Charlton Athletic’s assistant manager Johnnie Jackson has explained why he and Lee Bowyer are staying with the club.
Bowyer has been at the helm of the Addicks since March 2018 and his current deal at the Valley runs until the summer of 2023 (per Transfermarkt).
However, the club suffered a difficult 2019/20 Championship season as they were relegated to League One after finishing one point behind 21st-placed Barnsley (per BBC).
Following the Addicks’ relegation, Bowyer talked about how boardroom drama and a transfer embargo had a negative impact on the club’s season and made life difficult for him and Jackson (per TalkSPORT).
When making an appearance on The Athletic’s Going Up, Going Down podcast recently, Jackson explained why he and Bowyer are staying at the Valley.
He said: “There [are] a number of reasons [we’re staying]. We’re obviously professionals, and you sign contracts and you’ve got a job to do.
“There [are] reasons perhaps why we ended up getting relegated, but you can’t completely absolve yourself from that, and there’s a willingness to want to go and put it right again, professionally, to do the right thing.
“Obviously, we both have a massive affinity with the football club. To just walk away would be heartbreaking and it was never something that either of us wanted to do.
“We’ve had this conversation before, we just want and need some help, really, to be able to do the job to the best of our abilities. So, that bit is a little bit out of our hands.
“We feel like we owe it to the football club, to the fans, the supporters that, despite a relegation, I think I’ve barely seen a cross word towards us on social media and stuff like that.”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what the Addicks’ assistant manager had to say, he and Bowyer are clearly keen to repay the faith shown in them by the supporters.
Are you pleased that Lee Bowyer and Johnnie Jackson are staying with the club?
No, they should just go
Yes, I'm glad they are
With Charlton having already been promoted from League One under Bowyer once, during the 2018/19 season (per Transfermarkt), hopefully, the same feat can be achieved next season.