GRATE & LYLE
Bowyer ‘hurt’ after his star striker refuses to play again
LEE BOWYER says he has been hurt by Lyle Taylor’s decision not to play for Charlton again.
And the Addicks manager revealed his club are in an even worse position than when reviled previous owner Roland Duchatelet sold them.
Top scorer Taylor, defender Chris Solly – both out of contract on June 30 – and on-loan midfielder David Davis have vowed not to play any more games for the relegationthreatened London side when the Championship season restarts on June 20. Taylor, 30, is being chased by Glasgow Rangers and Turkish club Galatasaray.
Bowyer said: “Lyle is massive for us. He knows it, everyone knows it, but he has his own reasons and there is nothing I can do about it.
“I can only ask him – I can’t force him to play. Thats what hurts me. I can’t control that situation. I always think what would I do?
“If it was me, I would play to the end.You start something, you finish it. Lyle is in a different situation. He’s going to earn money that he has never earned before.
“He’s got a lot of clubs that are queuing up waiting to take him.
And he’s earned that. He has been great for me. In the two years he’s been in here he has helped us get into the Championship, and his goals this season when he was fit, have helped us still have a shout of staying in the league. I find it difficult, because I would play.
“It’s making my job a hell of a lot harder to stay in the division. Because with Lyle there we are a different side.
“His goals have helped us – in the first six games of the season before he got injured, we didn’t lose a game and he scored in five.
“He’s worried in case he gets injured, and if he gets injured he is not going to get this move thats going to secure him and his family for the rest of his life.
“But if you have someone whose head is not going to be in the right place, and they are not going to be the same player, and not try as hard because they are worried about getting injured, then there is no point.”
Charlton have also been engulfed in ownership worries, with current owners ESI, who bought out Belgian businessman Duchatelet in January, looking for buyers.
Former Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins is one contender and a consortium, Corporate Football Organisation (Portugal), say they have made an offer.
Bowyer, who had two years at Charlton as a player before spells at clubs including Leeds, West Ham and Birmingham, admitted: “The situation is a hell of a lot worse today than it was when Roland was in charge. The club is not in a good position.”