Iain Dowie's Charlton reign has lasted only 15 games after the club announced tonight the departure of their manager.

The 41-year-old former Crystal Palace boss only took over from Alan Curbishley on a three-year deal in May but has won just two Barclays Premiership matches out of 12 this season, leaving the club bottom of the table.

Dowie, who spent the best part of £10million while in charge, did lead the Addicks to the Carling Cup quarter-final last week but it was not enough to save his job after Saturday's 3-2 league defeat at Wigan.

Charlton made the announcement on their official website this evening, issuing a short statement which read: "The Addicks announced on Monday night that head coach Iain Dowie had left Charlton.

"The club will issue a further statement on Tuesday morning."

It is unlikely Dowie has stepped down voluntarily following statements in recent weeks that he was remaining positive about the situation.

Five unbeaten matches before Saturday's defeat appeared to be showing movement in the right direction but that - and the prospect of paying Dowie two-and-a-half years worth of compensation - seems to have made little difference in the final analysis.

The importance of retaining top-flight status given the new television deal which is set to come into force next season may have been the decisive factor.

Dowie tonight received a surprise vote of confidence from Palace chairman Simon Jordan, who is taking his former manager to court over the summer move to The Valley.

"I think Charlton haven't really given him a chance," Jordan said on Sky Sports News.

"It's a shame because Iain is a bright young coach, and he's a strong character.

"One of the things Iain brings to a football team is strong leadership.

"I don't wish anybody the sack.

"Gutless, faceless people take those decisions, don't they?

"You don't get people after 12 games pulling the trigger because something hasn't gone right. You get behind the guy if he is doing things the right way."

Jordan stopped short of saying he would take Dowie back at Palace, who are struggling under replacement Peter Taylor.

"I have very strong support for Peter," added Jordan, who claims Dowie misled him about his reasons for quitting Selhurst Park.

Dowie had a compensation clause in his contract which meant if he left for another club, they would then have to pay Palace £1million.

However, Jordan agreed to waive the clause - and this prompted the Palace chairman to take action for "fraudulent statements about his reasons for leaving the club".

In a sensational move, Jordan employed someone to issue Dowie with a writ at the press conference in which he was unveiled as Charlton boss.

The allegations were denied by Dowie, who was promised his new club's full backing for a court case on the dispute that is due to he heard next summer.

How Dowie's departure will affect that case remains to be seen.

After a playing career which took in spells at West Ham, Southampton and Palace as well as a distinguished international career with Northern Ireland, Dowie took his first steps into management at Oldham.

He led them to the Division Two (now League One) play-offs in 2003 but after financial trouble hit the club, he moved on to Palace in 2003.

The south London club were languishing in 19th in Division One but a sensational run of form saw them reach the end-of-season play-offs and earn promotion to the Premiership.

They very nearly survived their promotion year but were relegated on a dramatic final day following a 2-2 draw at Charlton.

They reached the play-offs again last season but lost in the semi-finals to Watford, less than two weeks before Dowie departed.

Charlton are likely to put assistant Les Reed in charge for the weekend Premiership clash at Reading.

Soccer365