Dowie swings into SE7

Well the speculation is finally over, and now we know that Ian Dowie is indeed our new manager, and that he is set to lead a four man management team comprising of himself, former Addick Mark Robson, another former Charlton man Les Reed, and ex-agent Andrew Mills.

The first impressions I got from Dowie's press conference were good if I'm honest. The gathered media seemed more intent on talking about what affect his appointment would have on Simon Jordan rather than on Charlton, but Dowie consistently batted those questions aside and talked well about what his plans are for Charlton. He claimed that the first contact he had with the club was a phone call that he received the day after he announced that he was leaving Crystal palace, and he also stated that he doesn't understand what relevance it has that he is joining us from the Glaziers as opposed to any other club in the league.

He's right aswell. It doesn't matter who he has managed or what he has done in the past, he is our manager now and because of the kind of club we are he is likely to remain out manager for a good few years, so let's not even get started on the 'Palace reject' rubbish that I'm sure certain Addicks will be thinking right about now.

He's obviously an intelligent feller, renowned for producing super-fit teams, able to handle the media, and I'm going to give him my total support from this point onwards.

As for the rest of the coaching team I think it's a good move to get Les Reed back to SE7. His name has been linked with a return in the past, and we certainly used to play good football when he was head coach.
Mills, I don't know anything about whatsoever (other than the fact that he was the reason behind the Cory Gibbs deal, and is apparently in the market for both Sidwell and Routlege aswell), so I'll refrain from further comment at this point.

I recorded the audio from the press conference that was broadcast live on Sky Sports News in full, so I'll look for a way to upload that tonight, and it should be available for download on CA by this time tomorrow at the very latest.

-------------------------

Edit - Simon Jordan's first reaction to the news is up on All Quiet, well worth a look!