Dowie issues Pardew blast

Crystal Palace boss Iain Dowie has blasted his West Ham counterpart Alan Pardew.

Pardew has gone on record as saying he would make an approach for Johnson in the January transfer window should the England man become available.

These remarks have not gone unnoticed at Selhurst Park, with Dowie having now expressed his irritation with the conduct of West Ham and their manager.

Dowie feels Pardew's actions are unprofessional and has reiterated his desire to keep Johnson at Palace, aware that his departure would be to the detriment of his side's promotion aspirations.

"I'm surprised West Ham have come out and said they're interested when they haven't spoken to me first," Dowie said.

"I would never do that. We had loads of bids for AJ in the summer, and he was made aware of them all. But if West Ham have made a bid, they haven't told me.

"I would never say I was interested in a player if I hadn't spoken to his manager. But AJ won't be leaving during the transfer window.

''I've had a discussion with Simon Jordan, and AJ won't be going in January - end of story."

Tottenham have also been credited with an interest in Johnson, with a £7.5 million fee mooted, but Palace chairman Simon Jordan has told Sky Sports News that the player is going nowhere.

''We're not interested in selling Johnson, he's not for sale, nothing has changed,'' Jordan told Sky Sports News.

''He's a Palace player and he's staying at Palace. He signed a new contract, received a financial increase and hasn't played.

''If didn't owe me something before, he does now!''

Palace are currently eighth in the Championship table, just outside of the play-off places, but Jordan remains confident Dowie's side can push on in the New Year and secure promotion.

''You know, we've got 31 points out of 20 games, had half of our squad injured for the majority of the season,'' he concluded. ''We've had Andy Johnson for majority of season not at full tilt.

''But if win next three games we'll turn the season after 23 games to 40 points. If we've got a full squad, with a fit Andy johnson, who's to say we can't get 50 points out of the second half of season and get 90 points.

''We're finding life in the First Division a little more difficult than anticipated because the style of football is very different to that of the Premier League.

''We still play a brand of football very Premier League oriented, where you get time and space on the ball and in the First Division you've got to battle a little bit more now.

''Iain knows this and is perfectly capable of getting the team to where I want to be, out of the division and back into the Premier League.''