We’ll go far with Paul

PEARL OF WISDOM: Athletic chairman Simon Corney (right) and manager Paul Dickov.

SIMON Corney is convinced he has a gem in his hands in the shape of manager Paul Dickov.

As Athletic go in search of a third straight npower League One victory against Brentford — a sequence which would equal Dickov’s best as a manager — the chairman paid tribute to the job the 38-year-old Scot has done in often-tricky circumstances.

Corney also stated his belief that the ‘Dickov factor’ was responsible for attracting talismanic striker Shefki Kuqi to the club.

“Paul will be a top manager, there is no doubt about it,” said Corney.

“He gets on well with the players and you can see that they respect him and play for him. He knows when to have a joke with them and knows when it is time to get serious.

“Without Paul and the help of his coaching staff, players like Shefki simply would not have come here.”

Athletic have so far confounded pundits who predicted a scrap against relegation to League Two.

Bookmakers are now offering odds of 4-1 against the club finishing in the bottom four — with nine other sides rated as more likely candidates for the drop.

Corney isn’t making any predictions about where he reckons Athletic will end up come May next year, but believes that the playing set-up behind the scenes is conducive to success.

“As a whole, it feels right at the moment,” he added. “It is a happy environment.

“If you had asked me at the start of the season how I would feel after nine games about having 14 points, I would have been delighted.

“And there are a lot of good clubs below us in the table as well.”

As well as the impact of Kuqi, who has three goals and two assists in his four games so far, Corney said that a change of approach has been effective when borrowing players from other clubs.

“We have been more careful with our loans this year," he explained.

“With Tom (Adeyemi) and the two Huddersfield lads (Nathan Clarke and Robbie Simpson), we have done more research on them and it is paying off.”