Fan favourite soured Charlton Athletic stint with selfishness - "99.99% of the fanbase despise him" | OneFootball

FLW's Addicks fan pundit believes that Lyle Taylor was at fault for Lee Bowyer's side dropping into League One.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Charlton Athletic have made a number of underwhelming signings over the years, but there is one former player in particular who seems to get under the skin of their supporters more than the rest.

The Addicks will look back on several signings with regret, with current Stevenage loanee Gassan Ahadme being one of the more recent players who have failed to live up to expectations at The Valley on the pitch.

The likes of Macauley Bonne and Alex Gilbey may be viewed in a slightly worse light by the Charlton faithful due to their antics off the pitch as well as their disappointing performances on it, but even they do not annoy the fanbase as much as another one of the club's former strikers.

We asked our Charlton fan pundit, Alfie, which ex-player he feels that the majority of the Addicks' fanbase dislikes the most and why, and he did not hesitate to name Lyle Taylor as his answer.

Lyle Taylor blamed for Charlton's relegation to League One in 2020

"I think there is a really simple answer to this question, especially for fans who are a bit younger than some of the older Charlton fans," Alfie said.

"I think the definite answer would be Lyle Taylor.

"I think 99.99% of the fanbase absolutely despise him, which is amazing, because when he played for us, I think 100% of the fans adored him.

"He was a fantastic player for us. Anyone who pretends, retrospectively, that he wasn't a fantastic player for us is lying to themselves. He was one of the best strikers I've seen play for Charlton.

"He played for us during a promotion season in League One. We picked him up from Wimbledon, and he had been a bit of a journeyman up to that point, but under Lee Bowyer we got the best out of him.

"He was unreal in League One. He hit double figures in the Championship despite actually being quite injury prone that year.

"The dislike comes from how he left the club. Granted, it was the COVID year, and Lyle Taylor was enjoying quite a good season.

"Nottingham Forest were intending to sign him on a free transfer at the end of the season. I don't think any Charlton fan has a problem with Lyle Taylor wanting to go on and play for Nottingham Forest, especially considering where they are nowadays.

"The problem is that we were in a relegation battle, he was our top striker, our top scorer, and when the restart happened after COVID, he refused to play for us because he didn't want to get injured before his move to Nottingham Forest.

"The amount of self-interest there, even though we gave him the platform to get to the Championship, is shocking. I believe if he did play those games we would have stayed up.

"We got relegated by one point, and he was in such good form, he was definitely worth more than a point, so his selfish actions got us relegated."

Charlton fans' reaction will come as no shock to Taylor

Even though he scored 36 goals in 67 appearances for the Addicks, Taylor will not be shocked by the fact that he is perceived so negatively by the Charlton fanbase.

He explained that he did not expect to receive any sympathy at the time of his decision, as per Sky Sports.

"I'm gutted at the way it's finishing," Taylor said.

"I don't expect people to care. I know that once the damage is done it's irreparable, and I don't really expect any sympathy.

"I want to play to keep this team in the league; we have worked so hard to get here.

"There is just something in the back of my head that says if you get a serious injury the chance you have worked and dreamed of since you were six-years-old is gone.

"I hope people can look at this and not hate me."

Sadly for Taylor, it seems as though most Charlton supporters have been unable to forgive him for refusing to try and save them from relegation, hence why he has been picked out as the club's most disliked former player by our Addicks fan pundit, Alfie.