Nicky Ajose: Under Lee Bowyer there are no favourites guaranteed to play at Charlton – that wasn’t always the case

By Richard Cawley

richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Nicky Ajose reckons Lee Bowyer should be handed the Charlton Athletic job on a full-time basis if he steers the club into the League One play-offs.

Bowyer took caretaker charge last month and five wins from his eight matches have pushed the Addicks into fifth spot with only two fixtures remaining.

And striker Ajose says the selection process under the former Newcastle and Leeds United midfielder is much fairer than when he worked with predecessor Karl Robinson.

“I don’t even look at Lee as the caretaker,” said Ajose. “A month ago there was a big fanfare about Harry Kewell coming in – like it was going to happen the next day.

“But Bow has done so well that it is not even mentioned now. If we continue what we are doing, then it is Bow’s job.

“He has been good. People ask what he has done differently and I’d say he probably makes it simpler. We still do tactical stuff in the meeting room and bits on the field. But he is more of a man-manager – he speaks to the players one-to-one a lot.

“He has shown as well that if you play well then you stay in the team – whoever you are. For every player, that is what you want to hear. In the past that wasn’t the case. If you were a favourite, you were a favourite.

“If you were in that circle you were going to play regardless – form or results were not taken into account. There were only two places up for grabs really, and for a team that were eighth or ninth at one stage, how can that be right?

“Fair enough if you are Wigan or Blackburn – you can name their team every week because they are winning most games – but not when you are underachieving like we were.

“I played well for three games and thought I was okay at Bristol Rovers and I got left out by Bow – that was one mediocre performance.

“You have got to play well or you are not going to play for Lee. It is a lot of pressure refreshing to know where you’re at. If you play well, whether you are 19 or 35, you’re going to stay in the team.

“Previously the team would have been picked for the Rochdale game [the final League One match of the regulation season] and the players would know because they would be told who was playing. For me, I wouldn’t like that. You can play as well as you want and your fate is already sealed.

“Now you are under threat of losing the shirt whether you are Ben Amos or Josh Magennis (pictured below) and that is good. Josh is a big character but he was left out for four games and has come back in like a man possessed. He’d tell you himself that he would be playing every game before – regardless of form.

“He has been so hungry to play and been magnificent in the last two matches.”

When asked about the different personalities of Bowyer and Robinson, Ajose takes a while to choose his response.

“I’d say there are less words – and he gets the same message across,” said the Charlton striker. “It is the same with the press too. He calls it how he sees it and doesn’t really dress it up and over-complicate it.”

Charlton are expecting a crowd of around 17,000 for tomorrow’s visit of promoted Blackburn. Rovers have sold out the Jimmy Seed Stand – with the Addicks now allowing them any more than their allocation of 3,000.

The biggest home gate of the season was February’s 2-0 defeat to Shrewsbury (17,581) – the club’s annual Football for a Fiver fixture. There were 16,361 at the Portsmouth match on December 9, which marked the 25th anniversary of Charlton returning to The Valley.