Lee Bowyer not worried public criticisms will dampen Charlton Athletic morale
BY RICHARD CAWLEY
Lee Bowyer has no fears his public criticism of Charlton performances will have a detrimental effect on squad morale.
The Addicks boss questioned the attitude of his side after their 1-0 loss at Rochdale on Saturday.
But Bowyer will keep giving them home truths. He said: “Anything I say [to the press] isn’t anything I haven’t said to them.
“I’m the first to say how good they were. In football if you want to take praise then you have got to be able to take criticism. That’s a fact. If you can’t do that then you’re in the wrong game.
“It’s about reacting in the right way to it. That’s what I expect. If anyone criticised me – which happened – I’d say: ‘I’ll show you, I think you’re wrong’. That’s what I expect from the players.
“They know I’m honest and straight in what I say, whether they will like it or not. And that’s the best way to be.
“Whenever I’ve said something negative in the press before they have given me a reaction. The other week I said something about Pearcy [Jason Pearce]. What has he been like since? He has been unreal. That’s the reaction I want.
“It is nothing personal with me. It is never personal with anyone. It’s just the truth.
“You don’t perform like we did against Barnsley, probably the best team we have played in the league, and then go and get one point from playing two teams that probably aren’t half as good. That’s wrong.
“We missed a penalty, hit the post, had a goal disallowed and their goalkeeper made some great saves – we weren’t that bad [at Rochdale].
But we were not to our standards, which is disappointing.
“We could have won 3-1 or 4-1 but the ball wouldn’t go in for us. We can’t control that – the woodwork and the goalkeeper having a good game. But what disappointed me overall was that we didn’t really compete – and that is a big part of our game.
“The table doesn’t look pretty but we are only six points off fifth and with a game in hand. I’d be worried with 10 games to go – but we’ve got 30.”
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