Gerry Taggart on his time as Leicester City caretaker manager

[davieG]

Our columnist Gary Silke chats to the former centre-half on the turbulent times under Milan Manderic

 

By

James SharpeSports Writer

06:00, 28 APR 2018

 

We recently met Gerry Taggart for an interview and discussed the time he found himself in caretaker-charge of City for a month.

During turbulent times under Milan Mandaric, summer appointment Martin Allen departed after four games and Gary Megson was brought in. He brought Gerry back to Leicester City as coach, but he only lasted five weeks before jumping ship to Bolton Wanderers.

Gerry then found himself sharing the joint caretaker-manager role with Frank Burrows...

Gerry told us: “There was some stalling with Gary’s contract and he hadn’t signed it. His agent was well in at Bolton and the manager there got the sack, and he put his name in.

“Gary was under no obligation as he hadn’t signed. Apart from being player-coach at Tamworth, this was my first proper coaching job, and suddenly I was chucked in at the deep end when he left.

Gerry Taggart and Frank Burrows during their time as caretaker bosses at Leicester City (Image: Alex Hannam)

“Me and Frank were put in charge for a few weeks and I wasn’t ready for it and I didn’t want it, but you didn’t say no to Milan.”

One of the matches during the brief Taggart/Burrows era saw City travel to Chelsea for a League Cup tie. How did he prepare the players for meeting one of the top sides in Europe?

“I tried to take the pressure off them because looking at Chelsea even their bench had some heavy artillery on it. I think the biggest fault of the modern game is that they take all of the enjoyment out of it for the players. So I told them to enjoy it, even though they probably wouldn’t because they were going to be under the cosh!

 

“The main reason I played football was because I enjoyed it. I tried to paint a picture for them, go out and enjoy it, test yourself against some of the best players in Europe, if not the world.

“Don’t worry about losing a game of football you aren’t expected to win. In the end it wasn’t enough, but we gave it a good go. We were 3-2 up late on and Carl Cort missed an easy chance. Then they brought Shevchenko on and he banged in a couple in quick succession.

“Look at Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp – they tell their players to enjoy it, don’t be afraid, express yourselves. There’s too much pressure on players, they can’t enjoy it like the lads who play on the park on a Sunday. That was the philosophy I tried to bring in.”

When Ian Holloway took the job, Gerry was put in charge of the reserves. How did he feel about that level now being scrapped?

“I was brought up playing in that old reserve league, the Combination. You were playing against older players and it prepared you for the physicality of first team football perhaps more than the development system.

“When the manager puts his neck on the block and sends you over that white line, how will you cope with playing in front of 30,000 fans and a Premier League player bearing down on you? You can sink or swim.”

[davieG]

I had a Frank Burrow's hat around that time.

[boots60]

The relegation season with Martin Allen, Megson & Holloway at the helm.

NEVER AGAIN

 

 

[davieG]

6 minutes ago, boots60 said:

The relegation season with Martin Allen, Megson & Holloway at the helm.

NEVER AGAIN

 

 

Well not for a while hopefully.