Charlie Taylor arrived at St Mary’s in the summer with just the pedigree that the Southampton squad lacked, Premier League experience ! But he soon found himself an outcast with Saints manager Russell Martin.
One of the weird things about the summer transfer window is how many players were signed and how many Russell Martin swiftly decided that he didn’t want them and ostracized them.
One of those was Big Les Ugochukwu, another Charlie Taylor. On paper, Taylor was exactly what the Saints needed, with nearly 400 games played in his career, 161 of which were in the Premier League. At 30 years old, he had both age and Premier League experience, something that the rest of the squad lacked.
But before a ball was kicked in the Premier League, he found himself on the outskirts, an unused substitute at Newcastle on the first day, and a 14-minute substitute appearance at home to Nottingham Forest the following day.
A good performance in the Carabao Cup game at Everton saw him start for the 1-1 draw at home to Ipswich and then the trip to Bournemouth, but after that he was back on the bench but rarely used; Martin used him for only three substitute appearances between September 30th and his dismissal, totaling only 24 minutes.
Initially, with Ivan Juric, he would be on the bench, but he was given an opportunity at halftime against Brentford, and while the result was disappointing, Taylor shown that he was better than Russell Martin had thought.
Now, the former Burnley defender has spoken to The Daily Echo about his unhappiness and desire to leave in January under Russell Martin, but with the slate wiped clean under Ivan Juric, he believes he can be a success at St Mary’s:
“It has not been easy. Like any other football player, all I want to do is play. “And, yes, I’ve struggled for minutes this season,” Taylor added.
“It was nice to receive a large chunk of minutes on Saturday, and if I can get more, that’s fantastic. It’s up to me to perform well and earn a spot on the team.
“I believe everyone is down and disappointed. I believe that in the previous three games under the new management, we looked well and sturdy.
“We’ve always looked at games to the last minute. Fulham was a valid point. West Ham might have been different on another day.
“Even at Crystal Palace, we were OK. Okay, we didn’t play particularly well, but we were always in the game until the final minute.
“To then come to the Brentford game and have it end the way it did was extremely disappointing.” We felt that it was a step back.”
Martin stated Taylor was not included in his plans due to “tactical reasons” after recuperating from a niggle suffered while playing for the under-21s.
“There was no reason; I respect the former manager and his judgments. He merely wanted what was best for the team.
“Whatever decisions he made, as a player, you must appreciate them and recognize the importance of training hard and fighting for your position.
“If you do enough to get back in the team, that’s great; if not, you have to respect his decision.” So that’s what I did.
“When I arrived in the summer, I wanted to play more than I have thus far, but the future is unpredictable.
“We have a new manager, and it is up to me to prove that I am talented enough to play.
“Look, the competition for slots is there, and it’s all about trying to get results now and change the trend that we’re on.
“Football changes so fast. Under the last management, I didn’t get a look in. So January was probably something I’d have to consider.
“But now that the new manager has taken over, everyone gets a fresh start. Everyone is vying for their positions. That will only promote healthy competition.”
Hopefully, Taylor will bring his experience to the team; we have certainly lacked cool heads and the experience that comes with playing at the highest level at critical moments this season, but for some reason, Russell Martin did not seem to think that way, and we did not have the leadership on or off the pitch that was required to close out games in the final stages.
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