If 2 players make the same decision, to let down the club and the fans by refusing to see out the season, why would I think differently of one over the other? Indeed with Solly being the club stalwart, rather than the journeyman striker, I'd have higher expectations of him; even if he wasn't playing regularly, he should have been in the dressing room, helping the younger players in those final 9 games, with his experience.
I've questioned some of Bowyers comments and his management before, but he wouldn't have come out and made his statement unless there was some degree of truth about it. Even if it was only partially true, the fact that Solly had presumably been umming and erring about continuing, isn't great really. And nowhere else in the media has picked up on this, accusing Bowyer of falsehoods.
I'd love for it to be different, and there be a genuine reason why he didn't play, but until I actually hear it properly (and not just "so and so said something to so and so" from 3rd parties) I have to accept what's on the record.
We don't know that Solly DID refuse to play (that was Bowyer's version but A.B. and others cast doubt on the veracity). It's equally possible that Solly simply couldn't keep up with the fitness standards that Bowyer demands but Bowyer took this as refusal to do anything.
The narrative that Solly had given so many years to Charlton and played on through prior fitness issues and now this one time just randomly decides to stop playing really doesn't make sense.
Solly wanted to play on but also wanted a guarantee that if he got injured in that period his contract would be extended. For whatever reason Bowyer wouldn't do that. That's why he didnt play on.
Solly wanted to play on but also wanted a guarantee that if he got injured in that period his contract would be extended. For whatever reason Bowyer wouldn't do that. That's why he didnt play on.
That sounds very feasible knowing Chris Solly's issues for a great part of his pro career at Cafc.
I believe Lyle Taylor said something similar to Lee Bowyer can you guarantee me £15K a week for 3 years extension if I get a bad injury in the 9 match mini League which stops me getting a Championship deal on at least that money
Couldn't we have insured him? I know it wouldn't have been cheap, but relegation isn't cheap.
Why insure someone you have no intention of playing? Bowyer hadn't picked him since December despite us being on a horrendous run of 9 defeats in 15 games so why spend a lot of money doing that? It suited the narrative to lump Solly and Davis in with Taylor as losing three players sounds a lot worse than losing one when you're looking for excuses. That season we won 6 of our final 35 matches.
Couldn't we have insured him? I know it wouldn't have been cheap, but relegation isn't cheap.
Why insure someone you have no intention of playing? Bowyer hadn't picked him since December despite us being on a horrendous run of 9 defeats in 15 games so why spend a lot of money doing that? It suited the narrative to lump Solly and Davis in with Taylor as losing three players sounds a lot worse than losing one when you're looking for excuses. That season we won 6 of our final 35 matches.
Couldn't we have insured him? I know it wouldn't have been cheap, but relegation isn't cheap.
Why insure someone you have no intention of playing? Bowyer hadn't picked him since December despite us being on a horrendous run of 9 defeats in 15 games so why spend a lot of money doing that? It suited the narrative to lump Solly and Davis in with Taylor as losing three players sounds a lot worse than losing one when you're looking for excuses. That season we won 6 of our final 35 matches.
so Solly DID refuse to make himself available for the matches he was contracted for?
For ones that he wasn't needed for and wouldn't have been picked anyway - we didn't let a goal in those three games. He was being used to suit the narrative that three players had refused to play. Solly wasn't trusted by Bowyer, Davis was a dud and should never have been signed. Taylor was the one that mattered.
so Solly DID refuse to make himself available for the matches he was contracted for?
For ones that he wasn't needed for and wouldn't have been picked anyway - we didn't let a goal in those three games. He was being used to suit the narrative that three players had refused to play. Solly wasn't trusted by Bowyer, Davis was a dud and should never have been signed. Taylor was the one that mattered.
still refused to be available despite being contracted, we were also told that wasn't the case and it would all come to light that it was bowyers fault
so Solly DID refuse to make himself available for the matches he was contracted for?
For ones that he wasn't needed for and wouldn't have been picked anyway - we didn't let a goal in those three games. He was being used to suit the narrative that three players had refused to play. Solly wasn't trusted by Bowyer, Davis was a dud and should never have been signed. Taylor was the one that mattered.
still refused to be available despite being contracted, we were also told that wasn't the case and it would all come to light that it was bowyers fault
Solly was contracted to play football. Bowyer refused to pick him
Have a team ever agreed to a deal like that with a player?
I think Solly didn't fancy it and wanted a free contract extension when he knew we were letting him go.
Doesn't put him in a good light and after his football wages for 10+ years he was still trying to milk every penny.
Football has never been in that position before asking players to play on beyond thrre allotted contracts.
Can anyone honestly say Sollys request was unreasonable was he asking the club to double his wage or even add to it- no
He just wanted assurances for him and his young family that if he played on and got an injury that rules him out for an extended period so he couldn't get another club immediately that he still had a wage coming in.
Have a team ever agreed to a deal like that with a player?
I think Solly didn't fancy it and wanted a free contract extension when he knew we were letting him go.
Doesn't put him in a good light and after his football wages for 10+ years he was still trying to milk every penny.
Football has never been in that position before asking players to play on beyond thrre allotted contracts.
Can anyone honestly say Sollys request was unreasonable was he asking the club to double his wage or even add to it- no
He just wanted assurances for him and his young family that if he played on and got an injury that rules him out for an extended period so he couldn't get another club immediately that he still had a wage coming in.
I personally have no issue with that
I.e. He didn't want to honour his contract until he had a stipulation put in completely unrelated to covid.
It was a reach and nothing that any other player would have asked for.
How would you feel if right now Pearce refused to play again unless there was something put into his contract where if he got injured, there was a guarenteed contract extension? Would be ludicrous.
Have a team ever agreed to a deal like that with a player?
I think Solly didn't fancy it and wanted a free contract extension when he knew we were letting him go.
Doesn't put him in a good light and after his football wages for 10+ years he was still trying to milk every penny.
Football has never been in that position before asking players to play on beyond thrre allotted contracts.
Can anyone honestly say Sollys request was unreasonable was he asking the club to double his wage or even add to it- no
He just wanted assurances for him and his young family that if he played on and got an injury that rules him out for an extended period so he couldn't get another club immediately that he still had a wage coming in.
I personally have no issue with that
I.e. He didn't want to honour his contract until he had a stipulation put in completely unrelated to covid.
It was a reach and nothing that any other player would have asked for.
You know for a fact not one other player asked for it do you?
Maybe they did and bowyer was happy to give it to them as he was happy to keep them the following season but didn't want Solly as people have mentioned he wasn't playing.
What about other clubs, how do you know other players didnt get the same type of deals.
Its called protecting your family, not sure why you are finding it hard to see that Solly was worried about having no income for 9-10 months if he did an ACL how would u cope?
The club was on its knees at the point this all occurred by a bunch of crooks. Seems really daft that a financial arrangement that a player wanted is being blamed on the then Manager, when the club finances were being decimated.
Have a team ever agreed to a deal like that with a player?
I think Solly didn't fancy it and wanted a free contract extension when he knew we were letting him go.
Doesn't put him in a good light and after his football wages for 10+ years he was still trying to milk every penny.
Football has never been in that position before asking players to play on beyond thrre allotted contracts.
Can anyone honestly say Sollys request was unreasonable was he asking the club to double his wage or even add to it- no
He just wanted assurances for him and his young family that if he played on and got an injury that rules him out for an extended period so he couldn't get another club immediately that he still had a wage coming in.
I personally have no issue with that
I.e. He didn't want to honour his contract until he had a stipulation put in completely unrelated to covid.
It was a reach and nothing that any other player would have asked for.
You know for a fact not one other player asked for it do you?
Maybe they did and bowyer was happy to give it to them as he was happy to keep them the following season but didn't want Solly as people have mentioned he wasn't playing.
What about other clubs, how do you know other players didnt get the same type of deals.
Its called protecting your family, not sure why you are finding it hard to see that Solly was worried about having no income for 9-10 months if he did an ACL how would u cope?
Wasn't this during the period when we were in the midst of the fallout from Southall's departure and Nimer's supposed sale of the club to the next bunch of spivs? Possibly some unrealistic expectations at play here despite his concerns?
Yeah I'm gonna say if that was Solly's demands, when he wasn't in the managers plans at the time anyway, then it's pretty foolhardy on his part.
No club is going to agree to continue to pay you beyond your contract if you get injured, that's just part and parcel of the game. In fact, all clubs will give you all the support you need to get back up and running in terms of use of physios, treatments and facilities, but to ask for wages on top of that, when the club is struggling financially due to both the pandemic and the shitweasels running it, I'm not surprised he was told to poke it
Yeah he let us down in our hour of need, to lose his legendary status with us, certainly in my eyes. Right at the start I said I was told he massively fell out with Bowyer over this, and clearly financially the club's hands were tied. Bowyer had no option but to say that, like Taylor, Solly had bailed out.
So where now is the evidence regularly purported by @paulie8290 on here that very soon we would get a PFA statement fully exonerating him?
Another mercenary scuttling off to Ebbsfleet, rather than toughening it out. I will never accept them back.
Yeah he let us down in our hour of need, to lose his legendary status with us, certainly in my eyes. Right at the start I said I was told he massively fell out with Bowyer over this, and clearly financially the club's hands were tied. Bowyer had no option but to say that, like Taylor, Solly had bailed out.
So where now is the evidence regularly purported by @paulie8290 on here that very soon we would get a PFA statement fully exonerating him?
Another mercenary scuttling off to Ebbsfleet, rather than toughening it out. I will never accept them back.
How can someone be a mercenary ending somewhere on a lot less money? - At least I cant imagine him being on more with Ebbsfleet than what he was on with us.
Or do you simply not like the fact that he's earning any type of wage now - When he's clearly going to need to with a family.
I think a lot of people are missing the point here.
On a scale of 0 (absolutely zero chance) and 10 (a certainty) what were the actual chances of Bowyer picking Solly:
(1) Bowyer hadn't picked Solly for a game since December (2) Solly had been told by Bowyer that he was going to be released (3) We picked up 7 points and failed to concede a goal in the three games Solly refused to play in
The answer has to be 0. Now having established that, are we seriously going to blame Solly for us going down in the same way as we might Taylor?
Bowyer couldn't say that he was comfortable with Solly not playing (or even Davis) because that would only serve to back Taylor's stance. And it also suited Bowyer to say that we were, not one, but three men down for the run in.
Solly hadn't played for six months and there's every chance that he might have been injured having been out of consideration for so long. He played over 300 games for the Club and we will, almost certainly, be his only Football League club.
For these reasons I will never ever blame him for our relegation or for saying that the wanted some sort of insurance. In fact, he might be our last ever player to play that number of games for us and yet some people want his legacy to be that he let us down by not playing in three games he was never going to be picked for in the first place. I just don't get it.
Yeah he let us down in our hour of need, to lose his legendary status with us, certainly in my eyes. Right at the start I said I was told he massively fell out with Bowyer over this, and clearly financially the club's hands were tied. Bowyer had no option but to say that, like Taylor, Solly had bailed out.
So where now is the evidence regularly purported by @paulie8290 on here that very soon we would get a PFA statement fully exonerating him?
Another mercenary scuttling off to Ebbsfleet, rather than toughening it out. I will never accept them back.
How can someone be a mercenary ending somewhere on a lot less money? - At least I cant imagine him being on more with Ebbsfleet than what he was on with us.
Or do you simply not like the fact that he's earning any type of wage now - When he's clearly going to need to with a family.
i think the point is that he took our coin and refused to play whilst under contract incase it effected future earnings
He clearly wasn't getting a new contract with us, so yeah he's gone for the money. If he refused pay after refusing to play then fair do's. I understand he was paid in full.
Have a team ever agreed to a deal like that with a player?
I think Solly didn't fancy it and wanted a free contract extension when he knew we were letting him go.
Doesn't put him in a good light and after his football wages for 10+ years he was still trying to milk every penny.
Football has never been in that position before asking players to play on beyond thrre allotted contracts.
Can anyone honestly say Sollys request was unreasonable was he asking the club to double his wage or even add to it- no
He just wanted assurances for him and his young family that if he played on and got an injury that rules him out for an extended period so he couldn't get another club immediately that he still had a wage coming in.
I personally have no issue with that
He was paid for months to sit around and do nothing during covid.
He was asked to come back and put in the work that he missed (and was paid for) during that time. Even offered an extension to his contract to play until the end of the season.
Solly has weaselled out of it because he wanted a contract extension written in if he came back (if he gets injured).
He knew it was his last big payday and tried to get as much out of it as possible.
Couldn't we have insured him? I know it wouldn't have been cheap, but relegation isn't cheap.
All sorts of things we could have done, but you have to remember who was signing the cheques. I would imagine we were already wringing every last drop we could out of the measly budget that had been allocated for the season.
Have a team ever agreed to a deal like that with a player?
I think Solly didn't fancy it and wanted a free contract extension when he knew we were letting him go.
Doesn't put him in a good light and after his football wages for 10+ years he was still trying to milk every penny.
Football has never been in that position before asking players to play on beyond thrre allotted contracts.
Can anyone honestly say Sollys request was unreasonable was he asking the club to double his wage or even add to it- no
He just wanted assurances for him and his young family that if he played on and got an injury that rules him out for an extended period so he couldn't get another club immediately that he still had a wage coming in.
I personally have no issue with that
He was paid for months to sit around and do nothing during covid. Like a large percentage of the population. Should he have told the club not to pay him?
He was asked to come back and put in the work that he missed (and was paid for) during that time. Even offered an extension to his contract to play until the end of the season. "Asked to ...put in the work he missed?" What does that even mean?
Solly has weaselled out of it because he wanted a contract extension written in if he came back (if he gets injured). I'd have done the same - contracts aren't one way - they are a negotiation.
He knew it was his last big payday and tried to get as much out of it as possible. He knew he wouldn't be offered a new contract, why wouldn't he optimise his contract.
Have a team ever agreed to a deal like that with a player?
I think Solly didn't fancy it and wanted a free contract extension when he knew we were letting him go.
Doesn't put him in a good light and after his football wages for 10+ years he was still trying to milk every penny.
Football has never been in that position before asking players to play on beyond thrre allotted contracts.
Can anyone honestly say Sollys request was unreasonable was he asking the club to double his wage or even add to it- no
He just wanted assurances for him and his young family that if he played on and got an injury that rules him out for an extended period so he couldn't get another club immediately that he still had a wage coming in.
I personally have no issue with that
He was paid for months to sit around and do nothing during covid. Like a large percentage of the population. Should he have told the club not to pay him?
He was asked to come back and put in the work that he missed (and was paid for) during that time. Even offered an extension to his contract to play until the end of the season. "Asked to ...put in the work he missed?" What does that even mean?
Solly has weaselled out of it because he wanted a contract extension written in if he came back (if he gets injured). I'd have done the same - contracts aren't one way - they are a negotiation.
He knew it was his last big payday and tried to get as much out of it as possible. He knew he wouldn't be offered a new contract, why wouldn't he optimise his contract.
No but when footballers are given the chance to finish the season they were paid for, they should have been willing to do it.
Clubs were struggling financially and Solly chose to try and hold Charlton up for ransom instead of helping a club out that he's played for since the age of 18.
He's no better than Taylor. And who isn't to say Solly fakes an injury towards the end of the season to make sure he gets a contract extension on more money than he'd ever hope to have gotten this season.
Comments
I've questioned some of Bowyers comments and his management before, but he wouldn't have come out and made his statement unless there was some degree of truth about it. Even if it was only partially true, the fact that Solly had presumably been umming and erring about continuing, isn't great really. And nowhere else in the media has picked up on this, accusing Bowyer of falsehoods.
I'd love for it to be different, and there be a genuine reason why he didn't play, but until I actually hear it properly (and not just "so and so said something to so and so" from 3rd parties) I have to accept what's on the record.
The narrative that Solly had given so many years to Charlton and played on through prior fitness issues and now this one time just randomly decides to stop playing really doesn't make sense.
That sounds very feasible knowing Chris Solly's issues for a great part of his pro career at Cafc.
I believe Lyle Taylor said something similar to Lee Bowyer can you guarantee me £15K a week for 3 years extension if I get a bad injury in the 9 match mini League which stops me getting a Championship deal on at least that money
I think Solly didn't fancy it and wanted a free contract extension when he knew we were letting him go.
Doesn't put him in a good light and after his football wages for 10+ years he was still trying to milk every penny.
Can anyone honestly say Sollys request was unreasonable was he asking the club to double his wage or even add to it- no
He just wanted assurances for him and his young family that if he played on and got an injury that rules him out for an extended period so he couldn't get another club immediately that he still had a wage coming in.
I personally have no issue with that
It was a reach and nothing that any other player would have asked for.
How would you feel if right now Pearce refused to play again unless there was something put into his contract where if he got injured, there was a guarenteed contract extension? Would be ludicrous.
Maybe they did and bowyer was happy to give it to them as he was happy to keep them the following season but didn't want Solly as people have mentioned he wasn't playing.
What about other clubs, how do you know other players didnt get the same type of deals.
Its called protecting your family, not sure why you are finding it hard to see that Solly was worried about having no income for 9-10 months if he did an ACL how would u cope?
No club is going to agree to continue to pay you beyond your contract if you get injured, that's just part and parcel of the game. In fact, all clubs will give you all the support you need to get back up and running in terms of use of physios, treatments and facilities, but to ask for wages on top of that, when the club is struggling financially due to both the pandemic and the shitweasels running it, I'm not surprised he was told to poke it
So where now is the evidence regularly purported by @paulie8290 on here that very soon we would get a PFA statement fully exonerating him?
Another mercenary scuttling off to Ebbsfleet, rather than toughening it out. I will never accept them back.
Or do you simply not like the fact that he's earning any type of wage now - When he's clearly going to need to with a family.
On a scale of 0 (absolutely zero chance) and 10 (a certainty) what were the actual chances of Bowyer picking Solly:
(1) Bowyer hadn't picked Solly for a game since December
(2) Solly had been told by Bowyer that he was going to be released
(3) We picked up 7 points and failed to concede a goal in the three games Solly refused to play in
The answer has to be 0. Now having established that, are we seriously going to blame Solly for us going down in the same way as we might Taylor?
Bowyer couldn't say that he was comfortable with Solly not playing (or even Davis) because that would only serve to back Taylor's stance. And it also suited Bowyer to say that we were, not one, but three men down for the run in.
Solly hadn't played for six months and there's every chance that he might have been injured having been out of consideration for so long. He played over 300 games for the Club and we will, almost certainly, be his only Football League club.
For these reasons I will never ever blame him for our relegation or for saying that the wanted some sort of insurance. In fact, he might be our last ever player to play that number of games for us and yet some people want his legacy to be that he let us down by not playing in three games he was never going to be picked for in the first place. I just don't get it.
He was asked to come back and put in the work that he missed (and was paid for) during that time. Even offered an extension to his contract to play until the end of the season.
Solly has weaselled out of it because he wanted a contract extension written in if he came back (if he gets injured).
He knew it was his last big payday and tried to get as much out of it as possible.
Clubs were struggling financially and Solly chose to try and hold Charlton up for ransom instead of helping a club out that he's played for since the age of 18.
He's no better than Taylor. And who isn't to say Solly fakes an injury towards the end of the season to make sure he gets a contract extension on more money than he'd ever hope to have gotten this season.