Josh Cullen on learning under Charlton Athletic boss Bowyer, where his future lies and why Addicks need to respond to criticism
BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk
Josh Cullen has spelled out that he sees his future at West Ham United – but that won’t stop him looking to make his Charlton loan spell a roaring success.
There had been talk recently of a January bid by the Addicks for the 22-year-old central midfielder.
But Cullen still has over 18 months to run on his contract with his boyhood club, who he joined at the age of nine.
And the Republic of Ireland U21 international did not feel like he was out of the plans of Hammers chief Manuel Pellegrini when he discussed his options in the summer.
“The conversation I had was that I was going to go out on loan and develop as a player, come back and re-evaluate to see where I am at West Ham,” said Cullen.
“I grew up a West Ham fan and it is a club I love playing for. It’s every little boy’s dream to play for the team you support.
“We sat down and the best decision for me was to go and play games – be active. I can’t thank the West Ham manager enough, he supported me fully in what I wanted to do.”
West Ham are suddenly a bit short in the middle of the park and that could have meant Cullen working his way into their matchday 18.
“If you had a crystal ball and could see what happens then it would make any decision far easier,” said the youngster, born in Southend.
“You can’t second guess what is going to happen. I can only take care of what I can control. I’ll keep trying to improve and hope when I do go back to West Ham that an opportunity will still be there.
“Charlton was the perfect fit for me. To come and play, try to be a regular in the team. There is competition for places, like at any club. I’ve got to be on my A-game to keep my place.
“I spoke to Pagey [Lewis Page] about what it was like here before I joined. We were at West Ham together from the age of nine or 10.
I know him really well. And you’ve got Billy Clarke and Mark Marshall, who I was with at Bradford with a couple of seasons ago.
I played with Prats [Darren Pratley] at Bolton last season. There were a few familiar faces I could speak to.
“They all said good things about the manager and the way he wants to play.”
Charlton manager Lee Bowyer was one of the leading midfielders in the country at the end of the 1990s and early 2000s – part of a quality Leeds United team which played in the Champions League and UEFA Cup.
Having a boss who knows Cullen’s role inside out was another clincher in him coming to SE7.
“I don’t massively remember him as a player but I know enough about his reputation – what he was about – to know I could only learn off someone like that,” said Cullen. “Every day I can take little tips off him.
“It is the whole point of the loan. As much as I’m at Charlton to give everything for the shirt and try to win as many games as I can, it’s about trying to go back to West Ham a better player.
“Something I want to do is add goals to my game. The position I play at the bottom of the diamond means you don’t get forward too much.
“But Bows is putting no restrictions on me – if I want to get forward into the box then someone has to fill in for me.
“He gives advice on positioning and how to give myself more time on the ball. There is nothing in particular we work on. But every day there are little bits of advice which are definitely helping me – I can see it working in training and games.”
After last Saturday’s defeat to Rochdale there have been suggestions that opposition might have cracked ways to combat Charlton’s narrow midfield.
But that theory doesn’t wash with Cullen.
He said: “As players we have got to take responsibility – we have not been at the standard we should have been for the last two games since beating Barnsley. It’s as simple as that, really.
“You can’t blame formations or referees. You have to stand up and take criticism of yourself.
“Now we have got to look to bounce back. We can’t dwell on those last two results. They haven’t been what we wanted, but we have got to kick on now and put those wrongs right.
“We start going Saturday-midweek-Saturday again now and the table can soon look a lot more positive.”
Cullen made 43 starts in League One for Bradford as they reached the play-off final in May 2017, losing to a late goal by Steve Morison for Millwall.
He said: “I was gutted, as everyone else was. We’d had a great season and to fall at the final hurdle was tough to take.
But on a personal note it has been a great experience for me to learn how to come back from setbacks. I’d joined Bradford for the final months of the season before that and we lost in the play-off semis.
“It shapes your character and makes you a bit more hungry the next time around.”
Can it be a case of third time lucky in this league in terms of cracking promotion?
Cullen said: “One hundred per cent we can be right up there. There is the talent in the squad, togetherness and character.
“Promotion is definitely a realistic proposition.
“I felt that from the moment I walked through the door and saw the standard in training.”
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