Former England, Newcastle United, West Ham United and Ipswich Town man spotted at Chesterfield-Bradford City match

Former England midfielder Kieron Dyer was spotted at Chesterfield’s pre-season friendly against Bradford City on Saturday.
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The 43-year-old was Ipswich Town’s under-23 manager while Paul Cook was in charge at Portman Road last season.

The winger, who also played for Newcastle United and West Ham United, quit the role in March, much to the ‘surprise’ of the League One club.

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Dyer, who is currently waiting to undergo a liver transplant, dismissed speculation that he left Ipswich due to health reasons, indicating it was down to not agreeing with the ‘vision’ for the club.

Kieron Dyer.Kieron Dyer.
Kieron Dyer.

Last October he was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), a disease that attacks the bile ducts and causes serious liver damage.

"If I don’t have the transplant, my liver will pack in,” he told the Daily Mail last month. “There would be nothing they could do for me.

"Sometimes there are people waiting for transplants who only have weeks to live.

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"I am getting increasingly fatigued but I’m not in the super-urgent category so I might have to wait a few more months until my liver has really deteriorated before I am called in. There are not enough livers for the demand of people who need them."

Dyer, who started studying for his UEFA Pro Licence in January, praised Cook in an interview earlier this year and the pair were seen chatting at the match at the weekend.

Cook already has Gary Roberts, Danny Webb and Dave O’Hare on his backroom team so it remains to be seen whether he is looking to make another addition or whether Dyer is just aiming to gain more experience.

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Speaking in March after he left Ipswich, Dyer told the Renegade Statman Podcast.: "I really liked Paul Cook. I really liked his energy. He warmed to me straight away. We just kind of gravitated towards each other.

"He'd seen that Paul Hurst and Paul Lambert had lost their jobs with that group of players and decided they weren't going to take him down too.

"Did he go about things the right way when he was 'demolition man'? Well he's kind of been proved right by the fact that only Andre (Dozzell) and Flynn (Downes) are now playing at a higher level.

"Was I sorry to see him leave? Yes. But that's the nature of this game. If results aren't coming you can lose your job.

"So, no, I didn't leave the football club because Paul Cook got sacked."