Charlton boss Lee Bowyer fears complacency may have set in after Doncaster defeat
BY LOUIS MENDEZ
Charlton boss Lee Bowyer fears that complacency may have set in amongst his squad after the 3-1 home defeat against Doncaster Rovers.
The Addicks were cheered on by supporters for the first time in six months as 1,000 were let in for a coronavirus- secure test event – but they were left cursing as the visitors raced into a 3-0 lead just after the hour-mark.
Conor Washington did pull one back with a quarter of the game to go but that’s how the score remained.
Bowyer’s options remain limited as he is still unable to add to his squad due to the ownership crisis at The Valley and the resulting transfer embargo.
Thomas Sandgaard, who was in attendance for the game, still wants to buy the South Londoners but a further hurdle was created as Paul Elliott was granted an injunction on Thursday to stop Panorama Magic from offloading before a November court case decides who the rightful owner is. The transfer window will close in October.
“I just said to the players, I hope things change quickly because we need players,” said Bowyer after his side’s first league defeat of the campaign.
“This group that’s there now, there isn’t any competition to make them realise that you’re not going to be playing next week if you don’t do well. As it stands today, there’s not that competition.
“This group think they’ve played bad and that’s OK, we’ve got another game next week, don’t worry. You ain’t going nowhere if you’ve got a squad like that. I just told them that. We need to get some bodies.
“It wasn’t good enough. We started well but we gave them the first goal. Then, looked scared. We looked scared, we looked nervous. At half-time we changed it around a bit but gave them another goal. We created a few chances, missing too many chances.”
“We keep working hard with this group of players but this club needs to have ambition. It’s a big club. We need something to happen quickly.”
“Sloppy passing to midfield [for the first goal]. We know we have to take care in there because that’s what happens, it leads to goals. I’ve not seen it back because [club analyst] Brett isn’t around so I cant see anything back but my first initial thought was it didn’t look the best of strikes. Ben [Amos], the goalie, says he couldn’t see it. Too many bodies in the way and he didn’t see it. I’d have to look back but I didn’t think it was a very good strike that should beat your goalie from that distance.”
PHOTO: KYLE ANDREWS
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Yep, agree with LB, Charlton missed a great chance from Bonne to head in and at that stage Charlton were starting to get into the game. An unusually slack pass from the otherwise reliable Pratley led to the first goal and then after that, Charlton were 2nd best until Washington made it 3- 1. Looked better after that, but the damage was done. Something has to give somewhere for this club. The EFL would help if they lifted the transfer embargo, after all, they are never going to accept Elliott as a Charlton owner, so just give us some slack until this mess is sorted. Like everyone, I am still hopeful that Thomas will buy the club and then a rebuild an start.