Paul Dickov

[Cramby10]

F**king atrocious. Should’ve been nowhere near that job. Total imposter. Only given it because he was Ryan’s mate. He inherited a team on the crest of a wave after winning the league at Brentford and he destroyed it. Not many inherit such a job as that. Look at where Bournemouth and Brentford have ended up and look where we are.
At least the other poor managers of late have an excuse. David Blunt.
He had none.

[Bentley Bullet]

Blunt took over as Chairman in August 2014, the season Dickov was sacked! It was probably Blunt's frugalness that got Dickov the sack, like all the rest of the managers after him.

[ForsolongaRover]

He was indecisive. Before signing players he spent a great deal of time in what he described as “due diligence” yet finished up signing players at the last minute that had played for him at Oldham! More evidence of his indecision was his pretence at secrecy which seemed like cover for indecision or even a complete lack of a management strategy.

He seemed to be appointed because he was a friend/Cheshire neighbour of JR*.He was handed what a relatively inexperienced unproven manager could only have dreamed of - a newly promoted Championship team and he delivered a season of unattractive football. Yes he/the team were very unlucky on the last game of the season, but he had already ruined an excellent opportunity for the club to capitalise on that promotion. Rather like Schofield, it was impossible to understand what his management strategy was.

* I see Cramby has mentioned this too.

[Bentley Bullet]

Dickov took over the newly promoted Championship side facing the challenge of uncertainty due to a potential takeover, meaning he couldn't sign players because he didn't know what budget he was working with.

[Bentley Bullet]

Did surprisingly well in the Championship but then had a huge budget in League One and we were not good, while the signings using that budget were not good. You have to give him credit for almost - almost - keeping us in the Championship but overall it was disappointing.

He had a huge budget in League One? Are you sure about that?

From memory it was over £4m the first season back in League One. That was a very good budget there a decade ago.

Not particularly a very good budget according to this....

https://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/news/paul-goodwins-doncaster-rovers-column-the-budget-figures-that-show-it-will-be-no-easy-ride-back-to-the-championship-474239

[ChrisBx]

I liked Dickov and I recall thinking that we were onto a special one after that Leeds win. A combination of bad luck, tactical naivety, and an unsettled club (I recall both summers being wasted pissing around with takeovers that ultimately failed) set him and us up to fail.

[Chris Black come back]

F**king atrocious. Should’ve been nowhere near that job. Total imposter. Only given it because he was Ryan’s mate. He inherited a team on the crest of a wave after winning the league at Brentford and he destroyed it. Not many inherit such a job as that. Look at where Bournemouth and Brentford have ended up and look where we are.
At least the other poor managers of late have an excuse. David Blunt.
He had none.

Bournemouth and Brentford are in the Premier League because they have spent many, many millions. We have not.

[NickDRFC]

One thing that all good managers have in common is a really strong work ethic. First to arrive and last to leave the training ground. As I understand it the opposite was often the case with Dickov.

[VivaRovers]

Prior to the Millwall away game late in Dickov's season in the Championship, my mate James bumped into Dickov outside the ground.

"Are we going to do it Paul, are we going to stay up?"
"Dunno," replied Dickov with a shrug.

It wasn't exactly the rousing reassurance James or any other supporter was after at that point.

[Nudga]

Really good bloke though,  I met him with my kids behind the scenes and him and Copps made a right fuss of my boys.

Wellens was an arrogant Kitson though.

[Branton Red]

That team in the Championship was quality, and we got relegated.

Turnbull
Johnstone
Quinn
Khumalo
Meite
Tamas
Stevens
Jones
Wellens
Furman
Keegan
Cotterill
Coppinger
Duffy
Sharp
Brown
Macheda

I said at the time that if Rovers had got relegated on 50-55 points then fair enough, but that squad was better than the 44 points acquired.

Only 2 wins away from home all season was simply not good enough and suggests issues with the manager's ability to organize the team defensively.

After relegation his signings were poor and he took the club backwards in League 1. Rovers may not have had a top 6 budget but it was stronger than a club heading to a second relegation in 3 seasons at the point he left

The managerial appointment which sadly reversed the clubs fortunes.

[DRFCCOLSY]

he bottled the leicester game, as soon as we went 1-0 down he should have thrown billy and forrester on but waited too late, albeit mahrez dived

[Bentley Bullet]

No. David Blunt reversed Rovers' fortunes.

[Bentley Bullet]

he bottled the leicester game, as soon as we went 1-0 down he should have thrown billy and forrester on but waited too late, albeit mahrez dived

He didn't bottle the Leicester game. We went 1-0 down in the 75th minute and as it stood then with the Birmingham score we'd have stayed up.

[MachoMadness]

Not a great manager. Did an ok job in the Championship although he was heavily backed, but then folded completely when the going got tough in L1. Nice bloke but management is just not for him, my main memory of his time here is the "I expect a reaction" soundbite trotted out in interviews every week.

[Bentley Bullet]

Heavily backed? He had the lowest budget in the league!

[MachoMadness]

Any DRFC manager would have the lowest budget in that league. By our standards, he was heavily backed. We wouldn't be signing players with the pedigree of Meite, Tamas, Turnbull and so on these days.

[Bentley Bullet]

It's a pity we weren't as heavily backed as all the other 23 teams!

Whether we would ever get players of that standard now is another story.

[DonnyOsmond]

BB is Paul Dickov.

[ForsolongaRover]

“…I didn’t make it as a football manager” was his assessment on Radio5 this morning.

What do we think of his time at Rovers in comparison to others we’ve had?

BB unless the OP is wrong even the man himself does not agree with you.

[Bentley Bullet]

BB is Paul Dickov.

I'm not bulling Dickov up, I'm just attempting to put the record straight as I understand it.

[Bentley Bullet]

“…I didn’t make it as a football manager” was his assessment on Radio5 this morning.

What do we think of his time at Rovers in comparison to others we’ve had?

BB unless the OP is wrong even the man himself does not agree with you.

He's just being honest. He didn't make it as a manager. The fact that the odds were massively against him making it at Rovers has been mentioned by him previously.

[Harrogate Rover]

I really liked him as a bloke, but he should never have been given the job in the first place. After Dean Saunders left us for Wolves, Brian Flynn and Rob Jones guiding us to the title, in my opinion, had earned the right to oversee our return to the Championship. Dickov was a John Ryan appointment, and sadly Flynn knew that regardless of what happened in that promotion race.

[Bentley Bullet]

I thought Flynn didn't want the job.

[Harrogate Rover]

I think JR was going to appoint Dickov regardless of where we ended up that season. I remember Flynn initially saying he'd love the chance to manage in the Championship, but he knew Dickov had already been earmarked. Flynn was made Director of Football but don't think he stayed long the following season. I remember talking to him at a Harrogate Town game a couple of years ago, when he was scouting for Colchester, and he wasn't too complimentary on the whole saga.
The squad that won the title had a brilliant camaraderie and with Flynn's experience we may have made a better fist of it that following season? However we shall never know.

[Chris Black come back]

Any DRFC manager would have the lowest budget in that league. By our standards, he was heavily backed. We wouldn't be signing players with the pedigree of Meite, Tamas, Turnbull and so on these days.

Aside from the insane costs of The Experiment season (of which SOD was manager for about a month and a half of this) Dickov had a bigger budget in his season in the Championship than any season SOD managed in the Championship.

[NickDRFC]

I think JR was going to appoint Dickov regardless of where we ended up that season. I remember Flynn initially saying he'd love the chance to manage in the Championship, but he knew Dickov had already been earmarked. Flynn was made Director of Football but don't think he stayed long the following season. I remember talking to him at a Harrogate Town game a couple of years ago, when he was scouting for Colchester, and he wasn't too complimentary on the whole saga.
The squad that won the title had a brilliant camaraderie and with Flynn's experience we may have made a better fist of it that following season? However we shall never know.

Not sure Flynn was that much better an option. We stumbled over the line a bit from what I remember (and I don’t just mean the last minute heroics at Brentford!) and for all his experience he hadn’t managed in football for 10 years when he got the job with us.

Edit - just checked and Flynn’s league record was 34 points from 20 games, Saunders had 50 from 26 games - 1.7 points per game vs 1.92. A relatively marginal difference but Flynn’s record over the course of the full season would have been enough for only 3rd place.

[Move DRFC]

I don’t think Flynn or Dickov were the answer. Wasn’t Michael Appleton the other front runner? We’d have had a much better chance of survival with him.

[Draytonian III]

Micheal Appleton !!! His named gets banded about every we have the managerial vacancy, I’d much prefer Gary Megson

[roverstillidie91]

I really liked him as a bloke, but he should never have been given the job in the first place. After Dean Saunders left us for Wolves, Brian Flynn and Rob Jones guiding us to the title, in my opinion, had earned the right to oversee our return to the Championship. Dickov was a John Ryan appointment, and sadly Flynn knew that regardless of what happened in that promotion race.

I do honestly believe we are still suffering because of such a poor appointment and we seemed to yo-yo between L1/Championship at the time.