Erhun Oztumer holds no Charlton grudge
They are the club that released him as a teenager for being too small.
But Erhun Oztumer insists he doesn’t hold a grudge against Charlton – despite admitting they made him doubt his ability to make it as a professional.
Walsall’s Wizard of Oz joined the Addicks aged seven but at 16 was told he wouldn’t be retained.
Now he returns to Valley as Walsall’s talisman with the Saddlers going in search of three points that would be a huge boost to their hopes of finishing in the play-offs.
“I was at Charlton for nine years and didn’t get offered a scholarship,” Oztumer said. “It was a long time ago and it’s not personal. It was a big disappointment at the time because all I knew was Charlton.
“Back then they were a Premier League side. They had a great academy and I had a lot of fun there.
“When you get released at that age you think ‘is it over for me?’
“You wonder if you will make it as a professional and you start to drop levels. That is what I did, I went to non-league. But I worked my way up and now I couldn’t be happier.”
One of the main reasons why Charlton released the creative schemer was because they felt he was too small.
“Every day I get told I am too small,” the 25-year-old joked.
“I still need to stretch really high in the supermarket to get stuff.
“But on the football pitch it is an advantage for me. I have learnt to what to do and what not to do.
“And I have felt this year I have progressed a lot – playing in a new role.
“The gaffer has helped me a lot with that. Now I want to keep scoring, keep doing well and keep winning games.”
Walsall won a sixth consecutive home game on Tuesday with a 1-0 victory over Chesterfield.
But Oztumer knows they must take that form on the road if they are going to gatecrash the play-offs.
“Our momentum is now really starting to build,” he added.
“We have had six home wins on the bounce. We are up to eighth in the table and we are on 52 points – which is enough to stay in the league.
“But we need to build on it now. We are going to go into every game trying to win it. We have got a tough away game at Charlton tomorrow. But we know if we are to achieve our targets we need to take more points away from home.
“Hopefully we can take our momentum into Charlton and win the game.
“There are 10 games left and the target is 30 points.”
