think I can make players better.”