The Managers: Peter Taylor, 2000-2001

[Koke]

The likes of Rob "re-doubling our efforts" Kelly, Levein, Holloway, Martin Allen etc were completely our of their depth but all of those (bar Allen) worked on a shoestring budget and they inherited piss poor teams. Levein and Kelly didn't have a a fiver between them. Peter Taylor had a good team in a healthy position and money to spend. Comfortably our worst manager ever.

[ThaiFox]

McLintock was a terrible manager, Pleat was truly dire, Megson & Levein were appalling, but the big difference with Taylor was he had money to spend and he blew it all on some very poor players and a total @&%$ called Denis Wise.

 

Because of this, Taylor must go down as our worst ever manager. 

 

As a side issue, during the end of Puel's reign, a lot of our fans were comparing him to Taylor, which is totally unfair.

 

Taylor took over a good squad, in Europe having just won the league cup and completely ruined it, and very quickly too.

 

Puel took over an aging squad, well past it's best, and brought in some of the most promising players I've seen in a Leicester shirt for many years and had them competing in the P/L top half.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[StriderHiryu]

I’d also agree that he’s our worst ever because he started the slide which put us back years and which was not fixed until Pearson came in. It’s incredible to think that initially he started so well and at one point fans thought he *might* be better than MON. Sounds ridiculous but we were top of the table early in his reign. 

 

Over time he was proved to be out of his depth and should really have gone at the end of that season. He wasn’t replaced and that signalled the start of our funeral march. 

 

Some of his signings are complete banter. Akinbiyi, Benjamin, Lewis, etc. 

 

I still have trauma from remembering this period ?

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

Trevor Benjamin 

Junior Lewis

Lee Marshall

need I say more, he dismantled the MON team and replaced them with rejects and reserves, awful manager. 

[Aus Fox]

I always got told if you have nothing nice to say don’t say anything at all...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**** it the man was a ****ing fraud, a Hellene if the highest order way out of his depth. You’ve only got to read what he said to Matt Piper to know the bloke couldn’t spot talent if it came up and slapped him in the face. We’ve had some shockers in charge but this dull and the money he spent is by far and away the worst.

[mancunianfox]

Spectacularly bad manager who nearly ripped the club apart but somehow I still hate Holloway more.

[RoboFox]

[Manwell Pablo]

I used to despise him. In fact I think I even left a game early once I was completely unsatisfied with the abuse he received when he came back with an opposing team. 

 

Having grown up a little it is hard to hate someone who was trying his best to do a job but was ultimately, fcking shit at it. Terrible manager but long buried in the past now thankfully. The money he spent totally crippled this club but the fault there lies with the people running the club.

[Babylon]

Got Redknapp to thank for turning the job down after he'd accepted it, because it was such a long drive to the south coast.

[fazzyfox]

It was like having a wonderful painting that had taken years of hard work to get to that stage and then giving a blindfolded chimpanzee the brushes and making us watch through our fingers as it was destroyed. 

 

You could see some grains of logic to his work, he had been England Under 21 coach and through that knew Rowett, Benjamin, Scrowcroft and Marshall (and Ian Walker I presume) and continued this preference for youth thinking Matty Jones would be a  decent long term investment hence the long contract which like with near namesake Matty James he sat out injured through most of it. The first mistake was replacing Guppy with Davidson who as LWB would get a nosebleed if he ever crossed the half way line. It was saying to the opposition I'm here to defend and offer no threat going forward. It changed the whole teams dynamic and momentum. Look at previous seasons DVD's and how many goals come from Guppy crosses. Then his selection of key replacements - Akinbiyi for Heskey, Jones for Lennon.  His treatment of senior pro's and his communication with us which I always found blunt and patronising. He would point back at the weekend we were top whereas all other managers would use the "It's where you finish" philosophy. Just found him unpleasant, incompetent, probably a better coach than a builder of teams and squads, the drop in confidence after the Wycombe Debacle needed a leader to turn it around, his random introduction of a guy from Gillingham reserves (Junior Lewis) who obviously has something on him, dodgy photos or something,  and as for being the man who brought Dennis Wise to the club....

 

There, I've tried to be reasonable but hate him, hate him, hate him. It's all coming back to me. I was having a nice day until I saw this thread. Doctor it's happening again....TAYLOR!

[evil jack]

1 hour ago, fazzyfox said:

It was like having a wonderful painting that had taken years of hard work to get to that stage and then giving a blindfolded chimpanzee the brushes and making us watch through our fingers as it was destroyed. 

 

You could see some grains of logic to his work, he had been England Under 21 coach and through that knew Rowett, Benjamin, Scrowcroft and Marshall (and Ian Walker I presume) and continued this preference for youth thinking Matty Jones would be a  decent long term investment hence the long contract which like with near namesake Matty James he sat out injured through most of it. The first mistake was replacing Guppy with Davidson who as LWB would get a nosebleed if he ever crossed the half way line. It was saying to the opposition I'm here to defend and offer no threat going forward. It changed the whole teams dynamic and momentum. Look at previous seasons DVD's and how many goals come from Guppy crosses. Then his selection of key replacements - Akinbiyi for Heskey, Jones for Lennon.  His treatment of senior pro's and his communication with us which I always found blunt and patronising. He would point back at the weekend we were top whereas all other managers would use the "It's where you finish" philosophy. Just found him unpleasant, incompetent, probably a better coach than a builder of teams and squads, the drop in confidence after the Wycombe Debacle needed a leader to turn it around, his random introduction of a guy from Gillingham reserves (Junior Lewis) who obviously has something on him, dodgy photos or something,  and as for being the man who brought Dennis Wise to the club....

 

There, I've tried to be reasonable but hate him, hate him, hate him. It's all coming back to me. I was having a nice day until I saw this thread. Doctor it's happening again....TAYLOR!

I started to write a post, but I'll just echo this one which is spot on.

He was also unbelievably arrogant towards fans when he appeared on Nev Foulgers BBC phone in.

 

The worst manager in my time supporting the club.

 

[Stoopid]

Taylor had the unhappy knack of combining incompetence with arrogance.

McLintock was terrible and couldn't even bring himself to move to Leicester.

But for me, Holloway was the worst. The media loved him - mainly because he spoke almost entirely in clichés and platitudes - but he was poisonous. Clearly out of his depth, and often insulting to the fan base.

And he took us into the third division.

Tw#t!

[Mint23]

I’d still like to know what Junior Lewis has on him. At Dover he was Taylor’s goalkeeper, he then signed him at Gillingham, Hull, Leicester and Brighton. He wasn’t even good enough for non league let alone replacing Lennon in the premier League 

[Guest Cujek]

Peter Taylor = willy puller, end of.

[Papasmurf]

Can we delete this thread please. Just seeing his name annoys me every time I visit foxes talk.

[Guest Cujek]

1 hour ago, Mint23 said:

I’d still like to know what Junior Lewis has on him. At Dover he was Taylor’s goalkeeper, he then signed him at Gillingham, Hull, Leicester and Brighton. He wasn’t even good enough for non league let alone replacing Lennon in the premier League 

8 clubs they have been together at.

[filthyfox]

TWAT!!!!

 

Sorry, I couldn't resist

[murphy]

3 hours ago, fazzyfox said:

It was like having a wonderful painting that had taken years of hard work to get to that stage and then giving a blindfolded chimpanzee the brushes and making us watch through our fingers as it was destroyed. 

 

You could see some grains of logic to his work, he had been England Under 21 coach and through that knew Rowett, Benjamin, Scrowcroft and Marshall (and Ian Walker I presume) and continued this preference for youth thinking Matty Jones would be a  decent long term investment hence the long contract which like with near namesake Matty James he sat out injured through most of it. The first mistake was replacing Guppy with Davidson who as LWB would get a nosebleed if he ever crossed the half way line. It was saying to the opposition I'm here to defend and offer no threat going forward. It changed the whole teams dynamic and momentum. Look at previous seasons DVD's and how many goals come from Guppy crosses. Then his selection of key replacements - Akinbiyi for Heskey, Jones for Lennon.  His treatment of senior pro's and his communication with us which I always found blunt and patronising. He would point back at the weekend we were top whereas all other managers would use the "It's where you finish" philosophy. Just found him unpleasant, incompetent, probably a better coach than a builder of teams and squads, the drop in confidence after the Wycombe Debacle needed a leader to turn it around, his random introduction of a guy from Gillingham reserves (Junior Lewis) who obviously has something on him, dodgy photos or something,  and as for being the man who brought Dennis Wise to the club....

 

There, I've tried to be reasonable but hate him, hate him, hate him. It's all coming back to me. I was having a nice day until I saw this thread. Doctor it's happening again....TAYLOR!

Agree with most of what you say.  Even now I can still get angry thinking about Taylor and the lost decade that he cost us.

 

However Guppy was a wing back in 3-5-2, Davidson was a full back in a 4-4-2.  Different jobs and positions altogether.

 

 

[urban fox]

2 hours ago, Mint23 said:

I’d still like to know what Junior Lewis has on him. At Dover he was Taylor’s goalkeeper, he then signed him at Gillingham, Hull, Leicester and Brighton. He wasn’t even good enough for non league let alone replacing Lennon in the premier League 

Still the record for the number of different clubs that a manager has signed the same player. I always wondered if Taylor had been secretly sh*gging a certain mrs Lewis and there was a love child called Junior

[Foxaholic ME]

1 hour ago, murphy said:

Agree with most of what you say.  Even now I can still get angry thinking about Taylor and the lost decade that he cost us.

 

However Guppy was a wing back in 3-5-2, Davidson was a full back in a 4-4-2.  Different jobs and positions altogether.

 

 

Compared wih mostof Taylors signings Davidson gave good service

[Heathrow fox]

We were actually 4th in early March.The media had a bit of a love affair with him.As soon as Lennon went it was game over.

 

I do seem to remember the fans demanding that certain players should get substantial pay rises,with long contracts,to ward off Celtic and to show some ambition.Which the club duly did.Those same fans were then left dumbfounded when we ended up relegated,with ageing players on ridiculous money.Players we couldn’t shift.Why did we give them big contracts?was the question.

 

Yes he was hopeless but I’m not bitter.It was frustrating that under MON we were two or three players away from causing major damage.Then within eighteen months it was totally ruined.However it is part of the story.Financial problems have hit most teams during the last twenty years.

 

[Vacamion]

 

Based on his general pattern of signings, and replacing silk with shite, it seems that the common conception of the Wycombe defeat - that it robbed the team of confidence and precipitated our downfall - is wrong, as we would have faltered and fallen anyway. 

 

Still, if we had to go though all THAT, to get to where we ended up, it was a price worth paying, IMHO. 

 

Don't understand actual hate, it's water under the bridge. 

 

[Aus Fox]

4 hours ago, Mint23 said:

I’d still like to know what Junior Lewis has on him. At Dover he was Taylor’s goalkeeper, he then signed him at Gillingham, Hull, Leicester and Brighton. He wasn’t even good enough for non league let alone replacing Lennon in the premier League 

Isn’t Junior Lewis married to Peter Taylor’s  daughter? I’m sure there is some kind of family connection there.

[Mint23]

3 minutes ago, Aus Fox said:

Isn’t Junior Lewis married to Peter Taylor’s  daughter? I’m sure there is some kind of family connection there.

I’ve never heard that before but there’s got to be more to it than Taylor thought that Lewis was a good footballer! For starters he wasn’t even an outfield player and more importantly he was the worst player I’ve ever seen in the premier League!

 

[davieG]

Fromm 442's Clubs worst ever player

 

Leicester (Junior Lewis)

By James Sharpe (@TheSharpeEnd)

Such is the volume of dross that made its way through Leicester’s doors from c.2001-08, you could easily compile a full starting XI of worst players, a cramped substitutes’ bench and a queue of rubbish pros outside the manager’s office confused by their omission from such a side.

Lewis had the incredible ability of being 6ft 2in standing height, and 5ft 8in when jumping

There is, however, one man who stands tall in the quagmire when fans consider the worst player ever to wear the fox on his chest. The mere mention of Junior Lewis’s name is enough to bring most Leicester supporters out in hives, thanks to his dismal 30 appearances for the club between 2001 and 2004.

City boss Peter Taylor bought the lanky midfielder from Gillingham – the third of six (six) times Taylor would sign him during his career – for £150,000. Even that would prove extortionate.

Lewis had the incredible ability of being 6ft 2in standing height, and 5ft 8in when jumping. To his credit, the uncultured central midfielder had one half-decent game in a Premier League victory over Liverpool, but other than that he looked more like a player who fans genuinely thought they were better than.

Unsurprisingly, he eventually left on a free transfer. Even more unsurprisingly, it was then-Hull manager Taylor who snapped him up.

Read more at https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/your-clubs-worst-player-ever-voted-fans?page=0%2C10#l7qcq2IVuSFJ6Gog.99

 

Here's another piece on him under the banner of  Managers' men: football's 'special' relationships, by those who know best
Read more at https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/managers-men-footballs-special-relationships-those-who-know-best#KSZicwYave83tpAB.99

 

 

Junior Lewis is surely the ultimate manager’s man, having been purchased six times as a player (for Dover Athletic, Gillingham, Leicester City, Brighton, Hull City and Stevenage Borough) and brought into clubs twice as a coach (Wycombe Wanderers, Bradford City) by Peter Taylor. “I think I must hold the world record,” he tells FourFourTwo. Lewis believes that Taylor saw similarities from his younger days. “We were both two-footed, but mainly left-footed, and we relied on a similar trick - feinting to cross but chopping back onto your right foot. I watched a video of him play once and I thought: ‘I do that’.

 

Lewis: the ultimate manager's man

“He trusted me to keep things ticking over. I fitted his philosophy, and he brought the best out in me. But I didn’t assume that when he moved, I’d automatically follow. When he took over Leicester in the Premier League I did really hope I’d join, but I didn’t hear from him for ages.”

Now a coach himself at Boreham Wood, Lewis has another theory as to how certain types can become invaluable to their boss. “Operating in a difficult position is one way to become a favourite, and I was always a two-footed holding midfielder. There aren’t a lot of us around, compared to more attacking players, probably because you don’t get as much glory.

"So having me in that role meant Peter always knew he had one position sorted.” Lewis, never encountered hostility from team-mates thanks to his status. “I was playing a position which nobody else really did, so the competition wasn’t there. There was a bit of joking, but not much beyond that.”

He seems to fancy himself quite a bit.