October 27 2004

Iain Dowie

It's true. Iain Dowie is human, writes Neil McSteen.

The god-like genius that is our manager has admitted he has made some mistakes regarding team selection.

Dowie apologised after the West Brom game for doubting the players who got Palace promoted.

Michael Hughes was probably the unluckiest to be on the receiving end of Dowie's tinkering.

Hughes' restoration to the starting line up has been instrumental in Palace's surge up the table.

His absence was felt most away at Portsmouth, where we were over-run in midfield and missed his combative and creative presence.

Fitz Hall has been immense at centre back after looking average in midfield away at Norwich, while dropping the unfortunate Julian Speroni for Gabor Kiraly has inspired further confidence in our defence.

Adopting the 4-5-1 formation has also been a masterstroke, allowing Andy Johnson to flourish ahead of a strong midfield.

Compare this to the situation Gary Megson recently faced at West Brom.

On the verge of the sack due to his insistence on picking his new purchases, no matter what their form, and thus splitting the dressing room.

Thankfully, Dowie has been big enough, and clever enough, to realise his errors and learn from them, improving Palace along the way.