Greg Taylor

He gives his all. Obviously good around the dressing room and has a bit of quality..

I could list a whole load of deficiencies that most probably couldn't even argue with though.....but what's the point..

 

A fit KT will elevate this current team. Left back will go from being our weakest position to arguably our strongest.

 

Fit being the key word mate, but there's levels to this game....and KT is levels and levels above Taylor..

A fit and firing Schlupp very likely is as well, even at 32. Infact I already know he is..

 

Oh, but they will. Pointless, as you say. You’ve no had to learn that the hard way like me but.

 

Name the worst culprit

 

Alistair Johnston says he understands why unsung hero Greg Taylor is stalling on a new Celtic contract ahead of Kieran Tierney’s arrival at the club.

The Hoops right-back believes the 27-year-old is under-rated at Parkhead and is adamant Taylor will be a huge loss to Brendan Rodgers’ dressing-room if he leaves this summer. The Scot will be a free agent in June and already has strong overseas interest from the likes of Trabzonspor, Panathinaikos and Dinamo Zagreb.



Tierney has signed a pre-contract deal to return to Celtic from Arsenal and, after five years as the first-choice left-back, Taylor is reluctant to play second fiddle to his international team-mate. Johnston sympathises with the situation Taylor finds himself in. And after a small section of the support appeared to be getting on Taylor’s back during Wednesday night’s Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich, the Canadian offered support to his fellow full-back.


He said: “It’s always tough when a player is running out of contract. You know how much Greg loves the club and how much he’d love to be here. I won’t speak for him but it must be difficult knowing KT’s coming in the summer


Greg’s someone who often gets overlooked but who helps us do so much with his ability to come inside and impact the play. If this is his last year he’ll be seriously missed on and off the pitch.

“But you can understand that he wants to play every week and with Kieran coming back that’s maybe not going to happen. Whatever happens, though, he’ll always give his best for the club and we should back him for that

 

And he did when he was involved in some of our better bits of play in said game. And does in most other games. No idea why folk like to ignore the positives he brings, it's pretty juvenile if you ask me.

'We' don't know he's not good enough at this level either. He's been found wanting plenty of times, he's also put in some great performances. They get forgotten about though as folk gloss over it when he does well.

To the point though, we'll struggle to play a fluid game on Tuesday so we'll not miss GT's forward play if he drops out. I'd play Schlupp myself but I'll no be punching walls if Taylor starts as he's still capable of producing.

 

That’s because what you said was brainless * nonsense.

 

I don’t think people ignore the good he does at all, but when defending is ultimately his most important job as a full back then he’s going to be scrutinised when he fails to do it well.

He is an effective player when we play domestically, and yes he has had some good performances in Europe in games where we’ve been the better team and had the majority of the ball.

His weaknesses come to light when we play against the proper quality teams though. We are going to be backs against the wall for the majority of Tuesday and I’d be amazed if he wasn’t under constant pressure. Very difficult to see him not being at fault for at least one goal tbh, as much as I’d love for him to prove me wrong.

 

All of our defenders have cost us at least one goal in Europe this season tbf so you could make this argument for all of them.

 

Come on mate, you can't honestly believe that? There's only a few on here that ever say anything positive about him, there's plenty who never utter a word about him until he makes a mistake then he's the biggest scum bag ever to wear the hoops ffs.

It's all well and good rationalising it with phrases like 'when he makes a mistake of course he'll be criticised', that is as diplomatic a comment as I've seen on here. Folk go * bananas calling him all sorts every chance they get. And when he plays well it's radio silence. You're arguing black is white here, the posts are there for all to see.

 

Hes "taylor made" for the mls.

But seriously, thats where he should go. His severe and often disastrous inability to defend wont be so obvious over there, and he'd be lauded for his no nonsense work horse ethic.

I literally cant see him getting a gig anywhere else on the continent, in a league that surpasses this one, and certainly not on the wages we pay him.

If his aim to play regularly, he should split to the US. Would suit his family too I imagine.
If not, its the English Championship calling. Which is, im afraid, his level, and always has been. A great wee Championship player.



Edit: in fact, he might do ok at a lower table serie a club too mind

 

It’s more evident with Taylor though as the other three starters are better defenders than him. We’re never going to come through a CL campaign without defenders making mistakes or being found out, but it seems to be nearly every second game for Taylor at that level.

Off the top of my head this season:
1. At fault for the goal we conceded against Bratislava.
2. Nightmare against Dortmund and rightly hooked at HT.
3. Poor against Club Brugge, rightly hooked for Valle who improved us immediately.
4. Poor against Bayern and cost us the first goal.

He did play well in some of the other games (Leipzig a stand out) but those above stick out as being howlers.


I think he’s an effective player when things are going well for us and we are enjoying the majority of possession, but when he’s tested by any serious quality he really struggles. AJ, CCV and Trusty have shown they can adapt and defend under the cosh.

Also, don’t think it’s a coincidence our best defensive performance of the campaign came when he didn’t play away to Atalanta.

 

Maybe you’re right, I don’t really pay too much attention to this thread and what people say about him in here. Was just going off my own experience.

I’d be happy to have him as backup if he was willing to settle for it as he’s shown he’s a good player domestically. It’s just in Europe he gives me the fear defensively.

 

I agree the other three are better defenders, but the tactics absolutely killed us against Dortmund and we rode our luck at times against Atalanta, Taylor wasn't particularly poor against Bayern either, overall he had a good game. At CL level we could pick out moments from each player that didn't go well, and I've already said for a while I'd like an upgrade, but I agree with what Double Dutch says in that a lot of the good he does is ignored. I liked Valle too but Taylor overall had a much better 6 months than him. Largely I just find some of the comments in this thread coming across like insecurity ripping out of silly wee guys. Stuff like wanting to punch his face in or having an unhealthy dislike of him. Says much more about the poster than Taylor. Some of our fans are absolute * at times.

Looks like he'll be gone come the summer anyway, hopefully he gets the good send off he deserves as overall he's been a great signing for us.

 

No he hasn't. He is targeted constantly even in domestic football due to being an atrocious defender. Can't contest headers, backs off his man constantly, doesn't engage or make tackles and consistently plays passes behind his CB putting us on the back foot

Now and again he will have a decent game but calling him a consistently high performer is absolute nonsense.

Let's see how you feel next season and see a proper LB at Celtic for the first time in 6 years.

You thought me saying I disliked him was embarrassing? Calling him a consistently high performer is embarrassing.

 

I would give my all for Celtic and crack a few jokes in the dressing room. I still wouldn't be good enough.

Honestly, the excuses made for this guy are beyond a joke.

 

Why should Greg be concerned about KT coming? Isn't he good enough to see him off, does he not like competition for his place?

That interview says a lot about Greg Taylor.

Would AJ want to leave or fight for his place if we bought someone with a better CV than Ralston?

That is actually quite embarrassing for both AJ and Taylor.

 

Decent player on the ball, terrible off it. He's not good enough a defender to play at a high level for us and he doesn't have the physical attributes to get away with a lack of quality either.

If some * is rapid, or strong as an ox you can get away with being a below average defender, but if you have none of those things you're gonna get exposed when we're not dominating the ball and he consistently does. Not even sure how people can debate it at this point - he's done a job domestically but we need better to kick on in Europe.

 

He has played at a consistently high level for 6 years with us....that's not the same as being a consistently high performer. He tries and always puts in a shift....but that's nothing to rave about....you are supposed to try and you are supposed to put in a shift. That's why you get wages.

In definite need of an upgrade at left back. Tierney is a definite upgrade but it really concerns me how often he'll actually be 100% fit.
We could have Paulo Maldini at left back. But he'd be no use to us in the physio's room, injured all the time. I hope it's not the case with Tierney but I'm getting bad feelings about it