Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Matty ‘hung out to dry’ when Hartley took over
‘DEEFIANT’ hero Matt Lockwood t h i n k s h is appl icat ion for t he Dundee job in 2014 could have cost him his playing career at Dens Park.
Revealing the club would always have a place in his heart after his four years there on the Walking Down the Provie Road podcast, Lockwood took aim at manager Paul Hartley and the club for his departure, saying he found out about his release from the club website.
The goalscoring left-back also revealed it was a man better known for his links to rivals Dundee United, Craig Easton, who set up his move to Dens Park.
After four years with the Dark Blues, where he went through administration and played a pivotal role in the Deefiant season that saw the club stay in the First Division despite a 25-point penalty, Lockwood was frozen out when Hartley took over in February 2014.
The former Leyton Orient man said: “We went up that season but I didn’t feel part of it, even though I had played 20-odd games.
“I don’t know if Paul Hartley was told but, when Bomber (John Brown) got sacked, I actually applied for the manager’s job.
“I know I could have got us promoted, I had done coaching badges, I’d been assistant manager and always wanted to be a manager.
“I spoke to Bill Colvin and I said I would guarantee us promotion, I know what needs to be done.
“They probably already knew Hartley was coming in but I wanted to put my hat in the ring.
“Whether Hartley found that out and thought I was a threat, thought I was an idiot, didn’t like me . . . instantly he had no time for me.
“I was on the bench for a bit and then I pulled a calf in one of the runs after the game the fitness guy made us do, I hated them.
“He never put me back i n and I was completely hung out to dry. That was the end of my time.”
Despite enjoying the vast majority of his time at the club, Lockwood says his departure leaves a “bitter” taste after saying he found out about his release at the end of his deal via the club website.
“That hurt me, I must admit,” he said. “Spending four years at the club and going through Deefiant year and everything we’d been through.
“You come to the end of your contract and you have individual meetings with the manager, they’ll say ‘you’ve been great, here’s a new contract’ or ‘thanks for your efforts but we’re going to let you go’.
“Didn’t get a call, Paul Hartley never contacted me, no one from the club ever rang me to thank me for my efforts.
“Harry McLean actually rang me and wished me all the best, thanked me for everything I had done for the club – the old chief executive rang me to thank me and I said ‘what are you talking about? It was on the club website I’d been released. No one rang me, I didn’t know.
“I was actually toying with the idea of turning up for pre-season because no one told me I was released.
“It really annoyed me, the lack of common decency. I thought I deserved more than that, and not just from the manager. It was a bitter pill to swallow.
“I’ve not been back to Dens since.”
He added: “I don’t want to have a go or anything because they got promoted and he was there a few years. But I’d say a good manager is a man-manager but, for me, that was severely lacking in Paul Hartley’s armour, he’s not a good man-manager at all. I think he alienated a few boys.
“He didn’t do well by me and I say treat people how they treat you.”
His arrival and first few years at the club, although mired by administration, 2010/11 Player of the Year Lockwood says he “loved every minutee of it” after former LeLeytonton Orient team-mate Easton recommended him to boss Gordon Chisholm.
“I was struggling for a club,” Lockwood admitted.
“I was training with Southend where Craig Easton was club captain. He knew Billy Dodds and knew Dundee wanted a left-back.
“Doddsy and Chis had never heard of me but Easty put in a good word for me. That turned into four years and it all started with Craig Easton, he’s the one to thank!”
Now commentating for BBC London and doing some scouting, Lockwood would like to try his hand at management – and even applied for the Dundee job again.
“I’d love to be a coach or a manager but the opportunity has just never arisen. I haven’t made this public knowledge but I have applied for the Dundee job in the past but I don’t even get a response to my applications!”