Charlton Athletic head coach Lee Bowyer has told the Daily Star that he was hurt by the news Lyle Taylor is refusing to play in the extended season.
The Coronavirus pandemic caused the Sky Bet Championship to be suspended for three months but the EFL have now announced the division will return on June 20th. This has created some complications revolving around contracts. Players whose deals are expiring will see them end on the 30th June and while clubs are offering short-term deals to last over the rest of the season, players are able to refuse them.
And that is what has happened with Lyle Taylor alongside Chris Solly and David Davis. Taylor is on the verge of the biggest move of his career with Premier League sides being interested in signing him at the end of his contract. He has decided not to risk getting an injury and ruin that move, a reason many plays may hold out on a short term deal.
His manager Lee Bowyer was asked about Taylor’s refusal to play. He has said he would have played if in this situation and admit it hurt him to see Taylor and co refuse.
Bowyer said: “If it was me, I would play. To the end. You start something, you finish it.
“With Lyle, he’s going to earn money he’s never earned before. He’s got a lot of clubs queuing up waiting to take him, and he’s earned that.
“I half get it. If he gets injured, he doesn’t get this move that’s going to secure him and his family for the rest of his life.
“But I find it difficult because I would play. It’s making my life a hell of a lot harder to stay in the division because with Lyle Taylor we are a different side.
“The first six games of the season before he went away on international duty and got injured, we didn’t lose a game, and he scored in five of them.
“He is massive to us and he knows it. But I can’t force him to play. That’s what hurts me.
“There’s three games left in June. If we win them, that could keep us in the division. But if his heart isn’t in it, there’s no point him being there.”
