Charlton boss Lee Bowyer: I’d have respected Lyle Taylor if he had told me he wasn’t in right frame to play

BY RICHARD CAWLEY

Charlton manager Lee Bowyer has admitted he had doubts over starting Lyle Taylor in today’s Championship clash with Stoke City.

Brentford made multiple bids for the Addicks striker before Thursday’s transfer deadline.

But Addicks owner Roland Duchatelet rejected them all and Taylor ended up staying in SE7. He opened the scoring in today’s 3-1 win and also provided the assist for Conor Gallagher’s goal.

Asked if he had doubts about starting Taylor, Bowyer replied: “Earlier on in the week, yeah.

“If we did keep him then I didn’t think his head would be right to play today. But before I went and done press yesterday I went and spoke to Lyle and said: ‘Talk to me – what are your thoughts?’. Because if he had said to me: ‘Bow I can’t play tomorrow’ then I would have respected that.

“You have to remember the opportunity that was getting thrown in front of him was a life-changing opportunity. So I can understand how it could mess his head up a little bit.

“But he said: ‘No. I’m ready – I want to play. I’m here to score goals and win games’. He was no different – he gave me and the team everything.

“It was just like another Lyle Taylor day, wasn’t it?

“He’s a pro and he knows the rules, if you like, every kid and every man they want to play football. Thankfully for us he is still here because if he wasn’t then it would have made my job a lot, lot harder to stay in this division, for sure.”