RIP Graham Taylor

[jazzy]

Came across as a decent bloke, who loved football . RIP

 

[kinkyblue]

Did amazing things with Lincoln city back in the 70's I used to watch then down at Sincil bank before being old enough to get over to Manchester.

 

[peter.evans]

Cheap shot. The list of England managerial failures is far longer than Graham Taylor.

Even Bobby Robson who is considered one of our better managers but he failed to qualify for Euro '84 having lost to Denmark at Wembley. We lost to Portugal (who were shit back then) and drew with Morocco in the first two games of Mexico '86 and then lost all three games at Euro '88. How many managers would have still been in charge for the next tournament these days with that record?

I agree. There is a bit of a myth that surrounds Robson . He was useless on the whole !

 

[Mancity1980]

How many players played in both '90 and '96? Two or three?

You obviously weren't paying attention then when i said that Shearer and Seaman were relative international novices in '94. Gazza was injured during the qualifiers, as was Wright. Pearce was past his best. Ferdinand, etc, weren't really international class...

The questions you asked are idiotic. Do i think that Steve Bruce was better than Gary Cahill? What has that got to do with the resources that Graham Taylor had at his disposal in the '94 qualifying campaign?

I have just had a quick scan of the 22 in the 1990 squad and I counted 12 he had at his disposal for his tenure plus a further 5 he had available in the 1996 squad. That is 17 players, some of which were good enough for both these squads, i.e. good enough for the whole duration of his England management career. The fact of the matter is that the 94 qualifying campaign was a completion of a bad period for England, a period that stretched from 90-94; Euro 92 was a disaster and it was obvious things were not right from his first competitive game against Ireland September 1990 right though to his last against the mighty San Marino in November 1993. The last England games before he was manager - the 1990 WC Quarters against Cameroon and the Semi against Germany. The first games after he was manager - victory against Denmark and a 5-0 thumping of a Greek team that HAD qualified for the 94 WC! I remember a really good team goal in that game against Greece the likes of which I had not seen Bobby Robson, I also remember thinking how the hell did they qualify and we didn't (I knew the answer was the manager). It was not just the results it was the style of play and the performances.

The common denominator here was not the quality of England player it was the quality of the England manager. Graham Taylor was a nice bloke but a bad choice to manage our national team, not the only bad choice the FA have made but he sticks out. I admire your defence of his international abilities during this sad day but I am afraid it is misplaced.

 

[YaYa's Left Peg]

RIP.

A good man who's reputation was ruined by the cockroaches in the press.

 

[KnaresboroughBlue]

Did amazing things with Lincoln city back in the 70's I used to watch then down at Sincil bank before being old enough to get over to Manchester.

Same here.

 

[SpiritofBurnden]

I have just had a quick scan of the 22 in the 1990 squad and I counted 12 he had at his disposal for his tenure plus a further 5 he had available in the 1996 squad. That is 17 players, some of which were good enough for both these squads, i.e. good enough for the whole duration of his England management career.

Graham Taylor was a nice bloke but a bad choice to manage our national team, not the only bad choice the FA have made but he sticks out. I admire your defence of his international abilities during this sad day but I am afraid it is misplaced.

I'm not defending his ability as an international manager but he didn't have the resources you're claiming.

He picked six of the '90 squad in '92. It's irrelevant how many of them were 'at his disposal', how many of the remaining six you referred to were good enough by '92? Steve Bull? Dave Beasant?

How many of them were still worth picking in '94? Only three were deemed 'good enough' by Terry Venables in '96. Gazza, Platt and Pearce. The last two weren't even first choice by then.

 

[ctidcarl]

R.I.P. Graham Taylor

Can't pretend he was my favourite manager of England, but his achievements at Villa and especially Watford were excellent.

Taking a relatively unknown team from the bottom tier of the English League to second place in the first division (back then) in just five seasons is a tremendous effort

Almost won the FA Cup with Watford too - only denied by a debatable offside goal and an Andy Gray shoulder barge

 

[Mancity1980]

I'm not defending his ability as an international manager but he didn't have the resources you're claiming.

He picked six of the '90 squad in '92. It's irrelevant how many of them were 'at his disposal', how many of the remaining six you referred to were good enough by '92? Steve Bull? Dave Beasant?

How many of them were still worth picking in '94? Only three were deemed 'good enough' by Terry Venables in '96. Gazza, Platt and Pearce. The last two weren't even first choice by then.

OK, you are not defending his ability as an international manger, but he did not have the LACK of resources that you are claiming.

You are slightly missing my point about players who were good enough. His tenure stretched from 1990 to November 1993, England were poor for the ENTIRE duration of this period in terms of results and performances, but England were very good (and in some instances excellent) just prior and straight afterwards under Robson and Venables respectively. He had the benefits of the players that played in both periods not just for the tournaments but for other matches as well. England were rubbish qualifying for Euro 92 and compounded with full back injuries the tournament was an embarrassment.

The remaining 6 players from 1990? Walker, Waddle, Beardsley, Barnes, Seaman and Parker (Steve Bull, Dave Beasant? Glad you weren't picking the squads!)

The other 5 players who were "deemed good enough by Venables in '96" they he "had at his disposal"? Ince, Adams, Shearer, Ferdinand, Sheringham.

No, he did not have all these players for the entire 3 1/2 years but he had all of them during it. Yes, he did use some (probably most) of them during his time in charge, but that is the point - he HAD resources but he was not up the job of managing.

 

[sir baconface]

And so a fatal coronary transforms him from turnip to top bloke. Aren't folk strange?

I wonder how the Sun will report it.