Dowson praises 'great man' Dickens ahead of Saints' clash with Newcastle

Dickens is currently occupying a key role in the Newcastle management team and he will officially become head coach there from November 1.

Dowson knows Dickens well from both his playing and coaching days at Saints.

And the black, green and gold boss said: "He's brilliant. A great coach, but more importantly a great man as well.

"He's been a huge support to me, both as a player and as a coach, and he's a man I speak to regularly and have a huge amount of respect for."

Dowson is a former Newcastle captain and he moved to Northampton from the Kingston Park club back in 2009.

And he always relishes trips back to his old home.

"I love going back to Newcastle," Dowson said. "My mum lives up there so I always get a decent meal!

"It's going to be absolutely pumping there on Friday night because it's a full house again at Kingston Park and the impact Red Bull has had already is marked. I appreciate you haven't necessarily seen it on the pitch, but it's exciting for the game.

"It's a great part of the world to play rugby, it has a huge history around the game with the players it's produced, it's got a great catchment area from an Academy point of view, with Cumbria, Durham, North Yorkshire, Northumberland, so the future is really positive.

"I'm really glad the Red Bulls have given some solidity and some future to that club."

Red Bull took over Newcastle in August and the new ownership has brought added investment and a fresh approach to the club.

But Newcastle go into this week's game against Saints having lost each of their three PREM games so far, with the most recent defeat a 57-5 loss at Sale Sharks last Friday.

"The expectation when a company like Red Bull comes in is you want immediate results, but that's just not how it works," Dowson said.

"Listening to Alan Dickens talk after the Sale game, there's no quick fixes, they've made a huge amount of signings, there's players still coming in at the moment off various trips, tours and injuries, so that transition is difficult.

"Couple that with the fact that Steve Diamond's left, there's lots of moving parts there, but at some point they will get it together and they'll start to hit their straps and build some momentum."