Like several on here I have championed the lad's cause if only for the fact that he hasn't been given a fair crack when others, who have had plenty of opportunities, have consistently failed to deliver. The fact remains that Dickson has not only never started a League game but has only once played more than 20 minutes.
This is what Large reported Pards said during Thursday's open forum:
"He insisted Chris Dickson was still a way off getting a first team start and that Ipswich away was the only time he has really come on and impressed. When pushed as to the fact that ten minutes here and there wasn't enough he countered that Dickson had 16 minutes on Saturday and that is more than enough time to at least show you have something to offer."
So, despite Chris "failing to impress" this is a summary of his last 3 appearances.
Plymouth - came on after 74 minutes during which time we won 2-1
Barnsley - came on after 73 minutes during which time we won 1-0
Ipswich - came on after 78 minutes during which time we won 1-0
In those 45 minutes (for arguments sake we'll call it one half), we've scored 4 goals and let in just one whereas in the preceding 225 minutes (equivalent to two and a half matches) we've lost 5-0.
So, is this because in those periods we've been more adventurous or is it because, despite Dickson seemingly not impressing, he offers something different and an element of the unknown. The latter sounds like a contradiction in terms but, I would liken it to Peter Crouch's sub appearance against Argentina, when they were so preoccupied with coping with Crouch's aerial threat that they allowed Owen, the smallest player on the pitch, to score twice with his head.
Whatever the reason for the change in fortune I would suggest that Pards encourages the same again in the next match - this time preferably from the start.
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a) choose a defender to irritate and annoy
b) don't get caught offside
c) Shoot/head on sight every single chance you get
I don't expect Dickson to be a player, a real footballer if you like, but I reckon he is one of those blokes who will get you a goal despite appearing to be mainly crap....I say play him.
I already have a template ready for that one:
"I told you he was the next Ian Wright....."
Shame that that run might be for someone else.
As you say he got plenty of goals for the Gils. And are we really so much better than them that we can say 'ah yes, well it's still a massive jump up to play with the big boys at Charlton'?' If we get the Gils in the FA Cup Third Round, I doubt we will see a gulf of difference. In fact, I'm not sure I'd fancy our chances at all !
I supect that Dickson is going to turn out a bit like Paul Gorman but the lad at least deserves a proper chance. I know we don't see what he does or doesn't do on the training ground . But I really don't care about that. It's what he might do on the pitch that counts - and he certainly couldn't do any worse than others. Let us not forget that in our last ten games we have only only once scored more goals than the other side (known as winning, for those who have forgotten the sensation!) In other words it's not as if those keeping him out are doing such a great job is it?
I never recall Lineker or Wright running the show when they played - they just did one thing very well.
He deserves a chance and Pards should stop sucking Varney off and give him a while in the ressies to rediscover his goalscoring touch (if it exists in him)
Knowing Pards he'll play Dicko up top on his own away go Brum so he can sub him after 30mins and destroy his confidence
That's why I'd like him to get a run, he goes out to score, our other strikers try to create chances for others, or hold the ball up, win flick ons etc. I'm not one of those who seriously believe he's the next Ian Wright and become a top Premier League goalscorer.
He'll just go on to get into goalscoring positions and shoot. We're not scoring goals from open play, so maybe need someone who just wants to score goals, even if his passing, hold up play etc is poor.
That said he was poor against Barnsley, just ended up dribbling into trouble and losing the ball.
to only receive limited opportunities,you never know he could be the next 'Killer'?
Every time I've seen him come on as a sub he looks good for about five minutes and then gets lost. Dicko, Varney, Grey or Toddy will do anything unless the team addresses our most fundamental problem and that is being able to provide consistent service through the mid-field. It's easy to blame the strikers but surely our lack of goal ability scoring stems more from our midfield? Name one midfielder who can pick out a pass? Has the ability to rally attacking play? Open up space with his movement? The only player that has come close in Nickey Bailey.
If you are talking about attacking philosophy then you need to look at our midfield.
I watched the last 35 minutes of the Southampton match tonight and noticed their young midfield showing skill and vision supplying a weak front line
with the service our strikers would lap up.Which having watched our recent midfied debuts makes me hope the young Saints players have had a lot more matches than ours because if not then i fear our youngsters will not be the answer for us either?
Some very valid points there about the lack of quality in our midfield. All I would say in Dickson's defence is that Varney must have averaged at least one decent goalscoring opportunity per game; admittedly there will be the odd one where he's not had any but there will be others where he's had possibly 3 or 4. So, roughly speaking, we're talking about a striker (which, notwithstanding everything else he brings to the table, he is in the team to score goals) who takes one in 8 or 9 of his chances.
We won't ever know whether Dickson is really any better at this level unless he gets a run in the side from the start. For ages now I've been trying to convince some Tottenham fans I work with that Darren Bent is a quality finisher and deserved a run in the side. Last season he wasn't given a chance to prove that because he was always used as the 4th striker. Look at him this season - regularly starting and top Premiership score with 9 in all competitions.
Our top strikers, in open play this season, have each amassed the grand total of 2 goals. Apart from Doncaster (who have only managed 5 goals in total in open play) there can't be a team in the country who "enjoy" that stat.
Of all the posts on this thread, I still find this (the opening one) the most convincing.
I have to say that I too am a bit baffled by the assertion that 16 minutes is enough to prove oneself: I don't agree with that at all.
In our current plight I think that anyone, whose presence has somehow (even if it's by black magic) given us a goal difference of 4-1, should be in the team. If it is just a lucky quirk then we'll soon find out. Hell, I don't mind if we put on an old gipsy hag who mixes magic potions, if we score more goals than the opposition, keep her on!
Actually, I saw him come on at Ipswich and thought he did well.
An ex-professional who was given his chance from non-league.
I thought he was giving the same chance to Dickson, loaning him out to Gillingham to get his oar in, resulting successfully in loads of goals.
He comes back and should be put straight in our team. 'Well done, you succeeded in your mission, now go out there and do the same for us.'
Instead he comes back and is left on the bench to lose confidence.
Besides, AA's argument is all we need in our current predicament.
I agree, after Bailey, its probably Shelvey and Wright the next best for picking out passes. Its good to have them coming through, but we need senior midfielders that can do it more often.
I don't consider Ambrose or ZZ creative, they're attacking players so always look to pass forward, compared to Holland or Semedo, and they score goals from midfield, but they aren't creative either.
"I have personally not seen anything about CD that would make me start him above Varney."
But have you seen anything about CD that says you wouldn't want to start him?
I suspect not because we've never seen enough of him to be able to tell either way.
He did it for Gillingham. And as I've said before, I think we're flattering ourselves if we think Gils-to-Charlton at the moment is such a huge and unbridgeable gulf of footballing quality that he wouldn't have a very good chance of making the transition ...
"Ian Wright came to professional football relatively late. Despite having had trials at Southend United and Brighton during his teens, he was unable to attract sufficient interest to win a professional contract offer. Reverting to playing for amateur and non-league teams, he was left disillusioned about his chances of a career as a professional footballer, and looked set to pursue a job as a full-time plasterer.
However, Crystal Palace talent scout Pete Prentice happened to see Wright in a local Sunday-league match and invited him to have a trial at Selhurst Park. Having impressed then-manager Steve Coppell, he signed professional terms for Crystal Palace in August 1985, just three months short of his 22nd birthday."
The similarities are there for all to see. Two different Clubs (both at lower level than the current Championship) failed to see what Wrighty had to offer because he was, purely and simply, a goal scorer and had very little else to offer. Killer was a useless footballer but knew where the goal was. Micky "Sumo" Quinn had the turning circle of a London Bus. Kevin Phillips would never have been given a chance to play at Premiership level based on his silky skills alone.
All of these indiviuals got there because someone was prepared to give them a chance. I also wonder whether Pards would be quite so reluctant to start with him had he or the Club paid say a million based on his goalscoring record at Gillingham. After all, Luke Varney's goalscoring achievements were made at Crewe in the same Division as Gillingham and we paid £2m for him. Yet he's managed just 2 from 16 starts and he's not exactly created another 10 to 15 on top of that so I would suggest that he remains in the team because he works incredibly hard, tackles back and rarely loses the ball in possession.
So how do the fans on here reconcile Pards positive valuation of Varney? How long do they expect him to persevere with a striker who, at present, has a panic attack whenever he gets anywhere near goal and based on his strike rate to date will get us 6 goals from 46 appearances? IMHO Varney's had a chance to prove himself as an out and out striker. I have no problems whatsoever with him being given an opportunity to secure a place wide but, through the middle, his confidence is shot to pieces. Indeed, I would go so far as to suggest that, in his current form, he will probably get us more playing wide on the left and cutting in on his right foot than as a centre forward.
Thank God for Ian Wright that Steve Coppell didn't share the same blinkered opinion that other Managers had shown him previously. Because, otherwise, Wrighty might still be a plasterer and the likes of Palace and Arsenal would not have reaped the benefit of having a great goalscorer.
I knew there had to be a reason why I shouldn't admire Coppell quite as much as I do!
Excellent points. Give him his chance or else Coppell will take him off to Reading to score goals in The Prem!
He's run himself into a corner. It's not really his footballing ability that's called into question - but his composure.
A bit like our old fave, SuperKev.
The lad probably needs a hypnotist to impregnate him with the belief that he's a cool dude in front of goal.
All the good strikers have that clinical, focused way of thinking in front of goal - that Jimmy Greaves, Clive Allen, Gary Lineker, Kevin Phillips et all - even Clive Mendonca - displayed in abundance. It's a mental thing.
And as for Dicko .......he's proved at Gillingham, that given his head he's a natural goalscorer. But the dedicated goalscorer is a luxury in the multi-positional player team ethic that's prevalent these days.
If I were Pards and won't play him properly, I'd send him to bloody Brighton or Southend for a month so he can fill his boots and come back full of himself.
And send poor old Lukey with him .......... (only kidding).