TAYLOR MADE FOR BIG STAGE
Former boss Clark tips Celtic new boy Greg for greatness
WHEN Celtic signed Kilmarnock left-back Greg Taylor on transfer deadline day for an undisclosed fee, the accepted wisdom was that he had been brought to Parkhead as cover for Boli Bolingoli, the £3million man from Rapid Vienna who had joined seven weeks earlier as Kieran Tierney’s £25m move to Arsenal edged towards its conclusion.
However, Lee Clark, the manager who provided Taylor with his breakthrough at Rugby Park, has no doubts that the 21-year-old will not only go on to take Tierney’s place in Neil Lennon’s starting XI but also achieve the seemingly impossible by moving ahead of the Gunners star and Liverpool’s Andy Robertson to claim a regular place with the national team.
Clark, who currently manages Blyth Spartans in the English National League, even uses Taylor as an inspirational role model in team talks with his current group, holding him up as the poster boy for footballers who refuse to surrender in the face of overwhelming odds.
He had come through the youth ranks at Rangers and was devastated when, at the age of 16, he was released after being told he wasn’t big or strong enough to make the grade.
Many youngsters would have crumbled at that news but Taylor used the disappointment as fuel, redoubled his efforts and, when Killie offered him a second chance, he seized it with both hands. And he still hasn’t let go.
That hasn’t surprised Clark. He was such an admirer of the 18-year-old he took a gamble on him in a match in which the Ayrshire club’s top-tier fate (not to mention his own job) was in the balance, just eight days after giving him his debut.
‘I’d been impressed when I saw him with Kilmarnock’s Under-20s and wanted to see if he could handle top-team football.
‘So I handed him his debut in our final league game of the 2015/16 season against Dundee United,’ he claimed.
‘We were already condemned to the play-offs so it was a dead rubber but Greg did well. I left him out of the first leg of the play-off final and we lost 1-0 at Falkirk but I brought him in for the return. He was different class as we won 4-0 and he stayed in the side from that day on.
‘At the start of the next season, we were at home to Rangers and the game was live on TV. Joey Barton was with them and had a reputation as a hard man. He came to Scotland saying he would be the best player in the Premiership.
‘Greg went in hard on him and was sent off. As a manager, you don’t want to see your players being red-carded but that was Greg. No matter what someone’s reputation was, he was never fazed by them. It’s also worth pointing out that he hasn’t been sent off since.
‘I assumed he’d be on Celtic’s radar if Tierney left. It’s a challenge for him to get into their side, and an even bigger one to stay there. But he won’t be overawed and will handle the pressure of playing in front of fans who expect you to win every game.
‘I’ve no doubt he’ll become an regular starter. Greg will look at Robertson and Tierney and ask himself how he gets to their level. He’ll fight them all the way — and I wouldn’t bet against him.’