EFL pundit Lee Hendrie has suggested that he was not surprised to see Lee Bowyer swap Charlton Athletic for Birmingham City, and believes that the move would have been down to some frustrations he had at The Valley.

Bowyer’s decision to swap Charlton for Birmingham seemed a potential risk at the time, with the Addicks in and around the play-off places in League One and the Blues very much in the thick of the relegation battle in the Championship. However, a few months on and things are a lot different with the former Charlton boss having guided his new club to safety in the second tier.

At the same time as Bowyer kept Birmingham up, Charlton fell short of reaching the top-six in League One. That means that the Blues boss has the chance now to establish himself at Championship level and try and build a side capable of challenging nearer towards the top end of the division next term. While the Addicks will have to prepare for another campaign in the third tier.

Speaking to Transfer Tavern, Hendrie outlined that he believes Bowyer’s frustrations at Charlton over missing out on players he wanted to sign and with their league position meant it was little surprise he chose to move on to Birmingham.

He said: “I spoke to Bowyer a couple times since he came down. Obviously spoke to him mid-season when he was at Charlton and he was disappointed he sort of missed out on players at Charlton, and he felt they were in a false position.

“There’s obviously salary caps and stuff like that and he found it a difficult job at Charlton. I felt he was chasing something that possibly wasn’t there, hence why I was not surprised as soon as the Birmingham job came up, that his name was straight amongst it.”

The verdict

It is interesting to see Hendrie’s perspective on the thoughts that Bowyer would have had over his frustrations with the way things had been going for Charlton this season when he left the club. The Addicks were in and around the top-six but they lacked a bit of extra quality that could have taken them into the play-offs and perhaps he felt he would not guide them to promotion as a result.

The job he has done at Birmingham since has been excellent and he managed to galvanise a squad of players that should not have been in the position they were in at the time. The Blues look to have found someone who can now take them forwards and the players are all behind heading into next term and as a result, they will be delighted that they got him from Charlton.

Charlton will need to do more to keep Nigel Adkins happy at The Valley because he seems to be a manager that has what it takes to help them get back to the Championship next term. Therefore it is crucial that they learn the lessons from Bowyer’s frustrations and get him the players that he wants this summer.