Is Dowie The Right Man For Charlton?
Posted by Jasper Reed in Charlton, Premiership | 16 July 2006
After a two week post-World Cup sabbatical (I wasn’t particularly interested after England’s exit) I’m starting to turn my attention to the upcoming domestic leagues, both English and Australian. England first, and specifically Charlton.
I’m pleased that Alan Curbishley has departed. He did a great job for us but I felt he ran out of ideas, and we stagnated in mid table oblivion. Regular readers will remember my little rant when we went out of the cup last year, and from the comments I received opinion seemed to be split right down the middle.
The Charlton board then had pretty much the whole of Europe to choose from for a new boss, and ended up with the bloke down the road. Iain Dowie wouldn’t have been my first choice (I would have gone for Fabio Capello. Failing that, George Burley) but he was certainly an improvement on the other names in the frame such as the untried Billy Davies and Phil Parkinson, the tried and failed Peter Taylor or the scary Mick McCarthy. Part of me thinks we have appointed Dowie just to wind up Simon Jordan….I hope the attendant court case, which is very un-Charlton like, goes away soon.
So, who do we have in charge? The PR spin is less about an ex-lumbering centre forward and more about a cerebral (he has a degree, you know) up and comer. He talks a lot about ‘joined up thinking’ and speaks with passion and directness, something that Curbs rarely did. The new broom has certainly swept clean behind the scenes at The Valley and it will be a new on field and off field proposition this term.
A manager lives and dies by his squad building, and this will be the first indication of Dowie’s tenure. Jeffers, Bartlett, Johansson, Powell and Perry have all been allowed to leave, as well as loanees Smertin and Spector. In their place so far is US defender Cory Jones, Leeds youngster Simon Walton and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. Dowie has said he wants 8 more by the start of the season. At the World Cup he talked about signing competing players…this is a concern. Four years ago many managers rushed to buy Senegalese on the back of one tournament and lived to regret it. Who will it be this year? Ghana’s finest…Ivory Coast? Personally, Id rather stick with the tried and true. If we are about to sign Torres and Lennon then great but Stephen Appiah? I think Id rather go for Steve Sidwell. …
The Hasselbaink signing is the one making all the headlines, and could be crucial. As a foil for the Bent boys it’s a risk worth taking….if it’s a replacement for D. Bent then the alarm bells will well and truly sound. The website trumpeted JFH as ‘Charlton’s most exciting signing for years’ which makes me very concerned that D Bent will be rolled out in Tottenham white or Mersey Red before the month is out….
So far its hard to know what sort of side he wants to build: bright young things (i.e. West Ham) or cheap and past it (i.e. Bolton) and Id be interested to hear what any Palace fans think of Dowie. History tells us that following a long serving manager is never easy, and Dowie has arrived with a good deal of baggage due to his previous employers. He’s going to need a lot more than bouncebackability.
Comments
You wouldn't want Steven Appiah at Charlton. Are you completely nuts or just deluded. Charlton are a small club who have achieved premiership status through consistancy and getting the best out of poor players. Talent the likes of Appiah wouldn't ever consider joining a club like Charlton. But if you ever did get him you would be extremely lucky to get him and he would be far and away your best player. Oh and Dowie is a good appointment. He knows the local market well and generally gets the best out of his players. ie AJ will he score that many for everton i seriously doubt it.
Have to agree with the above comments from John
(especially the delusional bit).
You said we should have gone for Fabio Capello, failing that, George Burley. How on earth do you go from Capello to Burley in one move?
Appiah would be a fantastic signing for us, but there's no way he would come to us after his performances in the World Cup. From what I saw of the World Cup, the players from Ghana and Ivory Coast appeared to how far more technically ability, stamina and desire, than the so called 'elite' from England.
I didnt think for a moment we would get Capello.....I was trying to be satirical! My first choice would actually have been George Burley.
JR
I would also have gone for Burley but to be fair everyone must give Dowie a chance!
