Uproar As Dowie Takes Up Charlton Athletic Reins
Former Crystal Palace manger Iain Dowie has opened a major can of worms by agreeing to take over from Alan Curbishley at London rivals Charlton Athletic with Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan threatening to take the case to the High Court to get compensation.
Jordan even had a court representative attempt to serve Dowie with a writ as he sat at his unveiling before the press as Charlton’s new manager but was denied access to do so.
Simon Jordan believes that he only allowed Iain Dowie to break his contract as Crystal Palace manager because Dowie assured him that he wanted to take a job further north to be closer to his family in the north west of England. To find that Dowie had taken a job with local neighbours Charlton came as quite a shock to Mr. Jordan who had foregone a ?1m compensation clause in Dowie’s contract to allow him to leave.
Jordan said:
“My football club waived compensation because he wanted to go back to the north.
“I released him from a ?1million compensation clause because he said he wasn’t going to do what he’s done.
“I’ll prove it to the High Court. Iain Dowie had a #1million compensation clause in his contract and there is no reason why I would take that out unless it was as a gesture of goodwill.
“My repayment for that is for Iain to do exactly what he said he was not going to do.”
Iain Dowie has refuted the allegations however and has said that he simply wanted a new challenge after a couple of years in the Selhurst park hotseat.
“The first conversation I had with Charlton was two days after.
“I found them very enthusiastic and I was one of several people they
nterviewed.”“It’s a job which doesn’t come up too often,” said Dowie.
“Charlton has a fantastic reputation I think it’s been earned over the years.
“It’s a special place to work because they have got a history of being stable.”
He added: “I just think it was time for a new challenge.”
The next actions in the saga now look likely to take place in the negotiating room or else the High Court.
About the author Alan Hylands
Alan is both a former SOTG editor and former World Soccer editor at the New York Times Company. Football-wise, he wishes he was a younger lovechild of Glenn Hoddle and Diego Maradona (not the short, fat, cokehead, religious nut bit obviously...)
Follow me on Twitter: sotgfootball
Big Iain takes the next steps on the career ladder which will eventually take him to the top job in football, manager of Norn Iron (that’s Northern Ireland to those not fluent).
To be honest, I have heard that many Palace fans weren’t too happy with Dowie’s team selections and tactics during the last season, and his sticking with his favourites no matter their form. Still, all being well with the legal side of things, Dowie has proved that he is capable of doing a Curbishley with an average side and minimal budget (see also Oldham). Simon Jordan has, in the past (personally haven’t seen the contract!) proven himself to be a bit of a prick… but let’s let the courts decide this time.