A sad bit of news. I know he didn’t have much success in the England job and was easy to ridicule -“Do I not like that” – but he always seemed a genuine sort.
Graham Taylor
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Sad. My sister-in-law was his dentist and always says he was just the nicest man. He always bought Christmas presents for all the staff at the practise. I always enjoyed him on the radio, as well.
As my late Mum would have said, “a thoroughly decent man.”
Not wishing to detract from the sad news, but ‘My sister in law was Graham Taylor’s dentist’ must be a Half Man Half Biscuit lyric. Funnily enough I had a check-up at my dentist earlier today. I’ve always found them a pleasant bunch of people at the practice, but it has never occurred to me to get them so much as a card at Christmas.
He was a very good club manager, both at Watford and Aston Villa.
He was not very good as England manager, but then neither was Fabio Cappello or Sven Goran Ericksson, both of whom had stronger squads to work with.
I thought he was stitched up in that documentary. He came across as decent and thoughtful, and when it all went “Do I not Like That” in the Holland game, it’s worth remembering that he was absolutely right to be pissed off – Koeman should have been sent off.
He always came across as a decent guy. This is ages ago now but I remember reading a long piece about Watford when Taylor was Manager and Elton was Chairman and presumably bankroller. It detailed how Elton had been given a good talking to by Taylor in term of his physical health and lifestyle, and how Watford’s playing and coaching staff had chivvied him back into shape. I remember thinking at the time that a Manager might be forgiven for being a total Yes-man and indulging the Chairman’s every whim. But this seemed to have been done out of a genuine concern for a colleague. I bet Elton was grateful for it in the long run
The story I heard, as related by Elton John himself, was Taylor invited him round to lunch.
Elton sat down and Graham Taylor plonked a bottle of brandy in front of him and said “There’s your lunch”.
The passing of a bit of English Football history. No designer stubble or mystery from Graham Taylor. A straightforward 4-4-2 man, a couple of tricky wide men, big centre forward, workmanlike midfield, defenders who defend and goalkeepers that can catch, nothing wrong with that. He was the anti Guardiola and I love him for that. Suffered by inheriting Bobby Robsons to be honest fortunate Italia 90 squad and ridiculous expectation. Lineker past his best, Gazza imploding and Shilton requiring a replacement. Then stitched up in an error of judgement documentary.
He was my kind of manager though and by all accounts a lovely, honest fella. RIP
A decent man by all accounts. Of course he wasn’t up to much as England manager, who has ? The quality of players he had wasn’t as exalted as was the case with later managers, and quite frankly the abuse he had to endure (turnip head and all the rest) went way beyond the pale. I hope the people responsible for that are feeling suitably ashamed right now. He seemed to stand for a kind of decency which stands in contrast with the rather tawdry way the game is being managed right now.
I would like to see that documentary again though. OK, he was guilty of a bit of hubris inviting the cameras in to witness a glorious qualifying campaign but his reaction to the Koeman foul was spot on and his reaction thereafter is now a nice contrast to some highly paid managers who seem to treat every offside decision as if they had been pick-pocketed.
A decent man, clearly. And let this not be his epitaph.
But he gave Carlton Palmer his international debut. And Andy Sinton. And Geoff Thomas. He didn’t help himself.
This – Carlton Palmer in particular – is the perceived wisdom. However I well remember a respected football journalist in The Observer (can’t remember which one) calling for Palmer to be picked for the next England squad in the run-up to his selection. I’m no particular fan of Palmer but he is far from the worst player to have been picked for England. And we also forget that he picked “Edward” Sheringham for his debut when there was no great clamour for him and that turned out OK.
Pogba reminds of Carlton Palmer in appearance and style. Easily deride was our Carlton but on his day he was worth 2 players
Have you had your eyes checked recently Dave?
Nope, I remember Palmer being a real force back in the day at Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday when both were decent sides. Watch one of those games back now and watch how he got around the pitch you would swear there were 2 of him. If my poor old memory serves me right he won a couple of MOM awards for England but I can’t be arsed to check.
He was the same height as two players.
He was also in a short-lived Football/Prog cross-over band with Middlesbrough’s Brazilian midfielder Emerson and Man City’s Paul Lake
Sad to hear he’s died. A good egg amongst quite a lot of rotten ones.
He was on a hiding to nothing as England manager. A thankless task trying to get any England squad in recent memory to play as a proper team. He didn’t have what it needed but I’m not sure anyone else would have done much better in his stead.
As has been said above by several more knowlegeable people than I, a bloody good club manager.
I’m not a football lover and take only the faintest interest in the game. What he achieved at Watford was marvellous to behold, taking them up through the divisions and to a Wembley cup final. Magnificent.
As for the way he was vilified by The Sun’s hacks, a pox upon them all.
His cowbell playing in Duran Duran was sublime. His radio commentaries on match days equally so.
I remember the turnip quip. Was it The Sun by any chance?
He famously lost the Gary Barlow-obsessed England dressing room when his devotion to the House Of Love Hitmakers East 17 caused him to diss their rivals with the infamous “Do I not like Take That” remark.
On a more serious note, he was always revered in Ireland for his “gentle touch” approach with Paul McGrath at a crosroads when McGrath’s career – and I would hazard, consequently his life – could have taken a nosedive. Taylor’s special treatment of the player was not unselfishly motivated, but it was a terrific risk which paid off to the extent that Mr No-knees was entitled to believe, as he walked off the pitch in Giants Stadium five years later, that he was the giant the stadium had been named for…
I had a pee next to him at the khakis in Kings Cross station during his second stint at Watford.
I assume he was on his way home from the match, and I was on my way back from reporting on a Chelsea game.
Watford had won, and he was in a good mood. After zipping up, we had a nice chat about the day’s results.
Considering the insalubrious venue, he was friendly and generous with his time and opinions.
A decent bloke in a profession that seems determined to bring out the worst in most men.
Did he wash his hands?
He certainly wasn’t ashamed of the long ball
I think he suffered because he’d be too loyal to the players and wouldn’t have a word said against them. An admirable trait in many ways, but when England lost a game they should have won, I remember him saying, defiantly, that he was “very satisfied” with the players – as if any other answer would have been ridiculous. In the documentary, he certainly was stitched up by the editing – and he was right about Koeman – and I really did feel for him when he said “can we not just knock it?”. This is when England slowed down, trying to keep possession by endlessly passing the ball square/backwards – when they really needed to be creating chances. When other teams do it, you know that they have a dastardly plan, with a Zidane/Cruyff/Beckenbaeur controlling things – ready to pounce at just the right moment.
This has never been a convincing tactic when employed by England. For one thing, England does not have a history of having one player being so outrageously talented that he is the indisputable leader of the gang. So when Taylor expressed his frustration, it was on behalf of all of us. However, he was the manager -and in theory could have got them moving – but the frustration in that game was overwhelming.
Have great childhood memories of his Watford side in the 1984 era.
This is very sad news.
A friend used to deal with him from time to time and echoes everything that’s been said above, namely that he was an exceptionally decent guy, and also a lot more thoughtful and intelligent than he was ever given credit for. I enjoyed his radio punditry as well – he could be a bit Ron Manager but was a much more interesting listen than the endless parade of anonymous ex players we have inflicted upon us these days.
He must have been a very tolerant man – all the times he had to sit next to the obnoxious, self-important Alan Green without resorting to extreme violence.
If there is a more annoying commentator than Mr Green, please never let me listen to him. The single positive I took from Sam Allardyce’s appointment as England manager was that it appeared to precipitate Mr Green’s “retirement” from international football – since when did a commentator “retire from international football????”