Dowie ready to ink new Palace deal

Iain Dowie is expected to conclude a new four-year contract with Crystal Palace in the next 48 hours.

The manager confirmed last month that a deal had been agreed in principle but he is now ready to put pen to paper.

His representative Mick McGuire - also deputy chief executive of the PFA - said: "It is just a case of dotting the i's and crossing the t's but that should all be concluded in the next 48 hours.

"We have been absolutely delighted with the club's response to wanting to keep Iain and we are very pleased with the offer and with the way they have handled negotiations."

Palace chairman Simon Jordan is so confident that the deal with Dowie will be completed that he has already announced it on the club's website. He also said that the manager's backroom staff of John Harbin, Kit Symons and Mike Kelly have also agreed new four-year deals.

Jordan said: "When I first bought our club, I promised that we would be back in the Premiership within five years. We have achieved that in just four years and while Iain and myself recognise the tremendous quality within the Premiership and the challenge that brings to bear, we are returning with serious intent.

"We achieved promotion on merit and we have no intention of being cannon-fodder, or candidates for immediate relegation. The playing squad has been invested in and we will continue that policy.

"We have, in my opinion, one of the best - if not the best - young manager in the country, a man with huge ambition and drive."