Latics take a punt on new man

SIMON Corney . . . “It’s a bit of a gamble, both for him and for us.”

He is young, enthusiastic and passionate — Corney

AFTER seeing their chip stack slowly disappear following a run of disappointing choices, Athletic have opted to change tack in football’s casino.

It used to be a case of piling on either red or black, representing solid, safe managerial appointments.

Up to now, club owners Simon Blitz, Simon Corney and Danny Gazal have ultimately come up short to varying degrees with permanent bosses Brian Talbot, Ronnie Moore, John Sheridan and Dave Penney.

With money steadily draining away, it was time for a decent gamble on the roulette wheel.
And it is hoped that Paul Dickov will prove to be lucky number five.

Managing director Corney admits that the 37-year-old Scot — a man who wasn’t among the leading contenders prior to being interviewed — is a big punt.

With no previous managerial experience, Dickov could hardly have been thrown into deeper water.

Corney, though, is also confident that the right man has been selected from a pool of 10 leading candidates. What’s more, he has had that lucky feeling about the Scot for quite some time.

“I met Paul around six months ago when I was trying to get him before he went to Leeds,” said Corney, speaking to the Chronicle on the experienced former Manchester City and Leicester striker.

“For one reason or another, that didn’t quite work out.

“I had it in the back of my mind after that meeting that he was definitely a good candidate we should talk to, without really believing that he would become our man.

“Before the interviews, he probably wasn’t in our top two or three.

“Then after the interview, we all turned round to each other and said ‘that’s our guy’.

“He is young, enthusiastic and passionate.

“He has a lot of good contacts as well and we are really excited about him.

“It is a bit of a gamble, both for him and for us.

“But we haven’t really succeeded when we have taken the tried and trusted method, so what the hell.”

Athletic limped to 16th place last term under the management team of Penney and his assistant Martin Gray, ending a dour campaign only two points above the League One relegation zone.

Dickov’s job is to improve on that while operating on a reduced budget.

In addition, Corney is keen to bring the fans back to Boundary Park with a new and more exciting brand of football.

“It is fair to say we didn’t have the best of seasons last year,” Corney added.

“The football wasn’t great, though that is nothing against the previous management team. Things conspired not to work out.

“We would like to play more entertaining football and to get the crowd going again and we believe Paul is the right man to do that.

“It will take time and we are under no illusions about that. It is not going to happen overnight and we have to be sensible about it.

“But he is as good as anybody we are going to get to do the job because he is very infectious in his character.”

Dickov will register as a player for the 2010-11 season and will test himself in pre-season to determine if he still believes he can cut it at League One level.

But at least one man is already convinced he will end up pulling on an Athletic shirt come the start of the season.

“I am sure he will play, possibly more than he thinks!” Corney said.

“He is as fit as anyone and I am sure he will bang in a couple of goals for us.”