Lee Bowyer backtracks on Joe Aribo stance after Rangers success and Southampton move
Lee Bowyer has finally seen the light and admitted that moving to Rangers was a good move for Joe Aribo after he left Charlton Athletic.
The Nigerian international has since left Ibrox and joined Southampton in a move that could rise to £10million in the future but not before he won the Premiership and Scottish Cup with the Light Blues.
Bowyer was Charlton manager when he left the Valley and he was adamant at the time that it would not be a fruitful move for him but the ex-Birmingham City boss has now stepped down from that view.
“Looking back at it, I’m not a silly person and everyone’s entitled to their opinion and that was mine at the time,” he said, as quoted by Football Scotland.
“But I look back at it, and Joe is now playing in the Premier League and by going to Rangers I think that playing in Europe has given him more experience than what he would’ve got playing for Brentford, because Brentford were in for him as well.
“So I think it was the right move going to Rangers. And I’m not just backtracking because Scotsmen gave me a bit of stick. Playing in Europe, I know how good that is for your career.
“It’s rewarding for me because I helped him get on that journey.”
Hindsight
Everybody has said something at one stage only to be proven wrong in the future, whether it be 10 seconds later or several years in the future.
Bowyer was perhaps right to have concerns that a move to Scotland, where the path to the Premier League was not as obvious as it is now, was a risk at the time but he will be the first to be delighted that it has worked for Aribo.
Charlton got a reasonable fee for the Nigerian when he was sold to Southampton due to the sell-on clause in the deal but the Bears still received a large profit of their own.
Bowyer, who is now out of work after being sacked by Birmingham for John Eustace to take charge, is confident enough in his own beliefs to backtrack where necessary and it is something Ross Wilson and company could learn from.
They could admit that not signing Dutch players to help Giovanni van Bronckhorst was a mistake but that chapter has ended now and they won’t talk any further on the matter.
In other Rangers news, players from Premier League champions Manchester City and Aston Villa have reacted to news that broke from Auchenhowie last week.