Colin Cook would like to stay Basildon boss

Cook was named as the interim manager of the Bees for the final two games of their Essex Senior League season following the departure of Laurie Carter.

It was a return to the Hive for Cook who had a spell in charge of Basildon six years ago and though he admits he has no idea what the club’s plans for next season are, he would like the chance to lead the club on a permanent basis next season.

“I would like to (take charge),” said Cook. “But it is not down to me.

“I was here six years ago and I enjoyed being back. I enjoyed just being back in football, to be honest.”

Cook said he did not know what had happened at the club in the past few weeks and was just asked to take care of first-team affairs for the remainder of the season.

It followed the departure of the club chairman, Paul Smith, who has become a director at Canvey Island, and manager Carter soon after.

Basildon were in such a predicament two weeks ago that they were unable to even field a team for their trip to Greenhouse London.

It all meant further upheaval at a club who looked to have made good progress this year, finishing eighth in the league, their best finish for several years.

And though Cook admits he is not sure what will happen to the current playing staff, he is confident that if he were to be given the job, he could build on the platform of the past 12 months.

“People know the quality of players that I can bring with me,” said Cook. “And I have been surprised by the quality of the players here already. If I got the job I’d be happy to keep a lot of them.

“I can’t knock any of them. Me and my assistant Craig Gillam have come in and had to spend the night before matches ringing around, just to get a team out.

“For the Wakering game on Saturday we were up all night on Friday trying to get players. We had four lads come from Westminster to play, we had strikers playing full-backs, goalkeepers up front, but we got a team out and they gave absolutely everything.”