Steven Taylor has talked to Paul Gilder of the Newcastle Journal today about the Newcastle squad and how he thinks it has improved immensely under new manager Sam Allardyce.
Steven also says he is not one to get carried away by all his early success and we’re also sure that Big Sam will ensure that does not happen.
Let’s take a look at what Steven had to say to the Journal today.
Steven Taylor – not getting carried away be early success
Here’s what Steven told Paul Gilder of the Journal:
“We’ve got a great squad now, perhaps the best there has been at Newcastle since the Keegan days,â€
“I was watching from the terraces then and I feel there’s something about this squad that is going to take this club forward, I definitely believe that.
We’ve got quality here, we’ve got so many top players at the club now.”
“I’m really confident under the gaffer. He’s bringing top players in and it’s all looking good.â€
Taylor is adamant Sam will not make any panic signings this week as he looks to round off his squad that will take Newcastle at least to the January transfer window. Steven went on:
“The last thing we want is for the manager to be signing players just for the sake of it,â€
“It has happened in the past – we’ve signed players just to make the numbers up. But it won’t happen this time.â€
Stephen Carr will be out for about 6 weeks and it has been reported that Peter Ramage will probably be out at least 4 months with damaged knee ligaments after the Middlesbrough game on Sunday.
Taylor continued:
“We’ve got players here now who really want to play for this club, it’s not all about the money,â€
“In the recent past, people have said that the players were paid too much, but the players now are just concerned about working hard for each other.
“There were lads who got stick at the training ground last season and it was difficult experience when we were out there training.”
“We didn’t get the performances we would have expected from top-quality players, but they’ve gone and I hope we can start a new era where we all play for each other.â€
Taylor spent last week with the full England squad, but a player making great strides in the game is aware that manager Sam Allardyce doesn’t want him to get carried away with his early success.
“I’m not a person who will get big headed about these things,†“I realize I’ve got lots to work on.
I’m young but I’m ambitious and I’m prepared for whatever’s thrown at me.â€
Steven is one of three top-class 21 year-olds at the club along with James Milner and Charles N’Zogbia and all three have made an excellent start to the season. This augers well for Newcastle’s future.
Comments welcome.
15 comments so far
Jerry
Aug 28, 2007 at 8:34 AM
Comment #1Taylor should not be first choice centre. Our best pairing is Cacapa and Rozenhal. If Taylor should be accommodated at all, it should be at right back. He is clearly not ready to play week in week out at centre back. The goal Mido scored clearly illustrates my point, and bear in mind Mido is not even in the same class as Torres or a Drogba.
Tom from Aus
Aug 28, 2007 at 8:53 AM
Comment #2I think your wrong jerry. taylor should be first choice. he is a great player and still young!! i also think harps is doing a great job in goals but i have heard that given is not injured anymore. if he is going to play on the weekend, i dont know. Thats BSAs choice.
Jerry
Aug 28, 2007 at 8:59 AM
Comment #3Tom, you really think Taylor is better than Cacapa and/or Rozenhal?
Tom from Aus
Aug 28, 2007 at 9:01 AM
Comment #4its very even but i would put taylor cacapa.
Lamesley Mag
Aug 28, 2007 at 9:13 AM
Comment #5Taylor will be a great player and needs the exposure of playing football every week, either as CB or RB.
BSA will rotate the squad to ensure all players get some kind of game and with Faye hopefully joining soon, together with a RB, anticipate change!
big pea ov the weab
Aug 28, 2007 at 9:19 AM
Comment #6steve taylor is 1 for the future but he lacks that yard ov pace
apan
Aug 28, 2007 at 9:54 AM
Comment #7cacapa and rohzehnal is class, but taylor is for the future
Dirk
Aug 28, 2007 at 9:54 AM
Comment #8No1 seems to realise just how good Taylor is! he is equally as good as rozenhal and 5 years younger! never put taylor rb hes wasted there if anything cacapa should go there, taylor is quick strong and a brilliant defender all he needs to work on is those decisions that show inexperience, rash ones usually. And besides taylor and rozenhal hav formed a great partnership at the center of defense why ruin that ?
Toon! Toon!
Aug 28, 2007 at 9:54 AM
Comment #9I don’t think there’s an issue with Taylor’s’ pace. He is fast but has so much to learn.
My main worry is that BSA is going to find it hard to accommodate (read please) all the defenders he has brought in.
Certainly the most experienced coupling at the minute would have to be Rozenhal and Cacapa, whom I would have to agree should be the choice pair (due to skill and experience) They both look solid and professional.
Taylor has given away a few shockers in the past, the boro goal was simply a lack of experience, but if he watches a replay and learns from the mistakes he will certainly get better too.
Take away the fact that he could learn nothing from shitus shambles, he does need to be playing regularly and learning from his more experienced team mates, so really the best way forward would be to rotate all of them, although BSA isn’t a fan of rotation either.. so its really tough to figure out what he intends to do!
To play a natural Centre Back out of position at RB for example will not improve him imho, we should be getting in a RB to play at RB, Steven Taylor is not the answer there.
Toon! Toon!
Aug 28, 2007 at 10:00 AM
Comment #10@Dirk: Taylor IS good, but he’s not great yet… he still needs to learn his trade.
I am a proud geordie, and would love to be able to say that Taylor is better than Roz/Cacapa, but they are very experienced and very good players, and Taylor still lacks that. By the end of the season, or certainly by next season I can see him being our 1st choice hands down and featuring regularly in the England set-up as a starter (maybe to start with as a replacement for injuries to ppl like Terry/Ferdi
We will have to see over the course of the season exactly who proves to be better, but at the moment it just isn’t Taylor….yet (but there isn’t a lot in it 😉
Jerry
Aug 28, 2007 at 10:00 AM
Comment #11Dirk the partnership was so good Taylor couldnt get the ball off Mido for the first Middlesborough goal! Dont get me wrong, Taylor is good but not yet ready to start week in week out especially bearing in mind we have Cacapa and Rozenhal.
evil dick
Aug 28, 2007 at 10:05 AM
Comment #12it will be interesting to see who plays mid week.
AndyW
Aug 28, 2007 at 11:51 AM
Comment #13Taylor is an excellent player but plays in the position where every “learning” experience is exposed by opposition strikers playing in the best league in the world. I think he needs to be protected a bit both from his own inexperience and from the plaudits that are bound to make his head swell a bit.
For my money he loses his head a little (another ref might have sent him off for the challenge on Aliadiere on Sunday) and mistakes this for passion. He also dives in when he has been done for pace – which does happen. This last thing I reckon he’s picked up off Titus. Give him a chance to learn from Rozenhal and Cacapa who seem to me to really know their stuff.
Cacapca’s intervention towards the end of the game was top class and more like what Taylor should have doing to Mido in the first half.
By the way I think Harper went to ground a bit early as well, which if you add to the soft goal against Anelka at Bolton, makes you hope Shay is fit again.
Magpie Rich
Aug 28, 2007 at 12:36 PM
Comment #14I agree with Jerry – Cacapa and Rozenhal for CBs, and use Taylor for cover or cup games. As Cacapa is 31 years old, we need to get the most out of him now – Taylor’s young guy, so he can wait for his time. Nobby can cover for RB or we could use Taylor, if we’re playing any of the big 4.
Graeme
Aug 28, 2007 at 6:38 PM
Comment #15Taylor has the makings of a future Club and Country Captain. He will learn from Rozey, Cacapa and Gerimi which will be to his lasting benefit. I hope BSA doesnt let him start every game, there is no need for it.
Let him learn by playing in the cups and a few prem matches. It will do him the world of good having the pressure taken off him for a while.
AndyW has it spot on.