Dickov tips Rosler for Leeds success

The Doncaster Rovers manager will go head to head with the German tonight when United head to the Keepmoat Stadium for the final game of the Capital One Cup first round.

Both men spent two years together at Manchester City in the Nineties and formed a friendship that has endured over the intervening years.

Dickov, who ended his playing career with a short loan spell at Leeds, was not surprised to see Rosler take a job during the summer that last season had no less than three incumbents under owner Massimo Cellino.

“Someone is going to get that club back up and running, sooner or later,” said Dickov. “It would have been very difficult for Uwe not to take it.

“He has massive belief in his own ability and how he does things. He is very professional and very focused on what he wants. If he felt for one second that he wasn’t going to be able to do the job properly then he wouldn’t have taken it.

“He gets on very well with the owner. I know that the owner has let him get on with his job and Leeds could, if they stick with Uwe – which I am sure they will –then he can turn them into a formidable team.

“Uwe doesn’t suffer fools gladly. He used to make me do all the running for his goal, so maybe I was the fool in that one! He is a fantastic guy and he has all the makings of a top manager.”

On the prospect of facing Rosler in the opposing dugout tonight, Dickov added: “It isn’t difficult to face a friend.

“Me and Uwe are mates and will have a good chat an hour before the game. But we are also competitive people. We both wanted to be winners as players, and it is the same as managers.

“While the game is on, I will be doing everything I can to beat his team. Likewise, knowing how dedicated and professional Uwe is, he will be doing the same.”

Dickov knows all about the demands that come with playing for a club surrounded by huge expectation from his stint on loan in the final few weeks of the 2009-10 season that ended with Leeds winning promotion from League One.

“It was only a short spell,” said the Scot. “Simon Grayson brought me in. I knew I wasn’t necessarily going to play a lot.

“They were very close to getting promoted and Simon wanted someone, more or less, to manage the changing room for him.

“It was a young squad and, previous to me going in, there had been a few nervy performances. Simon wanted a senior pro to go in there and sort it out.

“It was more of a job that appealed to me at the end of my career. Leeds was my last club and going into management was something that appealed to me.”

Dickov is hoping everyone is talking about football after tonight’s televised derby following the worldwide headlines that the sporting gesture against Bury on Saturday earned the Scot.

His ordering of the Rovers players to allow the Shakers to equalise unchallenged after a freakish opener by Harry Forrester also led to the club’s Youtube highlights package receiving more than one million hits over the weekend when viewing figures usually number around 5,000.

“It has been a little bit embarrassing,” said the Rovers chief. “But the reaction has been fantastic. There has been a lot of press coverage all around the world.

“I have had requests from some weird and wonderful places to do interviews and it has raised the profile of the club.”

Danny N’Guessan will not be risked for Rovers against either Leeds or Wigan Athletic on Sunday, while Paul Keegan has undergone an injection and is rated as having a “slight chance” by Dickov.

Leeds, meanwhile, could hand a first start of the season to Luke Murphy after he came through a development squad game earlier this week with no reaction to his summer knee operation.

Stuart Dallas is also likely to start as United look to maintain a record of not having been beaten in Doncaster since 1951 – a run of 10 fixtures at both the Keepmoat and Belle Vue.

Rosler added: “We take the Cup seriously. We have one of the smallest squads in the country but every player who we put out (tonight) will be players who expect to start against Reading, against Bristol City, against Sheffield Wednesday.”

United are understood to have re-opened contract talks with Sam Byram, the much-coveted 21-year-old who has less than 12 months left on his existing deal.

Rosler added: “From my point it is clear, there is always an indication to keep our young players.

“Will we succeed? I don’t know and it is difficult, especially in Sam’s case. But the chairman always indicated to me strongly that he wished to keep Sam Byram.”