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'I'll walk if I have to' (first published 27 March 2003)

27/ 3/2003

OLDHAM Athletic boss Iain Dowie is threatening to quit at the end of the season if the club's ambitions do not match his.

Speaking at a Supporters' Association forum this week, Dowie expressed concerns at off-the-field developments which led to the recent resignation of chairman Chris Moore.

Dowie said: "I'm not sure what will happen after May. Would I like to be here? Absolutely. Will I be here if I can't take the club forward in a positive manner? I don't know.

"I'm wondering if the building blocks of the team I have put in place are starting to be knocked from under me. I don't want to be part of a team that is not putting a good product out on the field."

Dowie pledged to resist sales of players before this month's transfer deadline and outlined his ambitions.

"I've got a goal in my life that I want to achieve as much as I can. I want to be as good as I can at this particular job. All I want is the opportunity to take this club where I think it can go and, at the moment, I'm in no way sure of how that will come about."

Dowie added: "I came here on the promise of the ground being re-developed and that there would be no problems with purchases of players, no problems whatsoever."

Moore's funding is guaranteed until the end of this season, but club officials admit they are uncertain about what will happen beyond that.

Dowie said: "If I felt I was just here because I was in work, that would be untenable. I would rather do the hoovering at home than just come in and pick up a wage.

"This is the best group of players I have ever worked with. It would never be players that would make my position untenable- it would be the situation where I can't take the club forward".

Dowie added that his future also depended on his closest aides John Harbin, Tony Philliskirk and Paul Caton being more securely contracted to the club.