Charlton boss Lee Bowyer – Anything other than a top six finish simply won’t do
BY LOUIS MENDEZ
Charlton boss Lee Bowyer says that anything other than a top six finish would now represent a poor season after his wheeling and dealing in the January transfer market.
Strikers Ronnie Schwartz and Jayden Stockley have joined up with the Addicks squad, alongside midfielders Liam Millar, Matt Smith and Diallang Jaiyesimi in the January window.
The South Londoners currently sit eighth in the League One table, on the same points as sixth-placed Sunderland but having played at least twice more than all the sides around them – and four more times than Accrington Stanley who sit a place above them.
But Bowyer says anything less than a place in the play-offs this season will be seen as failure.
“I will never make excuses,” said the Addicks boss.
“I think now, we have a squad that can compete. The five signings that we’ve made has closed the gap from the teams above us. I’ve always said there was a big gap. The only difference is their points advantage at this stage is better than ours. If we can close that then great.
“But I do believe now I have a squad that can compete with those better sides, if you like. If we don’t finish in the top six then I won’t be happy with that. I believe the lads we have in that dressing room now, they’re all good lads. They’ll all want to fight for this club. It’s a good starting point.”
PHOTO: PAUL EDWARDS
I have always been an ardent fan of Lee Bowyer and his backroom staff. The way they stuck with the club under previous owners must never be forgotten. However, I am now beginning to wonder if the tactics used by lee Bowyer are the right ones. Continual changing of playing personnel is not conducive to a team going on a good run. Yes, we lost our 2 central defenders to injury and it is no coincidence that since then we have been leaking goals at will. However, is it totally the fault of the defence as the midfield have a duty to play their part?. Yet too many avoidable goals have been conceded by defenders not doing their jobs effectively. As for the attacking play, yet again, at half time, Portsmouth had 12 efforts at goal to our 2. This has been a recurring feature of a lot of Charlton’s games this season. We now have, on paper, a very good strike force, but without service from midfield, they will not get chances. There are 20 games left to gel this current squad of players into one that can reach the play offs, but time and games are running out for Lee Bowyer to have the run of wins to achieve that goal. it is not really good enough, is it?