Taylor: 'I'd step in if England needed me

14 April 2012

Peter Taylor has taken temporary charge of England once before and, judging by events at the Football Association, he could conceivably find himself being asked to fill in again before too long.

Taylor wouldn’t want that to happen, however. He has a lot of time for Sven-Goran Eriksson which is one of the reasons why he has accepted the FA’s offer to return to the international fold next season, as well as continuing to manage Hull City.

The former England winger will no doubt be one of those hoping this latest furore will subside before the serious stuff starts, because he is relishing the opportunity of coaching the best young English players again.

Being responsible for England’s Under-21 squad and managing a club side is nothing new to Taylor. He managed to combine the two jobs once before, when in charge at Leicester City, until he came under pressure from his club.

In the end it came down to a straight choice between England, following the FA’s offer of a fulltime position, and Leicester.

It was a 50/50 call and he chose Leicester. It was the wrong decision.

Now he is back, largely at the behest of Trevor Brooking, who turned to him in the aftermath of David Platt’s departure. Taylor’s brief is to coach the Under-21 squad and oversee England’s other age groups.

“It’s an exciting challenge and I can’t wait,” said Taylor as he continues to fine tune Hull in preparation for a season in League One.

“I will be a mini-technical director, if you like, looking at all the age groups from the Under-21’s downwards. I wanted the opportunity to coach at international level again but I wasn’t comfortable about leaving Hull. I wanted both jobs, ideally.”

Taylor is convinced that there are many positives about his heavy workload.

He revealed: “We’re staging an Under-21 match against Germany at the KC Stadium next Easter, which is a real feather in our cap and the club will receive a match fee when I’m on England duty.”

Taylor so impressed the FA hierarchy when he was last employed by them, that had he accepted their offer of a full-time post, the plan was that he would have been groomed for the top job at some stage in the future.

Taylor’s ill-fated decision to stay with Leicester put paid to that plan but, as we on the outside are continually discovering, you can just never tell in football, particularly where England are concerned.

Back in November 2000, as the FA courted Eriksson following Kevin Keegan’s shock resignation, Taylor became the caretaker as England took on Italy in Turin.

He could have maintained the status quo but decided to change the emphasis, fielding a young team and making David Beckham the captain, a decision Eriksson endorsed when he took over the following February. “I enjoyed the experience,” said Taylor. “The FA had a problem and I was able to help out. I would always do that.”

There may come a time when Taylor will again have to decide between club and country. If and when that happens, he will be hoping that, unlike three years
ago, he makes the right decision.

It was then, after Leicester had sacked him, that Taylor said: “They have got rid of a good man, as I will prove to them.”

He will have no better opportunity than the next few months.

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Taylor: 'I'd step in if England needed me

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