Great scapegoats of our time – Neil Taylor

[dave.woodhall]

Dave Collett appraises the Villa career of an overlooked left-back.

https://heroesandvillains.info/2022/02/06/great-scapegoats-of-our-time-neil-taylor/

[Nelly]

I really enjoyed reading this - thank you! Looking back, I can see some similarities between Taylor and Targett. Neither seemingly the most outwardly confident, nor great going forwards but pretty solid defenders all told.

I'd love to see an entry in this series about Leandro Bacuna. If memory serves some media outlet asked him if he'd like to play champions league some day, he of course said yes and they made out he was somehow saying he was bigger than Villa and the clubs woes at the time. I always felt really bad for him to get the abuse he did off the back of that.

[hipkiss92]

Taylor seemed to lose a bit of an edge / competitive  instinct after he broke Seamus Coleman's leg on international duty. Was excellent as a championship full back for us before that.

[charlatan]

Alas that was a period of less than two months.

[eamonn]

I'd forgotten clean about him. Without looking it up, don't even know who he plays for anymore

[Risso]

Urgh, hate the word 'scapegoat'. Almost as bad as 'fickle'.

[brontebilly]

Taylor seemed to lose a bit of an edge / competitive  instinct after he broke Seamus Coleman's leg on international duty. Was excellent as a championship full back for us before that.

Excellent? Taylor at his best was no better than average and at his worst, horrid.

[eamonn]

Like the girl with the curl in her forehead.

[olaftab]

The only left back at Villa in my lifetime who was not very good with his left foot.

[paul_e]

Seemed a decent bloke but a full back that can't/won't kick a moving ball just doesn't work anymore.

[sid1964]

Another who left the club for nothing!

[ADVILLAFAN]

Fullback is the most thankless position in football. You're expected to be Maldini at the back and Overmars on the wing and have to have unbelievable stamina.

[PaulTheVillan]

He did seem to change after that tackle on Coleman. He almost looks scared every time he played.

[pauliewalnuts]

Urgh, hate the word 'scapegoat'.

Me too. For two reasons. Firstly, it is almost always the accompaniment to someone clambering onto a moral high horse. Secondly, it is frequently used by people who don’t understand what it means.

[Exeter 77]

I have come across people who think the term is 'escape goat'! According to something I read about Neil Taylor he is 33 today I think.