Charlton Athletic boss Bowyer wins Manager of the Month – but doesn’t believe in any curse linked to award

BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Lee Bowyer picked up his first Manager of the Month award today – and is no believer in any kind of curse associated with the honour.

The Charlton Athletic boss saw his side win all four of their November matches and he collected the League One trophy ahead of Gareth Ainsworth (Wycombe), Kenny Jackett (Portsmouth) and Nathan Jones (Luton Town).

Addicks centre-back Jason Pearce missed out on the player version of the award to Luton Town’s Elliot Lee.

Bowyer has the best win ratio of any manager who has worked under current owner Roland Duchatelet – 47 per cent – aside from Kevin Nugent’s brief three-game caretaker spell.

Asked if he feared a jinx going into tomorrow’s League One match at Blackpool, Bowyer said: “I’m not into that. I don’t believe in all that.

“The boys are not going to perform any different because I have got a trophy. It’s not about that, it’s about how we prepare and how they perform – that’s it.

“There is no curse….I might change my view on Saturday!”

Charlton will take the train to and from the Lancashire coast as they try to prepare fully for Tuesday night’s fixture at table-topping Portsmouth.

“We don’t usually do that – I don’t think we’ve done it this season,” said Bowyer. “But we are taking Tuesday night into account.

“We’ve got to try and get the best preparation – that’s it. We’ll review things on Sunday and train Monday.

“Blackpool is a tough place to go. It’s always cold, windy and wet. The first time we were due to play there last season it was called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

“But the conditions there are what they are – it is the same for both sides. No excuses, we’ll turn up and I’ve no doubt we’ll be ready.”