Dowie Dismissal Too Hasty
Posted by Jasper Reed in Charlton, Iain Dowie | 14 November 2006
I think it was inevitable that Dowie wouldn’t survive at Charlton. I suggested in July that I wasn’t particularly excited by his appointment, the attendant court case or the signings he had made. But did he deserve the sack after 12 games? Of course not.
This smacks of a reactionary decision made by a board that has had 15 years of managerial stability. In short, out of their depth. 12 games is not nearly long enough to judge anyone. It's not as if we were even cut loose at the bottom. A win against Reading on the weekend may have lifted us to 17th. Sure, our away form is a disgrace, but the majority of that was under the previous regime. We’ve made the quarterfinals of the Carling Cup (albeit with some huge slices of good fortune), a place where we have never been before. There were signs that a corner had been turned. Yet the board have pressed the panic button now. Why? (I’m writing prior to a full club statement, so maybe there is more to it…..)
The speed is bewildering. Curbs survived despite winning 2 games between the New Year and May. I would say Dowie has achieved as much as some in the league who have had as long, or longer to impress…Id suggest that Messrs Pearce, Roeder and Southgate would be fairly quaking in their boots around now.
The 10 million spent, plus the almost 3 years of compensation owed to Dowie, has effectively been flushed down the toilet. Dowie bought his own squad, and now someone else will now have to guide them to safety. The job of staying up will be hugely difficult. Who can do it? The names merry go round will start again….Hoddle, Ranieri? One thing seems certain; it wont be a ‘bright young thing’ in the hot seat at Charlton, but an experienced Houdini capable of getting us out of the hole we find ourselves in. A Bassett/Redknapp lovechild? Heaven help us.
A few weeks ago I said to a friend that Alan Curbishley would be in charge at Upton Park by Christmas, and that Alan Pardew would come to The Valley in time for next season. It seems unlikely now, but….?
The board now have a monumental decision to make. They have made the wrong choice once….get it wrong again, and Charlton may never recover.
