New boss to be unveiled

PAUL Dickov — expected to be confirmed as Latics manager.

Latics poised to name Dickov
ATHLETIC will tomorrow officially unveil their ninth manager in as many years, with Paul Dickov expected to be installed in the lead role.

A press conference has been called for tomorrow at Boundary Park at which the new boss will be revealed, finally ending weeks of speculation.

It is now just under a month since the club sacked previous boss Dave Penney following a disappointing campaign in which Athletic ended up only two points clear of the Coca-Cola League One relegation zone.

The appointment would have arrived sooner, but for the chosen man — who has been selected from a pool of 10 interviewed candidates — going on a family holiday last week.

If confirmed, Dickov could opt to carry on playing while also taking on management duties. The 37-year-old former Manchester City striker ended last season in League One turning out for promoted Leeds United on a short-term contract.

Athletic chief executive Alan Hardy, currently at a Football League meeting in Malta, has pointed to the new boss’s “excellent contacts” in the game as a key factor in his appointment.

The idea could be to try to entice young Premier League stars to ply their trade at Boundary Park on long-term loans, while it is also hoped that a name of Dickov’s standing would catch the eye of out-of-contract players seeking new clubs.

Elsewhere, former Athletic forward Paul Warne is to take on a new role at Rotherham United in League Two.

The 37-year-old has been given a new year-long deal and will combine playing with duties as a fitness coach in 2010-11.

Warne, who made a century of appearances in two years at Boundary Park before leaving for Yeovil, was part of Ronnie Moore’s squad which recently experienced play-off final heartbreak at the hands of Dagenham and Redbridge.

Newly-promoted Bournemouth continue to be busy in the transfer market following the lifting of their transfer embargo.

Having completed the signings of Accrington’s 19-goal striker Michael Symes, ex-Partick player Steve Lovell and Hereford winger Marc Pugh, boss Eddie Howe has snapped up Stephen Purches of Leyton Orient and Harry Artur and Mitchell Nelson of Woking and Tooting & Mitcham respectively.