Charlton boss Lee Bowyer casts envious glance at Portsmouth’s squad as side’s struggles continue

The Addicks manager has pinpointed the squad continuity at Fratton Park as a lesson for his stuttering outfit to learn from.

Charlton have picked up one win in five and fell to a 2-1 home loss to lowly Burton Albion, to see them fall five points off the play-off places in ninth spot in the table.

Bowyer feels his team are being hurt by constant overhauls of the players at his disposal each summer.

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The former Leeds midfielder believes that’s in sharp contrast to Pompey’s approach, with Kenny Jackett keeping the bulk of his squad together in recent seasons.

He told London News Online: ‘We’re trying to fast-track it at the moment and it’s difficult.

‘Don’t get me wrong, we’ve got good players. If there’s something I’ll tell you from what was said in that room, that was one of them. We have good players in this dressing room. I won’t deny that. Of course, we have. It’s getting them to gel. It’s not that easy. People have been trying to years.

‘If we don’t get to the heights where we want to then, let’s be honest, there’s probably going to be another 12 that go out again and another 12 that come in again. It happens every year since I’ve been here. 12 or more have gone and 12 have come in. It’s like you’re building a new team every single season.

‘You don’t see Portsmouth doing that. You don’t see Portsmouth rebuilding a team every year. They might top it up with two or three. That’s what’s happening here. It’s happening since I’ve been in charge. Even before I was in charge. That’s something that us as a football club have to make better. It’s not going to happen overnight.

‘It’s a rebuilding thing. It’s going to take time. If we can fast-track it and get to where we want to be then great. But you don’t see many other teams doing that. There’s a lot of teams in this division that are above us at the moment that have been trying to get out of this division for years. That have been building for years.’

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