Lee Bowyer faces Manchester United decision as Stoke City suffer Birmingham City injury set-back

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Ian Holloway has praised Lee Bowyer for letting bygones be bygones and bringing Lyle Taylor to Birmingham City.

The striker has scored three times in four games since his loan move from Nottingham Forest.

And while there was initial scepticism about the transfer, Taylor has produced both in terms of performances and being the clinical finisher the team has needed.

Taylor was under consideration in the summer before Blues signed Troy Deeney - but Bowyer wanted a January reunion once Chuks Aneke had been sold to Charlton Athletic.

The Blues head coach worked with Taylor for two seasons at The Valley - before the striker opted out of the remainder of the 2019/2020 pandemic-interrupted campaign.

The Addicks ultimately went down but Bowyer always viewed Taylor’s choice as a business decision and has always spoken well of him in public.

All of which has impressed Holloway. “He gets on really well with Lee,” the former QPR manager told EFL on Quest.

“It ended in not a nice way at Charlton because his contract was running out and he wanted to move.

“But great management, brought him in and he has had a hand in four goals, he has scored three and made one.”

With interest in James Hill and Siriki Dembele, Birmingham City seem to have woken up to the potential available in League One.

Blues made three bids for Hill, before the centre back swapped Fleetwood for Bournemouth and a late effort to sign Dembele from Peterborough.

The attacker also had his heart set on the Cherries and he too became part of Scott Parker’s January transfer window sweep.

Blues dipped into the third tier a couple of times in the summer, with Jordan Graham showing promise since his move