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Grudge Match of the Day to feature Jordan v Dowie

Jordan's article featured in The Times

IAIN DOWIE has a lot on his plate. Charlton Athletic are propping up the Barclays Premiership and the manager was looking forward to recharging his batteries during the international break. However, the peace and quiet of his family home in Bolton is about to be shattered by the news that Simon Jordan is relishing the prospect of coming face to face with him in the High Court in December, in a case that will lift the lid on the tempestuous relationship between the Crystal Palace chairman and his former employee.
“I don’t wish him any harm, but I think people like him will get what they deserve — they will find out what the real world is all about,” Jordan said.

“They read their own press, they think they are the rocket man because they’ve got a degree in rocket science. Nonsense. Some of the stupidest people I have met in my life are people who have got degrees and if he believes his own hype, he will come undone.”

Jordan is suing Dowie for fraudulent misrepresentation after the manager, 41, left Selhurst Park under a cloud in May. According to Jordan, Dowie wanted to be released from his £500,000-a-year contract, which had two years to run, because he wanted to work nearer his family in the North West.

Jordan says that he signed a compromise agreement with Dowie on this understanding and that he was speechless when Dowie accepted the manager’s job at Charlton — seven miles from his former office in South London — eight days later.

“I will not forgive and forget because he betrayed me,” Jordan said. “I’m not emotional about it, but I have had to go through the submissions of his defence and his lies have enraged me. I am going to take him to task for what he has done.”

Dowie’s relationship with Jordan started to unravel after the former Northern Ireland forward failed to win promotion back to the Premiership at the first attempt.

In papers lodged at the High Court, Dowie says that he realised his days at Selhurst Park were numbered after a heated telephone conversation with Jordan on May 10, the day after the club were knocked out of the Coca-Cola Championship play-offs by Watford.

Dowie’s defence papers claim that during a foul-mouthed 90-minute tirade, Jordan told him that the season had been “a complete f***ing failure” and that he was sick of “watching a team who are f***ing s*** — they have no b*******”.

The papers also state that Jordan, aware that Dowie was considering resigning, gave warning that £12 million would need to be raised from player sales during the summer and that only £3 million would be available to sign replacements.

Furthermore, the papers allege that Jordan wanted to become more involved in the day-to-day running of the club and wanted to review the team’s performance by watching videos with his manager after every game.

Dowie says he was “staggered by the vitriol and contempt for the job that I had done” and suggested that Jordan should take coaching badges if he wanted to become involved in team affairs. He alleges that Jordan “deliberately treated him in an unreasonable manner with a view to encouraging him to resign”.

After an underwhelming start in his new job at The Valley, having to face his former employer in court is probably the last thing Dowie wants, but Jordan is adamant he will fight tooth and nail to recoup the £1 million that Palace would have been due in compensation from Charlton had he not released Dowie from his contract.

“I don’t have a relationship with Iain Dowie and I don’t intend to have one,” Jordan said. “I will see him in court.”

Comments

  • edited October 2006
    what I can't work out is if he is so crap as the Palarse fans make out on nettaddicks then why are they so upset that he left? Will we be sueing Curbs when (and it is when) he goes to Westham? of course not we'll wish him luck and move on.

    And if it is on motd maybe Dowie could smack him one from behind as hopefully yhey won't show it anyway!
  • He could well do without this tho, timing is pretty crap.

    Hopefully it could get settled out of court cos who wants all the mud slinging but knowing jordan he will take it all the way.
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