Dickov suggests return to firing line
Date published: 07 March 2011
FOOD FOR THOUGHT . . . Athletic manager Paul Dickov looks on as his side slip to defeat at Dean Court on Saturday.
PAUL Dickov dropped a hint that he may pull on his boots very soon after another dispiriting blank in front of goal at Bournemouth.
All-too familiar defensive mistakes and a lack of punch in attack contributed to a seventh npower League One match without a win.
The high-flying Cherries were easily the more potent side and crashed in a trio of goals through Danny Hollands, Michael Symes and Lauri Dalla Valle.
Athletic are now nine points behind the play-off zone.
With no goal scored in more than nine-and-a-half hours of football, Dickov’s half-smiling response of ‘not yet’ when asked why he hadn’t selected himself in the match-day squad at Dean Court could be telling.
Continuing concerns at the back were also at the forefront of the manager’s post-match thoughts.
“I am very disappointed,” said Dickov, who has only one first-team appearance to his name this season, as a late substitute against Bristol Rovers.
“Before the game and after half-time we are again talking about the importance of not making mistakes off set-pieces.
“We conceded a free header in the first half and I said to them at half-time ‘believe in yourselves’.
“We started the game well in the first half and also finished it well, because they were doing things right.
“In the second half we came out and started well again. Then one straight ball goes through the middle of our defence with nobody picking anyone up and it’s a goal.
“The third goal came from a long throw where it was too easy to win the flick-on. Nobody picked the runner up.
“It is stuff we tell them all the time. They are going to have to learn, or they are going to be learning the hard way.
“It isn’t just about Oldham Athletic and it isn’t just about now until the end of the season. They have got careers. Keep making the same mistakes and you can get a shock.”
In the midst of such a barren spell both goals and points-wise, Dickov is desperate for his side to show a more determined attitude when attacking the ball.
“We had a couple (of shots) but they weren’t meaningful,” he said. “We have to be more ruthless.
“One thing Bournemouth did, in both boxes, was get their head to the ball first.
“All that is, it is desire. Their two centre-backs aren’t six foot five, but they won every header in both boxes.
“I can’t remember any of our players winning headers in both boxes.
“It is all about having the desire to do it. When things aren’t going well and you are on a sticky run, do the basic things right and have a bit of passion about what you are doing — not just for 10 or 15 minutes, but all the time.
“We will get them back to it. We have not turned into a bad team overnight.
“Confidence is a little bit low, but they have to learn we are on this run because we are not doing the basic things right.
“They have to concentrate all the time and they are not doing that at the moment. The penny has got to drop.”
Bournemouth manager Lee Bradbury, a good friend of Dickov’s from their playing days together at Manchester City, made it 10 games unbeaten in the hot-seat and felt his team got stronger as the game progressed.
“Even though they haven’t had great results of late, they are always going to be a team that works hard and makes life difficult for you,” he said of Athletic.
“It was one of those games that, as the game went on, we were more and more comfortable.
“We matched them and did the right things most of the time.”
