Iain Dowie

Iain Dowie's move across London to Charlton Athletic from Crystal palace was always likely to cause a stir. The former Eagles boss opted for arch-rivals Charlton, after their stalwart manager Alan Curbishly decided to end his 15 year association with the club and take a break from the game.

Dowie only lasted 15 games, however, as the Charlton board decided to axe the Irishman after a poor run of results left the club rock-bottom of the Premiership at the start of the 2006/07 season.

His time in charge was as tumultuous as it was exciting. Dogged by claims that he 'made fraudulent statements' about his reasons for leaving the Eagles, Dowie now faces legal action brought about by Palace Chairman Simon Jordan.

The press conference, in which he was unveiled as the new Charlton manager in May, was dramatically interrupted by an unidentified individual acting on Jordan's behalf who served a writ against the former Palace boss.

Palace allegedly waived £1 million in compensation to allow the manager to move up north to be closer to his family and Jordan was said to be furious at Dowie's appointment at the Valley.

However, Dowie's tenure with the Addicks didn't last long, with the Charlton board claiming they made 'a mistake' in choosing him. 15 games and 8 losses wasn't a great record, but the Irishman was just beginning to get the club back on track with a series of draws and a 1-0 win over high-flying Bolton when the board sacked him.

Replacement Les Reed, who worked as Dowie's assistant, faired no better though, losing his first game 2-0 at Reading.

One of the most recognisable faces in modern football, Dowie first began his footballing career playing for non-league Hendon in 1987.

After studying for a master's degree in engineering at the University of Hertfordshire, Dowie had all but given up hope of playing professional football after being rejected by Southampton as a 16-year-old.

An old-fashioned centre-forward, Dowie's break came after he was spotted by Luton Town and made his name there before short stints with both Fulham and West Ham United.

Dowie then moved to the south coast and signed for Southampton in 1991, where he accumulated over 100 appearances, before moving back to London with Crystal Palace.

Ironically though, considering his success there as a manager, Dowie's short spell as a player at Palace was not a happy one; ending in relegation, he eventually headed back to West Ham where he played between 1995 and 1998.

In 1998 he joined Queen's Park Rangers, where he ended his playing days and became player-manager of the reserves.

He got his first break in management at Oldham Athletic in 2001 as assistant coach and was then promoted to first team manager. Dowie impressed with his tenacious style and, against the odds, took Oldham to the play-offs.

After an impressive start to his managerial career, Crystal Palace Chairman Simon Jordan saw Dowie as the right man to replace Steve Kember after a disastrous start to the season saw the London club lying in 19th place.

Having been drafted in to save the club from relegation in 2003, Dowie exceeded all expectations and turned the club's fortunes around, managing to scrape into the playoffs in 6th place with an excellent run of wins.

But more success was to come. After beating Sunderland on penalties in the semi-final, Palace went on to beat Dowie's former club west Ham in the Playoff Final and claim an unlikely place in the 2004/05 Premiership.

However, after just one season, Palace were relegated, despite the impressive goal scoring of striker Andy Johnson and failed to gain promotion again last season.

Dowie's reputation had grown with his year in the top flight, and after the manager came clean and admitted that he had problems working with the Chairman, the resulting melee saw him take over the reins at arch-rivals Charlton.

The court case detracted from what should have been an exciting new challenge for Dowie, yet the Irishman failed to win over the Charlton fans in his few months in charge.

The fans, who would have been cursing his name not six months ago, seemed pleased with the potential that their new manager seemed to possess; yet Dowie's reign was fraught with peril as the team slipped to the bottom of the league.

Having to contend with the job of replacing club legend Alan Curbishley was a constant niggle. Although Curbishley's rein was not paved with silverware, the impact that he had over his 11 year managerial tenure cannot be underestimated and the expectation level for Dowie was high.

Bringing in Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink to partner the goal-machine that is Darren Bent. As well as signing Djimi Traore and Amdy Faye to bolster the squad, he had issued his intention to bring at least 4 new faces to the Valley before the transfer deadline closed, and indeed added Andy Reid and Souleymane Diawara, with Scott Carson arriving on loan from Liverpool.

Despite being able to mould his squad during the transfer window, Charlton got off to a terrible start and sank to the bottom of the Premiership with a string of five consecutive losses in September.

Things began to improve however, and Dowie seemed to have steadied the ship with good results toward the end of October, including taking the club to the Carling Cup quarter finals with a win over Bolton. Yet the board were never convinced of Dowie's suitability for the job, and after a morale-sapping 3-2 loss to Wigan, he was sacked (although there were rumours he would have still be sacked even if the team had won.)

Regarded as one of game's brightest young managers, Dowie has an impressive record and reputation within the game for his leadership and motivational skills and his departure from Charlton was a shock to all.

Unlikely to be unemployed for long though, Dowie will be back in management soon enough; although a return to the Premiership may be a little way off.