Taylor comes out fighting (07.03.06)

FROM any perspective it’s been a bad week for the Magpies, but manager Carl Taylor came out fighting on Thursday, claiming he was willing to take the flack, but not to be the fall guy.
He said: “When I watched the first two goals go in on Saturday it just struck me how ridiculous it was.We didn’t play that badly. They were just ridiculous goals to concede.
“I thought, I’m not taking any more of this. I stand there and I’m willing to take flack, but I’m not going home this weekend hacked off.
“In the end you have to say ‘You lot (the players) must take some of the blame for this’.
“Then I went to watch the youth team on Monday night and I was struck by how much they were enjoying playing.
“Our changing room has been a bit miserable for a while, so on Tuesday I told them to go out, play their football and enjoy themselves.
“I felt they made a pretty good fist of it, and the disappointment they felt at the end of the game was the right kind of disappointment, because at least they’d tried.”
As well as a change of attitude, Taylor has also made changes in personnel to address perceived problems in the changing rooms, beginning with the immediate release of keeper Scott Tarr, who Taylor believed had been a major cause of unrest.
He explained: “I have brought people in who I didn’t know very well, and in the end the mentality hasn’t been right. Scott was one of those, but now he’s gone. He went yesterday (Wednesday).”
Taylor also rounded on some elements in the crowd, saying: “Even when I was here with Dev (Alan Devonshire) the fans always moaned.
“They crave success but you’re bound to fail if the fans just turn up to moan.
“I’m as disappointed as any of them and more than most. I haven’t achieved what I set out to do.
“I wanted to keep the club up and I wanted to build for next year. But I’ve ended up constantly trying to plug holes, when it really needs to be pulled apart and started again from scratch.
“So now I’m looking forward to the pre-season, playing with my players.”

Tomorrow (Saturday) United are away to Basingstoke Town.
Taylor said: “All we can do is go there, play the way we want to play and try and get a result.
“I’ll do what I did at Yeading. We’ll be adventurous, do the unexpected and see if we can surprise a few people.”