Paul Dickov

Blackburn Rovers Dickov debuted for Blackburn Rovers as a half-time substitute against West Bromwich Albion on 14 August 2004. He scored his first goal for the club in the following match, a 3–2 defeat to Southampton. Dickov was involved in the majority of matches in the 2004–05 season, until a knee injury caused him to miss the last few weeks of the season. He finished the season with ten league goals. In 2005–06, Dickov found it hard to retain a regular place in the side, with manager Mark Hughes having signed forwards Craig Bellamy and Shefki Kuqi during the summer. A red card against West Ham United caused him to miss most of the first month of the season. He had a run of first team games in the autumn but starting appearances became fewer as the season progressed. He left the club in the summer of 2006 following the expiry of his contract.

Return to Manchester City Dickov re-joined Manchester City on 26 May 2006, signing a two-year contract. He came on as a substitute in City's first game of the 2006–07 season against Chelsea, a 3–0 defeat. He then started the next three matches, including a 1–0 win over his former club Arsenal. Dickov suffered several injuries over the course of the season, including a back problem, a knee injury and a toe injury, the latter sidelining him for four months. Dickov made nine starts and seven substitute appearances in 2006–07, but failed to score a single goal. In May 2007 he announced his interest in pursuing a coaching role upon retirement.

Dickov was transfer listed by Manchester City in August 2007. He joined Crystal Palace on a three-month loan on 31 August 2007. On 31 January 2008, Dickov joined Blackpool on loan until May. Two days later he scored on his debut for Blackpool, what proved to be the winning goal in the Seasiders' 2–1 victory against Leicester City, one of his former clubs, at Bloomfield Road. He had come on as a 70th-minute substitute and scored the winning goal in the 89th minute. It was his first goal since 2 January 2006. He went on to score five goals in his first five appearances for the club, and on 4 March he was named as the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA)'s Fans Championship Player of the Month for February. By the end of his loan, Dickov had scored six goals in eleven appearances. He returned to Manchester City after his loan before then being released at the end of the season.

Return to Leicester City An initial bid from his former club Leicester City was rejected a week earlier, and after pondering other offers from Toronto FC and Blackpool, Dickov decided to rejoin Leicester on 7 August 2008, signing a two-year contract. He made his debut in a 2–0 home win over Milton Keynes Dons on 9 August 2008, scoring his first goal in a 3–2 League Cup defeat to Fulham on 27 August. He made a total of 20 league games, scoring two goals as Leicester finished the 2008–09 season as League One champions. On 28 August 2009, Dickov joined Derby County on loan until January as cover. Due to an injury crisis Dickov found himself playing regularly at Derby, where his dogged style won over the support of the Derby fans. Dickov scored his first goal for Derby against Queens Park Rangers on 24 October 2009. After his loan spell at Derby ended, Dickov returned to Leicester in January 2010. He was released from his Leicester contract by mutual consent on 1 February 2010.

Leeds United After his release by Leicester, Dickov trained with Leeds United and Toronto FC during February 2010. Leeds were initially unable to sign Dickov due to the fact he had already played for two clubs in the 2009–10 season, but he signed a short-term contract with Leeds on 3 March 2010 after they received special dispensation from FIFA. Dickov played four times for Leeds as they finished second in League One and won promotion, and he left the club at the end of his contract.

International career Dickov played in Scotland's run in the 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship, where he scored in the final, but went on to miss in the penalty shoot-out as Scotland lost to Saudi Arabia.

He made his senior international debut for Scotland on 7 October 2000, coming on as a substitute in a World Cup qualifier against San Marino. He made two further substitute appearances that year, against Croatia and Australia. Dickov was substituted at half-time as the team drew 2–2 against the Faroe Islands, who were 62 places lower in the world rankings at the time. In the return fixture a year later, Dickov scored his first international goal in a 3–1 win. His last cap came in a 1–0 defeat against Norway in October 2004. in a 2003 interview with the Independent on Sunday he provided a summary of his playing style: "The ability to battle is one of the main parts of my game. I know my limits. I am not the sort who gets the ball and is then going to beat five or six players and stick it in the top corner from God knows where. But, whether I'm playing well or not, the one thing you will get from me is 110 per cent, upsetting defenders and basically giving them pain." His combative approach resulted in Manchester City manager Joe Royle naming him "The Wasp", and during his time at Leicester he was known as "The Pest".

Post-playing career Oldham Athletic On 9 June 2010, Dickov signed a one-year contract with League One club Oldham Athletic to become player-manager following the departure of previous manager Dave Penney. It was Dickov's first attempt at managing and expected to be his last club as a player. His first competitive game as Oldham manager ended in a 2–1 victory at rivals Tranmere with Dale Stephens scoring both goals, Dickov also praised the travelling group of Oldham Fans. On 4 September 2010, he made his debut coming on as a second-half substitute against Bristol Rovers.

Dickov opted to build a youthful side and made several controversial decisions at the start of the season, including offloading 2009–10 player of the season and club captain Sean Gregan, as well as top scorer Paweł Abbott and other first team players. The team went into the New Year in ninth position, with games in hand on the teams above them, and being unbeaten at home in the league. Results in the second half of the season were less consistent and the team finished the season in the bottom half of the table. On 6 May 2011 Dickov announced that he would make only his second appearance of the season for the first team in the final match of the season, and would then end his playing career to concentrate on management. He then came on as a 77th-minute substitute the following day against Milton Keynes Dons.

On 27 January 2013, Dickov led Oldham to a shock 3–2 victory against Premier League team Liverpool in the FA Cup, but he resigned on 3 February, primarily due to the team's poor league form.

Doncaster Rovers On 20 May 2013, Dickov was appointed manager of Doncaster Rovers, who were promoted to the Championship having won the League One title in the 2012–13 season. Doncaster were relegated back to League One after just one season following a 1–0 final day defeat to Leicester City. On 8 September 2015, Dickov was dismissed as Doncaster manager due to poor performances.

Media career Dickov now works as a television pundit, namely for Manchester City TV.

Personal life Dickov is married to Janet and the couple have three children: Lauren, Max and Sam; he owes his family name to his Bulgarian grandfather.

Dickov is a supporter of Manchester City.

In March 2004, Dickov, along with Leicester City teammates Keith Gillespie and Frank Sinclair, was falsely accused of sexual assault while at a training camp in La Manga, Spain. All three were subsequently cleared when forensic tests showed the allegations were false. Dickov would later describe it as the "darkest period" of his footballing career.

Career statistics Club

International

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Dickov goal.

+ International goal scored by Paul DickovNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 6 September 2003 Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland 2–1 3–1 Euro 2004 qualification

Managerial record + Managerial record by team and tenureTeamFromToRecordOldham Athletic9 June 20103 February 2013 Total—

Honours Arsenal UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1993–94

Manchester City Football League Second Division play-offs: 1999

Leicester City Football League One: 2008–09

Individual PFA Team of the Year: 2002–03 First Division