Mr Dowie (left) and Mr Jordan are involved in a �1m lawsuit

"What I said was I couldn't stand Iain Dowie, but it was tongue-in-cheek and taken completely out of context," Mr Jordan told the High Court.

He was speaking on the second day of a �1m compensation claim against Mr Dowie over his departure from the club.

Mr Dowie, who is now managing Coventry City, has told the court in a statement that the case is "without merit".

Penalty waived

Speaking on Thursday Mr Jordan said the magazine, FHM, had been "sensationalist" in its coverage and had not accurately reflected the light-hearted manner in which he made the comments.

But he agreed with Mr Dowie's barrister that he did not enjoy working with the manager of the club and did not think he had the right attitude.

Last year Mr Dowie parted ways with the club saying he wanted to be close to his family in Bolton.

This led Mr Jordan to waive a �1m contract penalty clause which Mr Dowie had to pay if he joined a rival club.

But weeks later Mr Dowie took over as manager of Crystal Palace's south London rivals Charlton.

He left that club after 12 games and is now manager of Coventry.

Charlton is not being sued in the action.

While Mr Dowie was trying to keep Palace in the Premiership, you were busy losing friends among other club chairmen Michael McParland Iain Dowie's counsel

Mr Jordan denied he had "forced Dowie to resign", because under the terms of his contract he was unable to sack him.

Dowie's counsel, Michael McParland, mentioned a newspaper article where the manager complained about lack of investment in new players and training facilities.

Mr Jordan said he had put �30m of his money into the club during his first three years as chairman, after selling his mobile phone chain Pocket Phone Shop.

Mr McParland said: "While Mr Dowie was trying to keep Palace n the Premiership, you were busy losing friends among other club chairmen."

Mr Jordan replied: "I don't have any friends. I don't think you have friends in football. You have colleagues and people you do business with."