Julian Dicks has turned his back on a potential move to the Far East - in order to seek a job in the lower reaches of the English football pyramid.
Dicks, who was a coaching assistant to Slaven Bilic at West Ham before the pair moved on to West Bromwich Albion was offered the opportunity to move to China with Bilic when the Croat was appointed manager of Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan.However he turned down the chance of teaming up with his former West Ham team mate for a third time for family reasons - and also because he fancies another crack at management himself.
“I have a five-month daughter now so following Slav over there was never really realistic because my hands are pretty full at home,” Dicks, 52, told The Non League Paper. “I had a chat with him when he took the managers’ job out in China a few weeks ago but I’m staying here.
“After 18 months of moving about between home and the Midlands, I am really enjoying being back with the family in Essex. If I could find an opportunity at a club within a relatively close distance to where I currently am, it would be the ideal situation.
“I only really want to go back into the pro game if I am with Slav. I’ve missed a lot about non league; the community, the passion, the uniqueness of it all. I am really excited by the thought of going back to it.
“Anyone who knows anything about my career will know I don’t give up on something, whether it was a tackle in my playing days or a promotion challenge as a coach. Wherever the next chapter takes me, my mentality will always be exactly the same.”
Looking back on his time at West Bromwich Albion, where he worked most recently with Bilic, Dicks admitted that it was a surprise when the Croat was unceremoniously dumped by the Baggies.
"The sacking took us by complete surprise but unfortunately you are not given a second to breathe at the top of the game these days,” he said. “We worked so hard to get out of the Championship and the project felt pretty unfinished.
"I guess that is why I am now looking a bit further down the leagues. I want to have the chance to really build my own foundations somewhere and put my own stamp on a club and a squad.”
Former KUMB columnist Dicks had previously managed WIvenhoe Town, Grays Athletic, Heybridge Swifts and West Ham Ladies before being added to Bilic's backroom staff during his stint as manager of West Ham between 2015 and 2017.
When Bilic was fired by the Hammers in November 2017 he spent a brief spell as manager of Saudi side Al-Ittihad before returning to England in the summer of 2019, whereupon he rekindled his working relationship with Dicks as the pair moved to Championship side West Brom.
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