WITH a nickname like “The Terminator”, you would have thought Julian Dicks would be a perfect fit for the blood and thunder of Non-League – but the archetypal defensive hardman is looking for a place to call home.
After leaving Watford alongside ex-West Ham United teammate Slaven Bilic last season, Dicks is seeking to go it alone in management – and he certainly isn’t shying away from a challenge, wherever that may be. “I made a name for myself as a player, reaching the very highest level. Now I want to prove that I can do it in the dugout too,” the 55-year-old told The NLP.
“The last few months have been a pretty frustrating experience in truth. I’ve been putting my name in the hat, going to interviews and being told contrasting things. “Some chairmen tell me I’ve got too much experience to be managing at their level, others say I don’t have enough, I can’t win!
“It’s funny, I retired from playing because of injury when I was young and I had absolutely no intention of going into coaching. I was bitter at having to pack it in at such an early age and took my aggression out on the game for a bit. But football’s my life, it’s all I’ve ever known. I’d be lost without it.”
Disillusionment
Dicks’ most recent footballing venture – an ill-fated tenure as assistant at notorious coach churners Watford – left a bitter taste in the mouth, breeding a sense of disillusionment with the sport’s higher levels.
He lasted less than six months at Vicarage Road before being controversially shown the door alongside Bilic, despite the Hornets sitting just four points adrift of the Championship play-off places.
“I guess we knew what we were getting ourselves into, it was a risk,” admitted the no-nonsense former Birmingham City, West Ham, Liverpool and England U21 full-back.
“I was coaching youth players in America at the time, and I got a call out of the blue from Slaven asking for me to go in with him at Watford.
“He’s someone I have a real bond with, and we felt we had unfinished business after leaving West Brom, so you can’t say no to those opportunities.
“You’re always looking over your shoulder, worried about getting the sack. We did a lot of good there, but it wasn’t to be.
“A lot of things in the higher levels shock me. You have players who find training a chore. I used to bloody love it. It’s the greatest job in the world but some elite players nowadays just mope about.
“That’s why Ifind Non-League so great. People are playing out of passion. They may work an office job in the day, be shattered but still wea
