Rather saw my Dickov?

Should I ever be asked 'Who is the footballer past or present that you hate the most?' the words "...Gary Neville" would leave my lips almost as an impulse. Nobody has ever attained the levels of global derision that Mr Boot-licker has in such a short time, even Adolf had his followers!

However, football fans up and down the country would offer up several candidates for the runners up position, namely the likes of Robbie Savage, Craig Bellamy even Lee Bowyer but undoubtedly there would be plenty of calls for Paul Dickov. Paul is a player for whom the line "Yeah he's a ****, but he's our ****!" was written for, he seemingly, unwittingly gets under the skin of opposition players and fans alike. With the permanent scowl and gritted teeth, many a Sky Sports producer has winced when his camera man has caught one of Paul's regular verbal tirades in full flow.

Some would say Paul Dickov and Leeds United is a match made in heaven but the thought of that as never sat well with me and at 37 years old I thought that a time when I'd perhaps have to come to terms with Paul in a Leeds United shirt had long since past... until yesterday.

Yesterday afternoon Leeds' official website lead with; DICKOV JOINS SQUAD FOR TRAINING confirming rumours that had circulated a few hours prior to the headline (the full article can be found here). The article explains that Paul Dickov had joined training this week after being released by Leicester City a few days previous, whilst making clear that no deal had been done but "we'll see how things go".

Now if I thought that the signature of such an experienced player would go in some way to guaranteeing Leeds a top two finish then I'd be the first to hold my hands up and say I was wrong and I will never question Simon Grayson's wisdom again but what exactly does Paul Dickov offer?!? Yes he has built a reputation for popping up in the right place at the right time but at 37 how much of that is still a reality? 11 goals in his last 77 appearances suggests not a lot.

I'm sure if a deal was agreed it would be 'til the end of the season and Dickov would be used as, well I'm going to stop short of 'impact player' and go with 'last ditch effort' in the remaining minutes of games to turn defeats into draws or 1 point into 3. All of that sounds great but how much can you expect from a 37 year old who, granted will give you 100% effort and has plenty of experience but had limited ability in the prime of his career and is he really what Leeds are missing? Is he really a better option than the likes of Grella, Kandol or even Davide Somma who has done well enough for the reserves?

Time will tell but it seems a very strange move from Leeds United and almost smacks of desperation.


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Rather saw my Dickov?