Came in at a difficult time and produced a minor miracle by winning promotion under the Wembley arch. One of my favourite moments supporting Charlton that day. In spite of operating inside RD's poisonous regime, he always gave us something to cheer about, and I was expecting great things when at last, the takeover came and we had a proper owner. It was then that it began to unravel for Lee, and I still can't get over the irony. Something suddenly went very wrong. What that something was, we might never learn.
I wish Lee the very best of fortune in whatever he embarks upon next. Always a Charlton legend to me.
I wish Bow the very best of luck. Put up with more shite in a few seasons than most managers would get in their whole career. Could have chucked it in ages ago but didn't and provided some of the best on the pitch moments in a long time. Wembley is a day that will rarely be bettered and he got The Valley and away support absolutely rocking. A real shame it has petered out the way it has this season as I think we all wanted to see him be successful. In all honesty the guy looks like he could do with a few months off but we all know he'll probably rock up at St Andrews soon. Will always welcome him back at The Valley
I forgot to add yes the playoff at Wembley was a brilliant day out, but that season at the Valley was one big long party, and no idea of the numbers of the crowd, but they were all United in singing and creating a brilliant atmosphere time and time again, which takes some doing after what had gone before.
The atmospheres were incredible that season and that was with a half empty stadium for much of it.
We will probably end up playing against a team you are likely to manage at some point in the future.
Will be a relatively emotional time.
You are now officially our ex. We might still be following what you get up to. Check up on Birmingham's results etc. We will want you to lose...at 1st. Then we might get over it and just remember the good times.
Thank you very much for everything you did. It was class. You restored pride.
Even though it is a shame, I think this is what's best for everyone.
Thanks to LB for his efforts and good luck at Birmingham. Hope he's also got a guarantee that his job is safe even if they go down because that is where they are heading on current form. He will need an immediate impact to prevent the drop but at least he would be back at the Valley next season albeit in the Away dugout!
Like many others, been vocal and think it's the best decision for him and for the club. Cannot thank him enough for what he has done though, and his hard work and dedication to the club gave me one of the best days of my life. Best of luck Lee
Yeah, deserves all our best wishes and good luck, which I suspect he will need. Probably a good decision for all parties. And St Andrews is the scene of our greatest ever match so there's that.
Thank you LEE BOWYER you are a Top man and good luck to you in your next job. loyalty is one think, but Birmingham will offer him at least £750K more a season than he gets here and serious money to buy serous players. you did a great Job and if Mr Sandgaard had come along 12 months earlier who knows ??
thanks Lee for your efforts. However im not going to be hypocritical and say I’m not relieved about it. He was doing a poor job for us and so I think it’s the for the best. I’ve also mentioned in the past we’ll see how much he loves Charlton and show how loyal he is when that better offer from Birmingham, Leeds or Newcastle came in for him.And so we have our answer!!. Good luck in the future as long as that good luck doesn’t have an adverse effect on Charlton. We move on, hopefully to better performances and times.
It’s right time for him to move on. Very grateful for what he managed with us 2 seasons ago and that end of season run-in ending at Wembley. This season hasn’t been good enough though , so we move on
I’ve been a critic in recent times and I don’t want this to sound patronising but thanks for the memories, Lee .. I genuinely mean that. Portsmouth away, Doncaster at Home, Wember-Lee. Days like that are the reason we all support Charlton. You put together a good team two years ago, it’s a shame circumstances meant you couldn’t do it again this year. So, I wish you well. You won’t find me booing you when you bring your new team to the Valley whoever that may be.
Like many on here, I have not been happy with the style of football or player management this season and this news is a relief - we need a fresh start. However thanks to LB for some unforgettable memories.
It’s a sad day. From the first kick off in his first game as manager (a 2-0 home win against Plymouth in which we scored after 2 mins), Bow instantly and dramatically changed the mood around the club. From one of utter despondency during the Roland years, he created a spark with the fans and got the team playing quick, attacking and effective football. We were no longer a soft touch on the pitch and the atmosphere at home and away games was transformed into something not often seen from Charlton crowds before. The team and the fans had a common cause and so the journey began. That excitement and chemistry was to last throughout the following season. Donny away, the full house and pitch invasion at the Valley and then Wembley were games I’ll certainly never forget. We even took that journey on into the early stages of the Championship season despite all the troubles that were continuing off the pitch. During that period, we really were (as the song went) f*****g dynamite!! The second half of last season and this have of course been different. They’ve been disappointing but there have been plenty of extenuating circumstances too. I still think there was a good chance Bow would have turned things around again next season but now we’ll never know. I just hope we don’t look back and wish he’d stayed and had that chance. It is what it is. Thank you Bow. 👏👏👏
Feels like the right time for a parting of the ways, but, for me at least, we part with a handshake and a quiet nod of thanks.
Honestly believe he played a major part in ensuring we still had a club to support. And during some of darkest times he helped assemble and coach a team which gave me one of the 5 best days of my life. That was too quickly forgotten by some as soon as a few results went badly.
Good luck Lee and I’m sure you’ll be welcomed back warmly when we get to play you.
I am gutted. Really thought we were going on this journey with Bowyer at the helm. He gave us such a lift when he first took the reigns. It became quite clear a few months ago that our paths may not be the same. The reason for that? Who knows? But that's a whole other thread.
Sorry to see Lee go and can only wish him all the best for the future. From his quotes, you can see he stuck by us during the tough times when he could easily have left. He deserves praise for that and definitely not some of the vitriol aimed at him this season. Like everyone else, he gave me one of my favourite Charlton memories with the Wembley win. All the best, Lee, and thanks.
I think it's probably for the best but 100% respect for Lee. I am not sure how his career will go from here but I will always be grateful for what he's done the last few years in spite of the quite frankly ridiculous circumstances. In that context I do not think many managers would have bettered his achievements
i'm with everybody else here - wish Lee all the best and thank him for the good times but it was definitely best for him and the club that he left - glad it looks like he has something lined up and be great if we have as well - exciting times
Writings been on the wall for a long time and I feel its best for everyone involved. Still shocked and upset that it's come to an end. Before this season I truly believed Bow would be the one to lead us back to the Prem.
Thanks for everything Bow and good luck in the future.
Myself I wanted him to stay and be given for the first time in his tenure, a budget and backing from a supportive owner. He had been working with his hands tied behind his back from the moment he took the reins and the team he managed to put together for this season was way short of the standard of players that he, Jacko and Gallen would have reasonably be expected to end up with. The embargo and wage cap made sure of that. Taylor got us relegated, Southall told bare faced lies to Bow and Jako, the embargo and wage cap left them deep in the shyte.....Christ, we were screwed before the season even started and we were left with a squad ‘thrown together’ rather than logically and carefully thought out. I saw that and was very very unconvinced from the word go.....and so it proved. He helped put a team together that could have gone places after Wembley but within the blink of an eye it was torn apart before our eyes and we were left struggling.....nothing to do with Bow, just the lousy hand he was left holding. I wanted him to build again and see how it went until Christmas, if not seeing a good enough improvement, then time to think again. The truth is, we will never know how good he might have been given the right circumstances. I was prepared to have a degree of loyalty and faith to wait and find out.....many of you, much to my dismay, illogically weren’t.
This sums up my feelings exactly and gutted it's come to this. If only he'd sorted out central defence in Jan!!
I find it a shame and was never a 'Bowyer out' fan as felt his commitment to the club when it was so toxic under RD and ESI/ Elliott was the glue that helped keep this club alive and made it still attractive to any prospective buyers. His decisions recently have baffled me and calling out certain players lacked class to a point.
In an ideal world, I'd have loved us to eventually get to the promised land in the Prem under Bows - that would have been a bit of a fairytale. Alas, that's not to be but he goes on with my thanks and appreciation for what he did for our club in our darkest hours and we were a minute or so from doing the unthinkable and staying in The Championship. That was a bridge too far and he'll always be held in high regard in my opinion.
Good luck Bows, thanks for Wembley 2019 and I wish you well.
We, as a club, move on with the best owner we've had in some time. Thanks again Bows.
Comments
I wish Lee the very best of fortune in whatever he embarks upon next. Always a Charlton legend to me.
We will probably end up playing against a team you are likely to manage at some point in the future.
Will be a relatively emotional time.
You are now officially our ex. We might still be following what you get up to. Check up on Birmingham's results etc. We will want you to lose...at 1st. Then we might get over it and just remember the good times.
Thank you very much for everything you did. It was class. You restored pride.
Even though it is a shame, I think this is what's best for everyone.
Onwards and upwards.
Love you CAFC
loyalty is one think, but Birmingham will offer him at least £750K more a season than he gets here and serious money to buy serous players.
you did a great Job and if Mr Sandgaard had come along 12 months earlier who knows ??
https://chicagoaddick.wordpress.com/2021/03/15/thanks-for-the-memories-lee/
It’s a sad day. From the first kick off in his first game as manager (a 2-0 home win against Plymouth in which we scored after 2 mins), Bow instantly and dramatically changed the mood around the club. From one of utter despondency during the Roland years, he created a spark with the fans and got the team playing quick, attacking and effective football. We were no longer a soft touch on the pitch and the atmosphere at home and away games was transformed into something not often seen from Charlton crowds before. The team and the fans had a common cause and so the journey began. That excitement and chemistry was to last throughout the following season. Donny away, the full house and pitch invasion at the Valley and then Wembley were games I’ll certainly never forget. We even took that journey on into the early stages of the Championship season despite all the troubles that were continuing off the pitch. During that period, we really were (as the song went) f*****g dynamite!! The second half of last season and this have of course been different. They’ve been disappointing but there have been plenty of extenuating circumstances too. I still think there was a good chance Bow would have turned things around again next season but now we’ll never know. I just hope we don’t look back and wish he’d stayed and had that chance. It is what it is. Thank you Bow. 👏👏👏
Good luck Lee and I’m sure you’ll be welcomed back warmly when we get to play you.
It became quite clear a few months ago that our paths may not be the same.
The reason for that? Who knows? But that's a whole other thread.
Good luck Bows.
Like everyone else, he gave me one of my favourite Charlton memories with the Wembley win. All the best, Lee, and thanks.
Lee Bowyer a Charlton man .
Thanks for all your effort but always swimming against the tide.
Thanks for everything Bow and good luck in the future.
In an ideal world, I'd have loved us to eventually get to the promised land in the Prem under Bows - that would have been a bit of a fairytale. Alas, that's not to be but he goes on with my thanks and appreciation for what he did for our club in our darkest hours and we were a minute or so from doing the unthinkable and staying in The Championship. That was a bridge too far and he'll always be held in high regard in my opinion.
Good luck Bows, thanks for Wembley 2019 and I wish you well.
We, as a club, move on with the best owner we've had in some time. Thanks again Bows.