Greg Taylor

Aye opened this thread expecting to see * talk about a belter of a goal, instead its * talking about Kilmarnock goals.


Which I’m sure was Phillips anaw now I think of it

 

Usually people who never set foot in Celtic Park.

 

Sadly no, Celtic Park in the GB’s absence there was * vicious

 

He did that after he completely switched off in the first half and allowed McAusland to run in behind. He had a really poor first half against Rangers, but fortunately he made up for it in the second half.
Its good to see him playing well vs St Mirren, but i still think we need to start looking at a better quality starting LB.

 

It was Tavernier, and he’d done it 2/3 times already. He went ballistic at him

 

Im talking specifically about Taylor. He let Mcausland run through on goal in the first half and never tracked his run from Butlands on pass. It was welsh who saved him. It was criminal defending and one that would have been punished by a better team.
Taylor had a cheek to have a go at Johnstone after having done the same thing himself.

 

Aye they were slaughtering him the whole way through it, calling him a cheat and booing his every touch after haha..

Was one of those sore studs rakes right across the top of his foot. I've had that down the achilles and it's sore as *

 

Good again last night and really nice goal.

 

Yeah Chris Sutton mentioned it the St. Mirren fans was calling him a cheat. He seemed to be in genuine pain.

 

Ah thought you were talking about him with MJ

Aye first ten minutes Scales covered about 4 of them. Was a clear plan from them.

 

He's a defensive liability against any pacy winger and always has been (including under Ange); but there aren't all that many of them in the SPL. What the last two games reminded me of is that he's not just good at that inverted FB role, he's outstanding. Going forward, I honestly think he's EPL quality in that inverted role; it's just unfortunate that defending against pace, height or strength, he's very much SPL quality.

 

In a backs to the wall team at LB like he was at under Clarke at Kilmarnock, pacy wingers were fine but that’s probably Clarke’s set up never allowing the space.


Funny how a relatively new position in football, a very specific one rarely played in most teams, he’s stumbled into and turned out it’s the one specific position that he needs to play in if he’s to have a high level of play in him. Footballs odd at times

 

Life is like that quite often IMO. The best teachers until recently are not necessarily going to be the best teachers in the era of AI to take an example I often worry about in my own life. Similarly, the best players now wouldn't necessarily be the best players in 1967 and vice versa (of course there is a huge overlap in the qualities needed, so I'm not arguing that there's no correlation). You don't even have to go that far back: Bobo Balde was immense for us; but his technical limitations would be a real problem in the modern game. Conversely, I'm convinced Fraser Forster would have been considered a world-class keeper had he been born 20 years earlier.

 

Riquelme 15 years earlier would be remembered as one of the best ever is the example I’ve always used with that.

Timing and luck plays a bigger part than anyone likes to admit

 

Great example.

 

Greg Taylor isn’t daft. He knows he has his doubters and his critics among the Celtic support, and his manager Brendan Rodgers knows it too. He most certainly, though, isn’t among them.

Rodgers had a chance meeting with Taylor once on a mid-season break in Dubai, and he was struck then by his professionalism. A couple of years down the line, he has been similarly impressed by the way that Taylor has taken everything that has been thrown at him, from opposition players, pundits and punters alike in his stride.

Now, he feels perhaps it is time for the left-back to get a little credit, saying he doesn’t get anywhere near the recognition he deserves for his consistency of performance, or for his ability as a footballer.

“I’ve got to say, Greg Taylor has been brilliant for me,” Rodgers said.

“Like some of the players, he probably taken some time to adapt to what we’ve been asking them to do. But now with everyone in sync, you can see how much he’s improved from a defensive perspective and the football side of his game is very good.



“I love working with him. I see him every day, he’s a top professional who looks after himself.

“I remember seeing him in Dubai during one of the breaks a few years back, when I was at Leicester. I bumped into him in the gym, and we said hello. But I watched him, and from the minute he started working he never lost focus on what he needed to do.


I remember coming away from that and thinking this was a young professional who is doing everything he can to look after himself and do things right. That’s what I’ve seen since coming back here.

“He’s a great guy who doesn’t get the credit he deserves. I really, really like him.”

Certain players attracting the lion’s share of criticism from football fans, whether fair or not, is hardly a new phenomenon. In Scotlandthough, and particularly at the Old Firm clubs, it tends to be the local lads who take the brunt of it on the chin, as James Forrest before Taylor would likely testify.

“It is a bit like that, probably like the Callum McGregor syndrome up until a couple of years ago,” Rodgers said.

“It’s just the nature of it sometimes, the Scottish boys might not get the same level of affinity as some of the others.

“When I was last here, I saw Greg as a young player at Kilmarnock. We had Kieran (Tierney) here, who was brilliant for me. But I went away and I watched him over these last few years. He’s done great. He’s been brilliant.”

There are those who would argue though that while Taylor may be up to the level required on the domestic front, for Celtic to progress in European competition, they have to aim to attract players of a higher calibre. But Rodgers again defended his man from the charge that the step up is too much for him, and said that he is developing into a real leader around the club.

“The Champions League is a challenge for a lot of players,” he said.

“I really enjoy working with him. He is a big personality, is Greg. You always need those personalities. Greg is a real voice on the pitch.

“He’s very respectful of everything and you need players with that spirit and mentality.”

All that being said, Rodgers is still hoping to add another left back to his squad during this January transfer window, both to push Taylor in a competitive sense and to lessen his load.

“My job is to bring competition to the squad in a number of areas,” he said.




Clearly there is a loading issue there we need to be mindful of if we don’t bring in support there. I know I’ve got Scalesy (Liam Scales) who can play there, in a worst-case scenario.

“But Greg has been great for me. Being at a big club is about competition and it’s my job to make the squad as good as it can be.”

 

Just reads like they're trying to prepare the fans that they don't want to spend the money for a first pick LB and that we should be happy with another cheap project and Taylor as number one

Not really respectful towards the player as well to make a story about him into a message to the fans. Even I think Greg deserves better.

 

We need someone to share the load with him, even if they aren't a top marquee signing, just someone basically competent so it's not him or nothing. Bernabei is that * bad.

 

It’s also quite telling that BR said he has Scales who can deputise at LB “in a worst case scenario”, he didn’t even mention Bernabei!