Paul Cook said Chesterfield’s stunning 5-0 romp at Crewe was “one of my best days in management”.
The Spireites’ three-goal blitz inside the opening 12 minutes set them on the way, with James Berry netting twice and Will Grigg also on target.
Skipper Tom Naylor punished the hosts’ tame defending after 28 minutes before Armando Dobra added a fifth in the second half as Chesterfield registered their first success of the campaign.
Cook said: “I am delighted with the lads, I just enjoy watching us play.
“The lads have taken everything on board, but everything won’t go our way this season as this league is a really tough league. We had young lads out there making their debuts and I was delighted with them.
“We’re a learning team and we’ve been lucky enough to bring the likes of Dilan Markanday into the building. He’s just got quality and I love flare players with quality and we’ve got good players here now.
“When you have players like him who can do a bit then we’re really lucky.
“The lad hasn’t played at lot in pre-season and he was out on his feet when we took him off, but he played really well and he looks a really good player.
“We’ll enjoy our night tonight as it was our day today – it was one of my best days in management. But Crewe will bounce back from that and it’s not that long since they were at Wembley.”
The visitors were on the mark after just 32 seconds when Berry chipped an audacious effort over the head of Crewe goalkeeper Filip Marschall from 20 yards.
Grigg doubled the lead when he touched Naylor’s flick-on from Markanday’s delivery at a short corner, before Berry side-footed a far-post finish from Grigg’s cross.
Naylor added a fourth and, in the second half, Dobra surged clear from Lewis Gordon’s pass to tuck a neat finish into the far corner across Marschall.
Crewe have only won once in their last nine outings at Gresty Road.
Alex boss Lee Bell said fans should blame him and not his players for the heavy defeat.
Bell said: “It was a hard watch from the sidelines and we’ve had a good meeting with the players afterwards and we’ve got to put our words into actions now.
“I apologise to the fans for that and I know I am going to be under scrutiny after losing 5-0 at home and having not won at home for an extended period. I will take everything that people throw at me after that.
“The early goal should not have set the tone, but there are no excuses as the performance was unacceptable. We were comfortably beaten and it could have been more.”
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