The disappointing career of a former England manager and it’s not Steve McClaren

For any domestic gaffer the honour of managing their country is the pinnacle of their career.

The opportunity is a prestigious one that usually is a reward for a successful career in the club game, often competing at the highest level and collecting one or two cups for the club’s trophy cabinet on the way. Alternatively it can be a springboard for a promising career in the future.

Either way, a manager’s time spent in the national hot-seat is usually sandwiched by success at some point at a relatively high club level. In the case of Fabio Capello, he’s won Serie A seven times and La Liga twice and even Steve McClaren has tasted success having led FC Twente to the Dutch championship in 2009/10.

However, there is seemingly one exception to this rule of success and that’s Peter Taylor.

His managerial career will surely be remembered by most for time the one time he took temporary charge of England in 2000 for the friendly international with Italy. If pressed to elaborate on the rest of his managerial career, many fans will undoubtedly struggle to name the numerous clubs he’s been in charge of since, as to many he’s unfortunately become little more than the subject of a pub quiz question, having famously first handed David Beckham the captains armband.

Unlike most of his international contemporaries, Taylor has yet to taste to success. In fact since his appointment as caretaker manager of England his career has dived, as at best he can be described as lower league success.

He also carries with him the dubious honour of becoming the first former England manager to accept a position outside the top four divisions of English football after his time in charge of the national team, having taken over at Conference side Stevenage Borough in 2007.

His lack of success has been exaggerated by the fact that he recently announced that he will leave his current position as manager of League Two’s Bradford following their game with Stockport on Saturday 26th February.

“I think the crowd’s reaction made up my mind that it is the best time to go,” he told BBC Radio Leeds.

“I have made a decision that Saturday is my last game. Bradford City is more important than any individual, without a doubt. The history of this football club is fantastic and we’re in a dodgy situation.

“The last thing I need is for supporters that have lost patience with me to then interfere with the players and their performance because Saturday is very important and so are the remaining games.

“Because of the season we’ve had, supporters are impatient and I feel I won’t be of help anymore.”

Taylor’s descent to 21st in the fourth tier of English football has surprisingly been far from dramatic though and has instead been a part of his steady progression backwards through the leagues.

At the time of his appointment as England’s caretaker manager, he was a bright star displaying great potential for the future of English management. Having guided Leicester to the top of the Premier League he picked up the honour of being Premier League Manager of the Month for September 2000.

He had previously taken charge of the England Under-21 team for a number of years at the bequest of Glenn Hoddle and he was relatively successful having won 11, drawn three and lost only one of his 15 games in charge, but was controversially replaced by Howard Wilkinson in 1999.

The past ten years though have seen him fail to hit those heights again. Admittedly he has tasted success, but it’s been at a much lower level, as he’s helped Hull to consecutive promotions from the old Division Three into the Championship and he’s also guided Wycombe Wanderers, Gillingham and Brighton to promotion.

This unfortunately though represents the pinnacle of his achievements, as since his time as the nation’s caretaker he has gradually slipped down the divisions.

Successive promotions at Hull took him to Crystal Palace and a return to overseeing the England U-21 team on a part-time basis, but he only lasted 16 months at Selhurst Park having left them hovering above the relegation zone and was replaced by full-time manager Stuart Pearce at U-21 level.

He took over at Conference side Stevenage in November 2007, but he was dismissed just five months later having failed to achieve promotion, despite taking the job with the side sitting in third place and just four points off top spot. They finished in sixth place, 22 points behind the champions.

He helped Wycombe to the League Two championship before being sacked in October 2009 following a disappointing start to life in League One, which led to the beginning of his doomed period in charge of Bradford.

Despite his recent managerial struggles, Taylor was a bright star at the time of his England appointment, at a time when the nations optimism was at a low following a disastrous start to qualification for the 2002 World Cup.

Unfortunately though for him and for English football, the exuberance of his Leicester players and Taylor’s inability to rise from the disappointment of his eventual sacking has ensured that for now his potential has yet to be fully realized.

He was recently offered a route back into top flight football as Alan Pardew’s assistant at Newcaslte, but he declined the invitation. Hopefully for the forgotten England manager and for the promise he once displayed, his route back to the top has merely taken a lengthy and meandering detour.

Tags: Bradford City, England, Leicester City, Peter Taylor, Wycombe Wanderers