COACH CONTROL: No-nonsense, risk-taker, youth-focused Taylor ready for ISL challenge

PETER TAYLOR WAS handed a one-month caretaking managerial position late in 2000. It was just for one match against Italy and nobody was expecting much. But Mr Taylor, managing Premier League side Leicester City at that time, decided to use that game to make a point. He picked a team heavy on youth for that game. He handed a debut to six lesser known U-21 players. And he trusted a young England regular with the captain's armband for the first time. England lost that match 1-0. But the game became unforgettable. 

Because 5 out of 6 debutants from that game - namely Emile Heskey, Rio Ferdinand, Jamie Carragher, Garreth Barry and Kieron Dyer - went on to have long, illustrious careers in various top division European clubs, and kept serving the England national team for years to come. And the player who got his first captain's armband from that night was a certain David Beckham. Peter Taylor delivered, in that one match, a glimpse of a whole upcoming generation of English football. That isn't a feat a lot of coaches can lay claim to. 

There are many such memorable achievements littered throughout Peter Taylor's managerial career. Like when he was managing Bahrain back in 2012. They were qualifiers for 2014 World Cup. It was the last match of the group stage against Indonesia and they needed to slot in 9 goals in order to get promoted to the next round. Bahrain went on to win the match 10-0. 

And then there was the 4-year spell he had at Hull City. He took them over as a fledging Division Three club. By the time he left, they were in the Championship. 

That's how the nearly 3 decades long coaching career of the new head coach of Kerala Blasters has been: full of memorable moments. Not that they have all been good, mind. That dream spell at Hull City full of promotions ended when in 2005-06 Hull had a mediocre season under Taylor. That amazing ten goal win for Bahrain? Taylor got sacked from the position later that year after Bahrain suffered a humiliating 6-2 defeat to UAE in an international friendly. But risks like that are bread and butter for a manager like Peter Taylor, who has never shied away from challenging jobs, whatever glamour it may come attached with.

That's why he has jumped division to division, sometimes with promotion, sometimes by changing jobs. He has always been attracted to projects that seemed new and challenging to him. It may be his curiosity about the unfamiliar 2-month league format of the ISL and the developmental potential it brings that has led him to accept the job at one of its franchises. 

Taylor experienced a vast range of clubs, leagues and conditions as a player too. From prominent clubs like Tottenham Hotspur, he also plied his trade at relative unknown sides like Maidstone United and Leyton Orient. Perhaps that is why as a manager he has never tried to make himself at home in one division; even though he had enough chances to settle down as a Premier League level manager during his career. It's his stout devotion to certain work ethics and thirst for seeking out new talent that saw him serve two spells as the England U21 manager. 

Now as the head coach of Kerala Blasters he has already taken some decisions that have gone dead against the norm. The Kochi-based franchise was the only team who did not send their team aborad for a pre-season camp this summer. Since many of his players were new to the Indian conditions, and so was he, Taylor chose to remain in the country and carried out their pre-season duties in Trivandrum.

He has also injected the team with several English players with various levels of youth and experience. He has brought in promising, spirited players in their early 20s like Sanchez Watt, Chris Dagnall  and Antonio German. He has also signed experienced defenders like Marcus Williams, Peter Ramage and the Brazilian Bruno Perone, all of them in late 20s and early 30s, still very much in the prime of their career. Even veteran goalkeeper Stephen Bywater is, at 34, very much at playing age. Other than marquee signing Carlos Marchena, all the players recruited by Peter Taylor were employed at some club til the summer of 2015. 

As for Indian players, Taylor chose to hold on to quality players like Sandesh Jhingan, Ishfaq Ahmed, Mehtab Hossain etc and avoided making extravagant, sensationalist buys. Kerala Blasters did not buy any player from the ISL domestic Player Auctions, and made 4 smart picks from the Draft, including Cavin Lobo, Shankar Sampingraj, C. K. Vineeth and Peter Carvalho. And unlike most other franchises, the Kerala Blasters pre-season camp has  taken place away from any unnecessary publicity. 

Peter Taylor is trying at Kerala Blasters what he has always done: focusing on youth and new talent, approaching pre-season preparations with a purist mindset devoid of any unnecessary publicity stunts, and an unrelenting devotion to his job. That the Kerala Blasters management decided to forego a lot of footage-friendly initiatives to let this man do his job undisturbed speaks volumes about how at ease and confident Kerala Blasters are about their identity and the loyalty of their fans. It should be a major strength for them going forward. 

As for Mr Taylor, it is just another assignment where he has to try his best. Back in 2011, while managing Bradford City in League Two, he was having a hard time. His team had suffered three defeats on a row. At this time, he chose to forego a lucrative offer from a Premier League club to become their assistant manager and committed to his post, saying,

"I'm not a fool, I can tell that I'm probably not the most popular manager Bradford City's ever had. I'm not prepared to walk away, I'm prepared to take this difficult job head on."

It did not end well. After another bad month at work he was replaced. But it gives you the idea what he is all about. 

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