Lee Bowyer slams Charlton side after ‘unacceptable’ draw at Accrington Stanley

Lee Bowyer slammed his side’s decision-making as Charlton let a lead slip at Accrington Stanley to come away with just a point.

The South Londoners edged ahead in the first-half through Karlan Grant’s pinpoint header. But they were wasteful in-front of goal before tailing off in the second-period, with Jordan Clark bundling Stanley level with twelve minutes left to play.

“Not good enough,” fumed Bowyer.

“Today we just weren’t good enough. OK, we got a point. We didn’t lose the game but it’s still not good enough. You need to be coming to these places and winning in my eyes if you’re going to get promotion.”

“Not good enough from start to finish. Sloppy in possession. Decision-making at times was horrendous. That’s what it all boils down to. It isn’t good enough. For the players that we have out there and coming off the bench, that result is not acceptable for me. No disrespect to Accrington, I thought they did well especially in the second-half. But one point, coming here. That’s not good enough.

“Passing at times was OK but what I witness at the training ground every day isn’t what we just saw today. I just told them it’s not acceptable. We work hard all week for reasons, to get players into certain areas. When we tell them things and get them into those areas, we can’t make them make the right decision in the final third. That’s something that I can’t control. That’s what let us down today. In the final third our decision making was just wrong.

“We’ve got to start killing games off,” added the caretaker Addicks boss, who has seen his side pegged back after taking the lead in all three league games so far this season – only going on to win once against Shrewsbury at The Valley last weekend.

“That’s been every game this season. Sunderland was the same, and then we went and lost it. Last week was the same. Today, no different. There’s time when we’re outplaying teams and we look good. But then there’s other times where we seem to drop deep and then we’re inviting pressure.”

Grant’s goal was his second of the campaign but Bowyer felt both the 20-year-old and his strike partner Lyle Taylor should have grabbed more throughout the afternoon.

“It’s not enough,” he explained.

“One goal. We should be scoring two, three or four goals here. We should be but we haven’t. It’s good for Karlan to get another goal but we should have had more. Him and Lyle should have had at least another one each I think.”

The Addicks return to action on Tuesday as league leaders Peterborough visit The Valley – and Bowyer will demand an improvement from his side.

“I’ll have a look at them and see how we are tomorrow. They’ll have to be better than they were today otherwise they’ll get thumped. Peterborough are a good side. But we’ll be ready on Tuesday. I guarantee they won’t be as bad as they were today.”