May 19 2005

Iain Dowie

Crystal Palace boss Iain Dowie praised his players following the club's relegation and admitted he was "proud to be their manager", by Stuart Pink.

Dowie was refreshingly frank after the game by starting to call his team a "Championship side", indicating he is already focusing on next season and getting the club back in the big time.

He said: "Through the season there have been various points of games that can be looked at which have cost us but it is not the time to start looking back, we must look to the future and recognise we are now a Championship side.

"We need to be ready to hit the ground running and be like a greyhound out of the track."

But following the club's relegation, Dowie faces the prospect of losing a number of players and having to decide whether out of contract players will be offered new deals.

Gonzalo Sorondo's loan spell from Inter Milan will expire within the next few weeks and Dowie admitted it would be a tough task persuading the Uruguayan to stay next term.

Nicola Ventola will become a free agent in the summer after Palace bought out the remainder of his Inter contract, but the Italian indicated last week he would only stay with the Eagles if the club remained in the Premiership.

Out-of-contract players Dougie Freedman, Danny Granville and Darren Powell's future will be discussed in the next few weeks, but Dowie looks set to lose Vassilis Lakis when his contract expires at the end of the month and WAYNE ROUTLEDGE will be tracked again by Tottenham when his deal runs out.

The future of Joonas Kolkka and Gabor Kiraly could come into question, as Kolkka may seek a move away after failing to feature in recent games and Kiraly may have attracted potential suitors from across Europe with some of his impressive performances this term.

But despite the likely changes in the summer, Dowie remains upbeat about the club's future and its young players. Dowie added: "I am the man in charge of this group of players and have left a very sombre dressing room but I have some very good young players who will be great for the future of this club."