Graham Taylor

[PaulC]

Ys 2nd best ever Villa manager I think. I am surprised I haven't read or heard anything from David Platt. He really did shape his career.

[kurtsimonw]

Too young to remember his first stint as Villa boss, but the way my dad and people on here talk about him in such glowing terms says a lot. Should be a good tribute at Wolves. RIP.

[The Fun Factory]

Reading Mcgrath's book showed what a decent man Taylor was who genuinely cared about his players.  The signing of him with Platt and Yorke set the foundations of a very decent decade of supporting Villa. He also appeared to have done excellent work with all his clubs in the community and the youth development. He took a altruistic view of  the role as a manager (and I use that word rather than head coach) , which appears to be far removed from what many of them appear to be today.  A sad loss.

[Mantis]

Can we rename the Witton Lane stand after him?

Edited January 12, 2017 by Mantis

[coda]

Thank you and R.I.P. Graham.

[PaulC]

3 minutes ago, Mantis said:

Can we rename the Witton Lane stand after him?

it would be nice but would be unfair on Ron Saunders if he didn't have a stand named after him too.

[TheAuthority]

11 minutes ago, PaulC said:

it would be nice but would be unfair on Ron Saunders if he didn't have a stand named after him too.

North Stand for Ron & Witton for Sir Graham. Easy.

[Villanun]

Awful news. RIP.

[Heretic]

Some areas of this forum could be renamed.

The Hall of Fame could be renamed the Saunders Hall of Fame.

Off Topic could be renamed Taylor Talk or something like that.

It would be nice to include Tony Barton somewhere too.

[chrisvilla4]

RIP Graham. 

When I first started go to Villa Park it was GT's first season at the helm. I was to young to realise what an amazing guy, and, what an amazing job he did for us back then but boy do I realise now. 

An absolute gentleman and giant amongst football managers. 

You will be missed GT. 

[NurembergVillan]

[dubliner]

8 hours ago, Mantis said:

Can we rename the Witton Lane stand after him?

Not a bad idea.

McGrath would be the first I'd name a stand after personally

[hippo]

At the very least he should be on the cover of the next program 

[TrentVilla]

1 hour ago, NurembergVillan said:

Well said Carlton Palmer

[Xela]

11 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

I agree completely. I felt such a connection to the club back then even though there was a lot less press (no internet.)

I would wait every night by the letterbox for the Express & Star to see what Sir Graham had to say or maybe he'd pop up in a little clip on Central News a few nights a week. Finally a sneaky phone call to Villa Club Call now and again hoping I didn't get a bollocking off my parents when they got the phone bill. 

Good times.

I once racked up a £150 bill on my parents phone ringing Clubcall one summer! Think it was BFR or early Little days. My Dad was fuming! 

[Xela]

11 hours ago, Heretic said:

I hope that today shines a light on how good he was as a manager. For too long he's been defined by the England job.

He took Watford from the 4th to the 1st division in five seasons. They played in the UEFA Cup.

He left Watford in 9th position in D1 to come to a relegated Villa. That's how much he wanted to come here.

He can tell you what he found in his own words:

 

To put things in perspective for younger Villans:

Sir Alex took over at Man Utd on 6 November 1986 when they were second from bottom in D1. Sir Graham took us over in May 1987 having just been booted out of D1 (finishing bottom) and starting life the coming season in D2.

Sir Alex had just over 6 months head start on Sir Graham PLUS he had a full season of D1 football over Sir Graham in which to attract better players.

Here's their standings at season's end 1990 in D1:

2nd, Aston Villa. P38, W21, F57, A38. P = 70.

13th Man Utd P38 W13, F46, A47, P = 48.

 

I hope this gives you some measure of his achievements. In 60 months we had built on the foundation of being kings of all we surveyed to being the bottom club in D1.

There is always pride in Aston Villa. It's an English football institution. What we lost was dignity. It was humiliating to watch the decay end in being dumped out of a division we ruled not so long ago.

In his first season with us in D2 we finished runners-up to Millwall and went back up to D1. In his second and our first season back, we scraped survival. In his third season, he took us to second in D1.

I am sorry for those who didn't see the 89/90 season. It was a hell of a time to be a Villa fan. He brought us Yorke, Platt, McGrath, Nielsen. He brought a grateful Sid back from Italy.

He built a side that feared nobody. The football was often far better than he was ever given credit for. It's true that Watford was often route one. But what could he do?

He showed at Villa why he came to Villa - we had the clout to extend his horizons, and how well he used this new canvas.

 

When he left, I was heartbroken. But when you look at what he built, younger Villans, you owe him gratitude. The shade you and we enjoyed under Big Ron was because Sir Graham planted the acorn those years ago. He found a foundation of clay and built a foundation of rock.

I've wondered, what would he have done if he stayed? Under HDE, I'm not sure he would have done much more. His standing would have grown, IMO. But eventually HDE would have penny-pinched him on a top player and Sir Graham would have walked.

He once said - 'HDE and I have a love-hate relationship. He loves me.'

The tantalising prospect is this - what if Sir Graham had a manager equally as ambitious and without ego? I think he would have strengthened us even further. I think we would have had more success. He probably would have stayed too long and we probably would have drifted, but who knows who we would have brought in at that time.

Ifs, buts, maybes, couldas, wouldas, shouldas.

What I know for sure is that Sir Graham was an old-school gentleman from the time when being a footballer was a profession and not a status. He treated players as adults and fans as friends.

Today is not just the loss of Sir Graham but of a treasure from a great age of football that I, through rose-tinted spectacles and as I write this, a tear in my eye, miss.

Younger fans don't know that time. You can never recapture what you never had.

As time marches on, we lose these wonderful characters - outspoken, unspun, usually the highest paid person at the club.

You may not have seen much of him, but due to what he built you will surely have felt his legacy. I feel privileged to have witnessed him and his work first-hand and I am very proud that this institution called Aston Villa is so closely entwined with the gracious, humble, fun, kind, and wonderful football man that was Graham Taylor.

 

Graham, thank you for giving us back not just our status but our dignity and making it thrilling to be a Villan once more. Give me best to Dalian when you see him.

Magnificent write up mate

Put far more eloquently than I could manage. I was nodding all the way through reading this. 

[Xela]

10 hours ago, TrentVilla said:

Perhaps its because, for a number of years now football in general hasn't meant what it used to mean, hasn't had the same all conquering draw. The game quite simply isn't what it was and never will be.

Taylor, perhaps more than anyone else for those of a certain age represents another time. A time when the game was more simple, more imperfect but all the more beautiful for it. A time when players drove club branded Rovers and lived like you and I.

His passing, feels almost like the closing on a chapter before the glitz, glamour and utter stupidity of the PL era.  

Wonderful post Trent. The above part resonates with me and no doubt so many more fans of a certain age. 

I read all the wonderful tributes and memories of GT on this thread then the next thing I read in 'Other Football' is that Payet is now refusing to play for West Ham despite signing a £125k per week contract and it makes me wonder "Where did it all go wrong with this beautiful game?"

RIP GT. Thanks for the wonderful memories. 

[markavfc40]

Carlton Palmer is spot on.

I wouldn’t wipe my arse on papers like the sun let alone read them so I am not sure what they are saying about him today but I can imagine it is the polar opposite to how they treated him when he was England manager.

It said it all about him though that he rose above all that and was never bitter. The thing that hurt him the most was the treatment of his family which was disgusting. Mostly though in terms of England he was simply disappointed that he couldn’t have done better.

Sod all this England talk though and how the rags treated him. I think those of us who followed us from his first stint here knew then that Graham Taylor wasn’t just a special manager but more than that a really special man.

I am not sure I will see his like at our club again. They come around once in a generation if you are lucky and those of us who followed our club at that time were certainly that.

Edited January 13, 2017 by markavfc40

[Xela]

Some great memories of GT's Villa here

26/12/89 - Villa 3 Man Utd 0 (this was the closest Fergie came to getting sacked I believe)

30/12/89 - Villa 2 Arsenal 1 (The Gunners were defending champions and had such a strong team with the likes of Smith, Merse, Adams, O'Leary, Rocastle)

01/01/90 - Chelsea 0 Villa 3 

What a week! 

Below are the goals from the first 2 games. The Holte End in all its glory, the wonderful Trinity Road stand still standing and the emergence of Platt as a world class player. Good times and great memories. 

 

 

 

[chrisvilla4]

11 hours ago, Heretic said:

I hope that today shines a light on how good he was as a manager. For too long he's been defined by the England job.

He took Watford from the 4th to the 1st division in five seasons. They played in the UEFA Cup.

He left Watford in 9th position in D1 to come to a relegated Villa. That's how much he wanted to come here.

He can tell you what he found in his own words:

 

To put things in perspective for younger Villans:

Sir Alex took over at Man Utd on 6 November 1986 when they were second from bottom in D1. Sir Graham took us over in May 1987 having just been booted out of D1 (finishing bottom) and starting life the coming season in D2.

Sir Alex had just over 6 months head start on Sir Graham PLUS he had a full season of D1 football over Sir Graham in which to attract better players.

Here's their standings at season's end 1990 in D1:

2nd, Aston Villa. P38, W21, F57, A38. P = 70.

13th Man Utd P38 W13, F46, A47, P = 48.

 

I hope this gives you some measure of his achievements. In 60 months we had built on the foundation of being kings of all we surveyed to being the bottom club in D1.

There is always pride in Aston Villa. It's an English football institution. What we lost was dignity. It was humiliating to watch the decay end in being dumped out of a division we ruled not so long ago.

In his first season with us in D2 we finished runners-up to Millwall and went back up to D1. In his second and our first season back, we scraped survival. In his third season, he took us to second in D1.

I am sorry for those who didn't see the 89/90 season. It was a hell of a time to be a Villa fan. He brought us Yorke, Platt, McGrath, Nielsen. He brought a grateful Sid back from Italy.

He built a side that feared nobody. The football was often far better than he was ever given credit for. It's true that Watford was often route one. But what could he do?

He showed at Villa why he came to Villa - we had the clout to extend his horizons, and how well he used this new canvas.

 

When he left, I was heartbroken. But when you look at what he built, younger Villans, you owe him gratitude. The shade you and we enjoyed under Big Ron was because Sir Graham planted the acorn those years ago. He found a foundation of clay and built a foundation of rock.

I've wondered, what would he have done if he stayed? Under HDE, I'm not sure he would have done much more. His standing would have grown, IMO. But eventually HDE would have penny-pinched him on a top player and Sir Graham would have walked.

He once said - 'HDE and I have a love-hate relationship. He loves me.'

The tantalising prospect is this - what if Sir Graham had a manager equally as ambitious and without ego? I think he would have strengthened us even further. I think we would have had more success. He probably would have stayed too long and we probably would have drifted, but who knows who we would have brought in at that time.

Ifs, buts, maybes, couldas, wouldas, shouldas.

What I know for sure is that Sir Graham was an old-school gentleman from the time when being a footballer was a profession and not a status. He treated players as adults and fans as friends.

Today is not just the loss of Sir Graham but of a treasure from a great age of football that I, through rose-tinted spectacles and as I write this, a tear in my eye, miss.

Younger fans don't know that time. You can never recapture what you never had.

As time marches on, we lose these wonderful characters - outspoken, unspun, usually the highest paid person at the club.

You may not have seen much of him, but due to what he built you will surely have felt his legacy. I feel privileged to have witnessed him and his work first-hand and I am very proud that this institution called Aston Villa is so closely entwined with the gracious, humble, fun, kind, and wonderful football man that was Graham Taylor.

 

Graham, thank you for giving us back not just our status but our dignity and making it thrilling to be a Villan once more. Give me best to Dalian when you see him.

Written with true heart. 

Fantastic post.