‘Don’t hate me – just think of all the good times’
LYLE ASKS CHARLTON’S FANS TO UNDERSTAND
LYLE TAYLOR has asked Charlton fans not to hate him for turning his back on the club.
Top scorer Taylor, 30, says he has suffered sleepless nights over his decision not to play for the relegationthreatened Championship club again this season.
But with his contract up on June 30 he does not want to put a potentially life-changing summer transfer in jeopardy by exposing himself to the risk of injury.
He missed several games after hurting his knee playing for Montserrat in September, returning in December.
Taylor, who has scored 32 goals in 63 league games for Charlton and helped them win last season’s League One play-offs, has up to eight clubs trying to sign him.
He said: “I hope people can look at this and not hate me.
“I’ve sat in my living room staring at a blank TV screen for hours on end these last few weeks. I’ve not eaten or slept properly. I’ve been up until 5am listening to the birds chirping thinking.
“Then I finally came to the decision together with the manager [Lee Bowyer] that he has openly spoken about. He said to me ‘Lyle, I can see how cut up this has made you’. But this is a time nobody has had to deal with before – lockdown has been difficult for everyone.
“I’m gutted at the way it’s finishing but don’t expect people to care. I know once the damage is done it’s irreparable and I don’t expect sympathy. “My reasons and concerns stem from my knee injury – it plays on the mind. It makes me think what would happen if I had an injury now that threatened the rest of my career. I’ll be honest with you, it scared the life out of me. “At the age I am, should I get badly injured I will never get a chance like those I have again. “I might be remembered as a moneygrabber or a let-down but I would like to think some people will look beyond that and remember the good times.
“Hopefully the Charlton fans can look on it more fondly than with hatred or disgust. It’s their right to criticise. But I have concerns like everyone else.”
Bowyer, who admits he was “hurt” by the player’s decision, says losing the striker, who has scored 11 times this season, could be the difference between staying up and going down.
Former Premier League star Jamie O’Hara said on talkSPORT: “He [Taylor] has done more damage to his reputation than good.
“I would play for Charlton for nothing. He is a massive part of the club, they need him as they are in dire straits.
“He’s letting his manager down.
“If I’m a manager looking at him now thinking, ‘what, he can’t play for a couple of months because his contract’s up?’ Well, come on.
“There’s a million people out there who would give their right arm to play for Charlton.”