Ten Years of Greatness Ruined by One Fatal Mistake

I'm hurting at present, I really am. What is happening to my football club is just despairing, and I just don't know if we will ever achieve the heights we found ourselves in for six glorious seasons in The Premier League. It was actually seven, but the last one resulted in our relegation.

I would have taken Alan Pardew any day of the week instead of Iain Dowie, but the fate of the club had already been effectively sealed before Boxing Day 2006. Pardew was announced as our new manager that day after disastrous spells under Dowie and Les Reed that season. Despite signs of a possible great escape with a few good results, ''Super Al" unfortunately could not save us.

I still believe to this day, and I am sure many supporters agree with me, that the board made their only mistake over the past decade in appointing Iain Dowie. How can a club grow under Alan Curbishley, reach the Premiership and set a benchmark for all promoted sides from The Championship, by then appointing a manager with little managerial experience at a high level?

It was the worst decision in the clubs history. They should have taken their time in appointing a successor to "Curbs", because in reality, we are "the house that Alan Curbishley built". The man is a legend at Charlton Athletic and regarded as our best ever manager, alongside Jimmy Seed.

In appointing Iain Dowie, the problems began almost instantly. Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan, issued a writ against us and Dowie, and hired a representative to force his way into the press conference which unveiled the new manager. It was not something we were used to at the club. We are not linked to trouble or controversy.

The real problems began to flow as the new manager was given the largest amount of funds given to any manager in Charlton's history.

What a costly mistake indeed.

Dowie then went and bought (and overspent) absolute rubbish trying to "strengthen" the current squad. Wasting £2m on Djimi Traore (what a nightmare he was), £3.75m on an unknown centre back called Souleymane Diawara (another useless buy), and persuading an un-fit and money grabbing Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink to join us on a free transfer (he scored no more than five goals for us on £30k a week).

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