“I had a go at him, nose to nose - he was sitting down, I was standing up - and said, ‘Dicks, you’ve got to get going, you’ve got to win us this game here with your ability’. And he went from centre-half to midfield to right-wing, everywhere on the pitch, and we ended up winning.”
Gary Johnson knew, or at least had strong reason to believe, he was signing an outstanding talent when he made the decision to loan Rob Dickie from Reading to aid his promotion push with Cheltenham Town for the 2015/16 National League season.
Having had a recommendation from his most trustworthy and reliable of sources in brother Pete, who had watched the teenager in action for Basingstoke Town in the National League South and Reading U21s, Johnson made the move in the wake of the Robins' relegation into non-league as he nearly completely rebuilt his squad for a promotion push.
