Dowie gets the blame

Charlton Athletic chief executive Peter Varney suggests that his club’s relegation this season is down to Iain Dowie despite the current Coventry City boss having been in charge for just fifteen games in all competitions at the club after taking over from Alan Curbishley.

‘It is natural some will seek to apportion blame for our poor season,’ he said. ‘At the start of the campaign Richard Murray and his fellow directors invested some £11m in new players, much from their own personal resources.

‘With that level of investment they should reasonably have expected another comfortable mid-table finish.

‘Having had the same manager for 15 years, we could not have imagined we would then have three in one season.’