To coin another much used phrase it’s been a bit of a ‘whirlwind few days’ for new arrival Brennan Dickenson as he went from (in his own words) just chilling to agreeing a two-year deal with the Cumbrians in just a matter of days.
The 27-year-old, who was part of Exeter City’s play-off push last season, comes to Cumbria looking for more of the same, and started the settling in process by meeting the local media, and his new team mates, today.
“It’s all happened a little bit quickly,” he admitted. “It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, I was sat at home enjoying the nice weather on Sunday and come Wednesday I’m here, so it’s been a quick turnaround.
“I had a good conversation with the gaffer and he told me what the club is all about and how he wants to play. He also told me where he wants me to play, and I bought into it straight away. It felt like there was a bit of a connection and we’ve hit it off already.”
“I’ve played here a few times over the years,” he continued. “The main thing that stands out is that it’s really far away! You can tell it’s a club with potential and it’s always a difficult place to come as an away team.
“I’m a southern lad and all my family is down south, but the geography of football will never change. You’ve got to go where is best for you, put everything to one side and think about the bigger picture.
“To get a two-year deal is pleasing. It shows the clubs commitment to me, but also my commitment to the club as well.
“The gaffer has told me that he wants to see goals, pace, power and delivery from me. I think those are all things I can bring to the team and hopefully we can have a good season.
“I like to play attacking football, I can do the defensive side of the game even though nobody likes it, and I enjoy going forward and taking players on.”
Having picked up a reputation for being extremely versatile over the years, he told us: “I’m not sure what my main position is anymore, I think just anywhere on the left will do!
“I can play on the right if needs be, and I’ve played off a striker and even as a left back or left wing back before. I’ve pretty much played everywhere over the years, but it would be nice to nail down a position. The manager has said he wants me to play on the left, so that’s what we’ll stick to.
“Being versatile does help because I can adapt when teams change formation and things like that. I think now is the time for me to home in on one position and stick to it.”
Coming to the club at a good age and with time to make his make, he commented: “I’m 27 now so I should be in my prime years. That’s why I want to put down a marker over the next two years and see where we get to.
“I look forward to any new challenge and I’m excited to get moved up here, meet the boys and get settled in. Like I say it’s a good club, the manager clearly wants to take it forward and I just want to be part of that.”
It was revealed during the interview that part of the hunger and drive which came to the fore was a result of a rejection from his hometown club [Southampton] was he was still part of their academy system.
“I started at Southampton when I was younger, and getting rejected from them when I was 15 made me grow as a person outside of football,” he revealed. “I had to go and work for a living, because I had no money.
“I then signed for Dorchester and everything changed after that. I’ve worked hard and managed to have some success in the league. Looking back at 15-year-old me, if you’d told me I would play 200 games in the league I wouldn’t have believed you.
“I nearly gave up football at 15, 16, to be honest. Thankfully my mum was there to talk me out of it and I went on trial at a few places.
“I ended up at Dorchester and then got my move to Brighton, and things have just looked up from there.
“I’ve been excited with all the challenges I’ve had over the years, all the clubs I’ve have been at have thrown up something different, so it’s been good, and this is the next one for me.”
In part two of our interview, on the official website on Friday morning, he’ll be talking about what he learned from his loan moves and what he wants to achieve here with the Blues.
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