alexintoronto
06-16-2008, 08:51 AM
Paul Dickov could become the next British player to try his luck in Major League Soccer.
Dickov is considering other options, including retiring to start a career in coaching, but there has also been interest in the veteran Scottish striker from MLS through Toronto FC and New York Red Bulls.
The profile of the American league has soared since David Beckham's lucrative move to LA Galaxy and many British players have opted to follow the former England captain across the Atlantic. Toronto are coached by compatriot Mo Johnston, who already has Danny Dichio, Rohan Ricketts and Carl Robinson in his squad, while former City team-mate Claudio Reyna and fitness coach Juan Carlos Osorio would be among the familiar faces in New York.
Paul Dickov (born November 1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_1), 1972 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972) in Livingston (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livingston%2C_West_Lothian), West Lothian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lothian)) is a Scottish (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland) footballer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_football) who currently plays as a striker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Striker) for Manchester City (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_City_F.C.).
Dickov started his career with Arsenal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenal_F.C.), but was never a first team regular and in 1996 he moved to Manchester City, who were then in Division One (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_League_First_Division). Over six seasons at the club, Dickov experienced two promotions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promotion_and_relegation) and two relegations, playing in three different divisions. A 2005 poll named Dickov's equalising goal in the 1999 Division Two (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_League_Second_Division) playoff final the greatest ever Manchester City goal. Dickov left in 2002 to join Leicester City (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leicester_City_F.C.), where he stayed for two seasons and, in 2004, he signed for Blackburn Rovers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackburn_Rovers_F.C.), and was part of the team which qualified for the UEFA Cup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Cup) in 2005–06 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005-06_in_English_football). Upon the expiry of his Blackburn contract in 2006, he rejoined Manchester City.
In 2000, he made his debut for the Scotland national team (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland_national_football_team) against San Marino (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Marino_national_football_team). As of April 2008 he has represented his country ten times, scoring one goal.
http://www.football.co.uk/shared/images/news/400x400_PaulDickovNew2.jpg
Style of play
Although he is a striker, Dickov is better known for his tenacity than his goal-scoring exploits. In a 2003 interview with the Independent on Sunday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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."[32] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dickov#cite_note-31) His combative approach resulted in Manchester City manager Joe Royle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Royle) naming him "The Wasp",[33] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dickov#cite_note-32) and during his time at Leicester he was known as "The Pest".[34] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dickov#cite_note-33)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dickov (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dickov)
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12876_3697330,00.html (http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12876_3697330,00.html)
Dickov is considering other options, including retiring to start a career in coaching, but there has also been interest in the veteran Scottish striker from MLS through Toronto FC and New York Red Bulls.
The profile of the American league has soared since David Beckham's lucrative move to LA Galaxy and many British players have opted to follow the former England captain across the Atlantic. Toronto are coached by compatriot Mo Johnston, who already has Danny Dichio, Rohan Ricketts and Carl Robinson in his squad, while former City team-mate Claudio Reyna and fitness coach Juan Carlos Osorio would be among the familiar faces in New York.
Paul Dickov (born November 1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_1), 1972 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972) in Livingston (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livingston%2C_West_Lothian), West Lothian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lothian)) is a Scottish (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland) footballer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_football) who currently plays as a striker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Striker) for Manchester City (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_City_F.C.).
Dickov started his career with Arsenal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenal_F.C.), but was never a first team regular and in 1996 he moved to Manchester City, who were then in Division One (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_League_First_Division). Over six seasons at the club, Dickov experienced two promotions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promotion_and_relegation) and two relegations, playing in three different divisions. A 2005 poll named Dickov's equalising goal in the 1999 Division Two (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_League_Second_Division) playoff final the greatest ever Manchester City goal. Dickov left in 2002 to join Leicester City (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leicester_City_F.C.), where he stayed for two seasons and, in 2004, he signed for Blackburn Rovers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackburn_Rovers_F.C.), and was part of the team which qualified for the UEFA Cup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Cup) in 2005–06 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005-06_in_English_football). Upon the expiry of his Blackburn contract in 2006, he rejoined Manchester City.
In 2000, he made his debut for the Scotland national team (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland_national_football_team) against San Marino (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Marino_national_football_team). As of April 2008 he has represented his country ten times, scoring one goal.
http://www.football.co.uk/shared/images/news/400x400_PaulDickovNew2.jpg
Style of play
Although he is a striker, Dickov is better known for his tenacity than his goal-scoring exploits. In a 2003 interview with the Independent on Sunday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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."[32] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dickov#cite_note-31) His combative approach resulted in Manchester City manager Joe Royle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Royle) naming him "The Wasp",[33] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dickov#cite_note-32) and during his time at Leicester he was known as "The Pest".[34] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dickov#cite_note-33)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dickov (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dickov)
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12876_3697330,00.html (http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12876_3697330,00.html)