So is there anything more to add to this weeks surprises? One manager for 15 years, the next for 15 games. Not very Charlton-like.
We all know Monica had been handed a tough start by fixtures and injuries but results in recent weeks had promised some light on the horizon. He had turned us all in thinking positive. Some people were even enjoying the season. Most people, the fans that is, seemed to be behind Monica and I'm sure there are many people who will be sorry to see him go before he had a real chance to prove himself. He was ugly but we had taken to him, he was a bit special and big enough to have his own page in wikipedia, his own entry in thinkexist and his very own nickname.
Despite a challenging series of fixtures and a heap of injuries he was only a single point behind what Curbs had achieved last season against the same teams. And recent results have definitely improved with a place in the League Cup Quarters which no previous Charlton manager, or Head Coach, has ever achieved.
His past record was good, taking Palarse to the Premiership in his first season in charge ( it took Curbs 7 years with the Addicks) and although he couldn't keep them there, neither could Curbs in his first year in the Premiership. So really his results speak for themselves.
But, and its a big but, and as most people have guessed by now, the sacking of Dowie has nothing to do with results. I suppose the board would have been more accomodating with him if we were sitting in mid-table, but we are not. Maybe it was his positive beliefs that proved his downfall, maybe he was too Big for the job. For the trouble with being positive is that you soon begin to believe that things will soon improve - that around the corner is salvation, in whatever form. And Charlton have never, well at least not recently, known how to handle Big Managers ( sorry, head Coaches).
Its a tough business out there and being in charge of a premiership club brings responsibilities that we can only dream of. The board could see that the new management structure that they had set-up wasn't working, so what to do? Change the system or the personnel? It was decided to change the personnel....
And we may understand more of the story by seeing what sort of a team the new Coach puts out and in what formation. Was advice to Monica being ignored? Did everyone else want a different pattern to things? Was his positive approach having a negative effect? We may find out on Saturday. Les Reed has already stated his belief in 4-5-1 and for an away game that we need to get something from it, this will probably be the formation he chooses.
We'll hear more of Iain Dowie and I reckon we're starring defeat in the face the next time the Addicks face one of his teams.
So we have, however reluctantly, to draw a Big Fat line under the name of Iain Dowie and give our full support to Les ( sorry Frankie, Lou ) Reed and Mark Robson.
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2 comments:
I reckon Reedy has already been running the team these last few weeks - ever since we switched to 4-5-1.
i can't see where you're coming from re;dowie being a big name, big talker maybe but failed to live up to expectations and talk is cheap. anyhow oldham and palarse hardly afford him that title and the so called glowing "cv" as muzza described him was obviously lack of alternatives at time of original interviews. he may in time prove to be a good coach / manager but charlton can't afford to wait and acted imho correctly. we still may be in too deepa shit to avoid the drop but i feel we were on the way down had we stuck with the man anyway.
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