Dowie the believer who did not see the axe coming

Dowie: First Premiership manager to be sacked this season
14 April 2012

A reign which started with the issue of a writ ended just as dramatically last night, Iain Dowie discovering that a football club who remain faithful to one manager for 15 years are not afraid to sack his successor after just 12 Premiership games.

Dowie was said to be stunned, having spoken to this newspaper only 12 days ago when he insisted Charlton Athletic had not made a mistake in appointing him as Alan Curbishley's replacement.

"Do I believe I'm a good manager? Yes I do," said Dowie. "Do I believe I'm a good coach? Yes I do. Do I believe I will turn this around? I absolutely do."

Two days later, a victory over Manchester City suggested he might be right. But on the same day, the other teams in the lower reaches also won and Charlton remained bottom of the Premiership.

When Dowie's side then lost at Wigan on Saturday, the Premiership table made ever more depressing reading. Their 12 games had yielded two wins, two draws and eight defeats, as well as the worst goal difference — together with Sheffield United — in the competition.

Why Charlton have chosen to act now is something they can explain in a press conference today, but it is out of character with a club who appeared to believe in continuity and fought hard to lure Dowie to The Valley in the first place.

For Dowie, however, things never went well from the moment he left Crystal Palace citing, according to his old Selhurst Park employers, a desire to secure employment nearer to his family's Lancashire home.

Palace chairman Simon Jordan was so incensed by Dowie accepting Charlton's offer that he issued his former manager with a writ during the press conference that was called for his unveiling.

The subsequent court case is due to start next month and the whispers at The Valley suggest his new employers are nervous about what might be revealed. That said, it is the club's current position in the Premiership that is causing the most anxiety. That and their apparent inability to climb out of trouble.

Charlton took a gamble on Dowie. Curbishley was told there would be little if any money to spend last summer and that, it is thought, contributed to his decision to resign and take a break from the game.

Then, however, Dowie took charge and suddenly he had £15million at his disposal. It was probably more than the club could afford. Richard Murray, the Charlton vice-chairman who has control of the club, has since admitted that Dowie has spent next season's budget as well as this season's and the one thing they could then not afford was a drop into the Championship.

Charlton have long been a club who remain in the top flight on a relative shoestring and relegation is something from which they could struggle to recover.

If results are a measure of how wisely Dowie spent, the last few months do not reflect well on a former Northern Ireland international striker who commanded so much respect for guiding Palace into the Premiership.

Andy Reid, Souleymane Diawara, Djimi Traore, Amdy Faye, Simon Walton and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink do not amount to an astute buying policy. Last night Jordan gave an interview to Sky that will surprise many.

Not least because he actually came out in support of Dowie. "Iain is a bright young coach and I don't think Charlton have really given him a chance," he said. "They may have jumped too early. And him not being there any more might not help my court case."

Jordan does have history with Murray and his comments might have been more mischievous than well-meaning. But he also offered another opinion that perhaps provided some insight. He said Dowie does not deal with authority terribly well and there were rumours of a rift with club director Andrew Mills.

Dowie may dispute that. Twelve days ago he said: "Managers will come under pressure because of results. Nothing more, nothing less. Are we under pressure to get results? Yes. Am I therefore under pressure? Absolutely. We are bottom of the league. Am I responsible? Yes.

"Therefore I'm under pressure. But I'm not a bear with a sore head. I'm a very positive person.' As he discovered last night, however, his employers did not share his mood.

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