Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CHARLIE ELL HELL
Taylor: My biggest regret’s the way it all ended at Leeds... but I’d run through a brick wall for Dyche
BURNLEY defender Charlie Taylor has his regrets about the way he became Public Enemy No.1 at Leeds.
But the 26-year-old Clarets left-back has never been afraid to take the hardest of decisions – as his teenage loan spell playing under Terry Butcher at Inverness Caledonian Thistle proved.
And when he steps out against Arsenal today, Taylor will be looking to produce the kind of performance that has prompted boss Sean Dyche (below) to tout him for England.
“It’s always good to get praise from your manager,” said Taylor. “And, when you play in big Premier League games against Arsenal, I suppose it puts you in the shop window a bit more.
“But I’m honestly not thinking about England. It would be too much of a distraction if I did that.
“I’m just happy that the boss has got that belief in me – because it makes me feel like running through a brick wall for him.”
Taylor certainly knew he was making the right choice when he heard Dyche wanted to take him to Turf Moor in the summer of 2017.
The Leeds-mad Yorkshireman had burst through from the youth team to play for
United as a 17-year-old.
And, when his progress stalled, he opted to take up loan offers from Bradford,
York, Inverness and Fleetwood rather than stay in his comfort zone.
When he returned to Elland Road after helping the Cod Army win promotion to League One in 2014, his form was good enough to prompt the sale of skipper Stephen Warnock.
In 2016, he was named the fans’ player of the year – but, by then, interest from top-flight clubs Liverpool, West Brom and Stoke had prompted Taylor to tell Leeds owner Massimo Cellino that he wouldn’t be signing a new contract.
The news didn’t go down well with the temperamental Italian – and boss Garry Monk accused the defender of refusing to play in Leeds’ final game of the season before he moved across the Pennines.
“As a youngster growing up, all I ever wanted to do was play for Leeds – that was my dream,” said Taylor.
“I loved my time there, but the way it ended was the biggest regret of my career and, if I could go back and change it, I would.
“I don’t have any regrets about signing for Burnley because I think I was proved right in the way things have worked out for me.
“I made the decision with my head rather than my heart because I didn’t know whether I’d get the chance again to play in the Premier League.
“I still live over that way and I get plenty of stick when I’m out in town.
But I am still a Leeds fan and I’d love to go back there next season to play them in the Premier League, I really would.”
Taylor reckons his stint in Scotland, playing for England legend Butcher, helped toughen him up for life at the highest level.
“I didn’t even know where Inverness was,” said Taylor. “When I put the details in the satnav of my little Corsa, it said it was an eight-hour drive to get there.
“But I didn’t have a second thought. We had a great season – finishing fifth – and the lads up there were great to me.
“Playing for Terry Butcher was a real eye-opener. He would shout and throw stuff at you if you weren’t playing well, but that was just what I needed as an 18-yearold.
“The standard of football might not have been great, but the standards he set for you were never allowed to drop.
“I have tried to maintain those levels everywhere I have been and it’s the kind of attitude that everyone at Burnley has to have.”