Dion Dublin speaks on In The Mixer
Dion Dublin says it wasn't simple joining Coventry City(Image: In The Mixer)
Dion Dublin says it was a hard decision to leave Manchester United for Coventry City. The 57-year-old ended up winning a Premier League Golden Boot during his four full seasons with the Sky Blues.
Dublin arrived at the club for £2million after an injury-disrupted time at United in 1994 and soon became talismanic. He bagged 13 league goals in his debut campaign and followed this up in the 1995/96 term with 14.
Another 13-league-goal haul came a year later and in the 1997/98 season he tied for the Golden Boot with 18 goals alongside Michael Owen and Chris Sutton. His strikes were crucial in multiple relegation battles.
Dublin's departure to Aston Villa in 1998 left a sour taste in the mouth. Regardless, he's Coventry's Premier League goalscoring record holder and a club icon. Yet he admits that becoming a Sky Blue was not an easy move.
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Speaking on In The Mixer, Dublin said: "It was hard to move. Sir Alex said, 'I don't want you to go. I'd rather you stay because we can use you for European football. You will play.' I said, 'Gaffer, I'm gonna be playing four games, three games a season. I can't do that.'
Dion Dublin of Coventry City celebrates during an FA Carling Premiership match against Arsenal
Dublin became a Coventry legend(Image: Getty)
"I was fit now and he just said, 'Okay, if you really want to go, you can go with my blessing and I wish you all the best.' And Phil Neal was the manager at Coventry at the time. I think I was signed by Man United for a million, went to Coventry for two and doubled in value - I did come off the bench a couple of times to score for United when I was fit!
"But I didn't notice at the time, in the dressing room at Coventry, we had players like Gary McAllister, Gordon Strachan, Darren Huckerby, Noel Whelan - proper Premier League icons, so to speak, within the Coventry world.
"And they tell me now, 'When you came in, we all kind of sat up because you come from United, it's like wow.' It's what comes with playing for United - they thought I was going to change the standards. They tell me now that I came in and changed the quality of the training. Because the standards were set so high for me at United, I set the same standards at Coventry."
But irrespective of his impressive performances for Coventry, scoring 72 goals in 171 games, Dublin made only four appearances for his country. He joked: "It wasn't fair! It was just so unlucky. Honestly, I'd won the Golden Boot and I was nowhere near starting. You had Michael Owen, who was just scoring goals and Robbie Fowler. So I just got no chance.
Dion Dublin playing for Coventry City
The striker constantly helped the Sky Blues survive(Image: Getty)
"That's without mentioning Wrighty and how good he is with his finishing. I think he's possibly the best finisher we've produced for a long time, Ian Wright, naturally.
"Sir Les [Ferdinand] went to the World Cup in 1998 instead of me, too. It was just the wrong time for me, but I'm never gonna regret it. I earned four caps for my country and that is four more than most."
Leaving for rivals Villa did net the club £5.75m. But Dublin admits some fans have not forgiven him. He said: "Some Coventry fans are still not quite there. They're not quite back yet. So having been back at Coventry quite a lot recently, they're not happy, but 99 per cent are okay with me so I'm allowed back on the odd occasion."
During his stint at Villa Park, Dublin spent time on loan with Millwall before joining Leicester City in 2004. In 2006, he spent half a season at Celtic, winning the Scottish Premier League, before ending his career with Norwich City. He now hosts the BBC's Homes Under the Hammer and is an established pundit.
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