Jordan versus Dowie

[Chairman of the Bored]

Simon Jordan squirms during court case grilling

Eagles chairman Simon Jordan was given a grilling today during his case against former Crystal Palace manager Iain Dowie.

Jordan admitted to the High Court today of his dislike for Mr Dowie despite the 42-year-old leading the team to a Premiership promotion.

Giving evidence, Mr Jordan played down an interview gave to lads' mag, FHM, in which he said he "hated" Mr Dowie even though he had guided the side to an unlikely promotion when he took charge in the 2003/04 season.

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As well as saying he hated Mr Dowie, Mr Jordan was quoted as saying: "Listen, his manners, outlook and attitude stank. I told him so after we won the play off final. So what if he got promotion. That's what he was paid to do."

He told Mr Justice Tugendhat he had used the word "hate" in a "jocular" tone of voice and had done so "tongue in cheek" but conceded that he did not get on with his manager even then.

"I told him on the Sunday after the play offs that I didn't like working with him," said Mr Jordan.

Palace are suing Dowie for £1million accusing him of "fraudulent misrepresentations" after leaving the side last summer and opting to join the team's bitter rivals Charlton Athletic.

Mr Dowie had a clause in his contract stating if he left to join a new club his new bosses would pay Palace £1million compensation.

Mr Dowie's barrister, Michael McParland, accused Jordan of having "no respect" for the legal system, an allegation he denied.

Mr McParland continued by referring to other parts of the FHM article in which Mr Jordan had said it was "hilarious" a woman convicted of stalking him had spent extra time on remand in prison because he postponed a court hearing due to business commitments.

Arguing he had been "misrepresented" in the article, Mr Jordan denied using the word "hilarious".

Mr McParland insisted: "You thought you had pulled a stroke."

Mr Jordan replied: "I was busy. I was otherwise engaged."

The barrister continued: "You made her life difficult."

Mr Jordan said: "That's not my concern, what the legal system does. It's not my jurisdiction."

Mr McParland asked: "You misused it (the system) because you wanted to punish her. You made a big joke of it in a lads' mag."

But Mr Jordan replied: "No I didn't. I may have said it is ironic. I'd had 18 months of systematic abuse."

Asked why he had not launched a libel claim against the magazine or written to clarify the interview, Mr Jordan said "there are certain articles you take seriously and some you don't", adding he had "told off" his publicist, Max Clifford.

In his written defence statement, Mr Dowie says the compromise agreement was a "clean break" under which Palace dispensed with his services and avoided having to pay him substantial contractual entitlements.

The case against him was "entirely without merit in fact or law and should never have been brought", he says.

From today's Wimbledon Guardian

[hairy]

Not surprising for a prime ar5ehole.

Thanks for the post, Ienjoyed reading that.

[Geo V]

I think Jordan is an idiot. He tries to be everywhere and even graced Soccer AM once. He may be a playboy and have loads of cash but chairman should concentrate on trying to plough money into there football team and bring it success without getting involved in increasing there profile and being famous. That bloke at Middlesbro has got the right idea and he is so out of the news I forget his name . Gibson is it??!!

[Benji]

Funny read, would have been nice if they would have added exactly what was being contested.

I'm assuming he is saying that by agreeing to stay with the club for x amount of time but going against this, he has been fradulent as he agreed to the compensation clause ''just to get a contract''.

But:

The case against him was "entirely without merit in fact or law and should never have been brought", he says.

From today's Wimbledon Guardian

If a manager agrees to stay somewhere, surely it is a statement of intention not fact. I get the feeling Jordan has not actually considered what he is looking to claim, just dislikes Dowie and wants to get one 'back at him'. Just because he feels hard done by doesn't mean theres a remedy.

From a policy perspective, how many clubs/managers would be sued in the future if Jordan won?

[Simi]

Simon Jordan is an arrogant to$$er.

[James.]

Simon Jordan is an arrogant to$$er.

Yes but he's very entertaining at the same time.

The footballing world would be duller without him - here's some quotes:

Agents are scum. They're evil, divisive and pointless. They only survive because the rest of the sport is so corrupt and because leading football club people employ their sons in the job.

I'm not going to drag it out or make a point, because points are pointless.

I'd f***ing strangle him [Craig Bellamy] with his own tongue.

I had an Aston Martin phone worth £15,000 given to me as a present. I dropped it in a gin and tonic about 15 seconds after opening it.

What does Everton chairman Bill Kenwright think he will get for £6m? Andy Johnson's trainers.

If Andy doesn't like it he can throw his toys out of the pram, but will that really help his England chances? I don't think so.

I can't even stand the sight of seeing him [Julian Gray] after everything I've done for the kid. I've looked after him and his family ever since he signed for the club and then he treats me with utter contempt.

I'd rather support Millwall than sell Andy Johnson.

Even if I built a 50,000 seat stadium and bought Ronaldinho there'd still be complaints about crap hot dogs

In retrospect, of course I regret calling them [Charlton fans] morons. Imbeciles would have been more appropriate.

I'm no respecter of tradition and I have no time for the Manchester Uniteds and Arsenals of this world. There’s nothing to admire in these clubs. They're just bullshit worlds full of bullshit people.

Charlton have a cheap matchday coach service that goes out into Kent to nick Gillingham fans - that's pretty clever. We might start sending a coach to Brighton.

Dave Bassett has said he could not work with me and he is right. He is a dinosaur whose time has gone

In terms of the credibility the papers have in dressing rooms, I've had players arguing their worth based on the marks out of 10 they get in The Sun.

I don’t give a f*** about football protocol and the other club owners. They want me to sit and have lunch before the games. F*** that. I don’t go to football to drink chardonnay in the boardrooms with those tossers. I go to win games. I don’t have anything in common with 90% of football club chairmen. They don't interest me.

Birmingham - my favourite club, full of my favourite people.

My problems with Birmingham started when I went into the boardroom at St Andrew’s and David Sullivan [the co- owner of the Coca-Cola Championship leaders] came up to me and said: ‘Simon, I have known you for a few years but you keep yourself to yourself. Are you gay?’

There were times he [Ron Noades] got so far up my nose I could feel his boots on my chin.

I think he thinks he's sold it to some property developers. It was not a false front, someone else goes and buys it for me and I buy it from them. I realise the first bird s*** that falls on the Holmesdale Stand will be mine to clear up.

Without being arrogant, I am probably the highest-profile club chairman in the country. Whether it is because I am young or I fight causes or I have a big mouth or I date silly girls, I don’t know.

In some ways I admire football fans because in what other business can you serve up crap and then have people come back for more?

If I was Alan Pardew I would go back down to the West Ham training ground with an AK-47 and say thanks a lot lads.

(Getting his chequebook out in the transfer window) I could do with a new Ferrari...

I don’t enjoy seeing anyone struggle because I think that if you wish ill on people then it comes back on you. I don’t wish relegation on Charlton, I don’t wish anything on Charlton - I have a level of disinterest.

I have no problems with Steve Bruce, I like him a lot. I just have an issue with the imbeciles he works for.

[On Birmingham's David Sullivan and David Gold] I think they are disingenuous. The ethics with which they do business, I don't appreciate. I have had enough dealings with them to be able to have that view. Am I surprised? They sell dildos for a living. That gives you a judgement on what they may or may not be.

I think in life you get what you deserve. Despite my distaste for the owners, I don't wish any club bad luck. If Birmingham go down, am I going to shed a tear? No. Because the best thing about Birmingham is the road out.

David Dein is the kind of person who will do you favours that you just don't want. Every time I see David Dein at a social event he has got a player for me who has probably got one leg and he will do me a favour by letting me have him for twice the price.

I see other club's chairmen as the enemy. I want to go in there and beat them up. Some of them like Sullivan I would like to do that to.

[Koke]

I disagree with you lot. I love the man. He might be an arsehole, but he's a funny arsehole and he just doesnt try be all politically correct about things. If he was in Wigan, Sheffield Utd etc situation he'd make a whole meal out of the West Ham case

[Bert]

He's thinks he's got a given right to everything. I'd love to cut his hair off.

[I8AM]

Not surprising for a prime ar5ehole.

Thanks for the post, Ienjoyed reading that.

They are both idiots. Jordan didn't like working with Dowie, well I bet the feeling was mutual.

[Geo V]

I disagree with you lot. I love the man. He might be an arsehole, but he's a funny arsehole and he just doesnt try be all politically correct about things. If he was in Wigan, Sheffield Utd etc situation he'd make a whole meal out of the West Ham case

Im all for being confident and applaud success but he is a media-whore who is trying everything to be seen as an Alan Sugar type of person. I know AS is hardly at the level of a Donald Trump but Jordan seems more interested in being on telly than actually pulling his finger out and running Crystal Palace properly!

[lookwhaticando]

Dowie denies attempting to concoct a story to get himself released from Palace.

He initially stated that before leaving Palace there had been no contact with Charlton. Mobile phone records demonstrate that contact was actually made between Charlton and Dowie. Whoops.

Dowie claims mistakes were made in his recollection of events, leading to the suspicion that he concocted a story. His defence on this front is that the calls weren't about the manager's job at Charlton.