Charlton Athletic’s Lee Bowyer has been nominated for the Sky Bet League One Manager of the Month award for January following a period in which the Addicks strongly boosted their hopes of promotion.
Three wins and two draws saw the south east London club earn 11 points helping them climb from sixth into fourth.
Bowyer’s side also boasted a great defensive record throughout the month conceding just twice in five games.
This is the former midfielder’s third nomination of the season and he is up against Plymouth Argyle’s Derek Adams, Luton Town’s Mick Harford and Scunthorpe United’s Stuart McCall.
Long Way To Go
After the manager’s impressive month at The Valley, Rising East spoke exclusively to Nathan Muller from popular podcast Charlton Live. He told the site:
“It was a good month as we have a little cushion between sixth and eight.
“Although not winning against Peterborough (0-0) and losing to Fleetwood (1-0), has dented hopes of automatic promotion. There’s still lots of football to be played, but it will take a huge effort from us, a few slip ups from Pompey, as well as Sunderland not winning their games in hand.”
Muller believes that Bowyer is a worthy candidate for the award and acknowledged the sterling job which the 42-year-old has done across the course of the whole season. The podcaster added: “Bows does deserve it for sure, not only this month, but since he came in early 2018. He has us playing nice football, and we have scored 24 goals from attacking set pieces, which I believe is the best in the top 4 divisions.”
Transfer Budget Limitations
The man from Charlton Live also hailed the way in which Bowyer has kept the club competitive at the top of the table despite working under significant financial constraints.
He added: “Considering the budget Bows has, I think he’s done very well. Sunderland bought Will Grigg for 4m in January. Whereas our last paid signing was in 2016/2017, which was 300k. Since then, we’ve had to deal with loans and freebies.
“Losing Karlan Grant to Huddersfield in January, is a huge loss, and it will be very difficult to replace his 16 goals this season. But whilst we are in the top 6, there’s always the possibility of promotion, even if it is the dreaded play offs!”
