Dowie had to go, says Charlton chief

CHARLTON chief executive Peter Varney yesterday admitted the club had made a mistake appointing Iain Dowie as head coach and confessed the promotion of Les Reed to replace him is a “gamble”.

The Charlton board have internally promoted former FA technical director Reed, 53, to replace head coach Dowie, who was sacked on Monday after just 12 Premiership games this term with the Addicks bottom following a 3-2 loss at Wigan.

Varney felt the club had no choice but to dismiss former Crystal Palace boss Dowie following a an unprecedented review of Charlton’s set-up.