Football’s a short career.. don’t blame Lyle for wanting one last payday. I WOULD have done the same

DON’T hammer Lyle Taylor for refusing to play again for Charlton to protect a dream move this summer.

The Addicks striker has become the test case for dozens of players who will be out of contract at the end of this month before the delayed season is over.

It’s a nightmare scenario for both club and player – and this was always a likely complication of the season being extended beyond the normal contract threshold.

If I put myself in Taylor’s shoes, I have to admit I would probably have done the same thing.

It would be a different story if he had played in the Premier League for a few years, earned good money in the top flight and he was just looking to top up his retirement fund with one last payday.

But Taylor is 30 years old, he has grafted all his working life in the lower divisions or in Scotland – and this might be his last chance to make his family financially secure for life.

Football is a short-lived career, and you have to maximise your earning power while you can.

Yes, Charlton have been good for Taylor’s career, but it’s a two-way street. They picked him up for nothing from AFC Wimbledon two years ago, and since then he has scored 36 goals in 67 games, firing them to promotion 12 months ago. Yes, in an ideal world he would stay and help Charlton’s battle to avoid relegation from the Championship over the last nine games – and I can understand the fans who feel let down that he is opting out.

But if he got injured again – a cruciate knee ligament, a broken leg, a dislocation – one of the big clubs who are lining up Taylor for a move this summer will not want to take a punt on a 30-year-old crock.

It’s a huge decision, and I can see both sides of the argument, but he’s not a money-grabber in my book.

He’s a professional trying to do the best he can for his family, and Taylor has already proved to be a player with a conscience.

For the last two seasons, he’s dyed his hair pink for a whole month as a show of support for cancer charities.

He is evidently a good character.

I have some sympathy with

Charlton boss

Lee Bowyer (below), because it’s not ideal to be fighting relegation without arguably your best player.

But clubs can force players out just as easily as individuals can force a move.

When you come to the end of your contract, they can show you the door – whether or not there is anyone else waiting to offer you a new deal elsewhere.

And fans who idolise you can turn on you after three or four games. I tasted both sides of the coin in my career.

At Birmingham, I was a pain in the backside for my manager Steve Bruce when I found out Blackburn wanted to sign me and it was a chance to play for Mark Hughes, a player I had idolised when he wore the red shirt of Wales. I never withdrew my labour, and I was always available to help out my team-mates if called upon – but I got my way in the end.

At

Derby, on the other hand, at one point I was sent to train with the youth team and reserves after a dip in form, and then I was farmed out on loan to Brighton.

The club is always bigger than the individual, and employers can make a player’s life miserable if they want.

If I had been three or four years younger than Taylor, I like to think I would have stayed to help my teammates fight relegation and as a show of support for my manager and the medical staff who treated my injuries or patched me up to play if required.

But 30 is a turning point in most footballers’ lives – because your market value starts to fall.

I totally understand Charlton’s frustration with Taylor, but I simply can’t find it in myself to begrudge him a move that will set him up for life.

At his age, at this stage of his life, he is probably dealing with a once-in-alifetime opportunity to secure his family’s future.

Don’t forget – Charlton wouldn’t even be in the Championship in the first place if it wasn’t for his 25 goals last season.

And don’t forget: It’s not Lyle Taylor’s fault that there has been a terrible pandemic which forced the football season to go on beyond the end of his contract.

It will be interesting to see if any Premier League players in a similar

position follow his lead.

‘If he got badly injured, one of the big clubs who are lining up a move for him in the summer wouldn’t take a punt on a 30-year-old crock’