FRESH START FOR TAYLOR
Sproson says Vale midfielder can look forward to bright future after overcoming injury problems
PORT Vale midfielder Jake Taylor has turned a corner with his performances to help the club to promotion. That’s the verdict of the player’s agent, Vale hero Phil Sproson, who helped bring the 23-year-old to Vale Park from Nottingham Forest.
Taylor had been dogged by a thigh injury for more than a year but, after recovering from that, he started the play-off semi-final second leg win at home to Swindon and then produced one of his best performances in a Vale shirt in the 3-0 win over Mansfield in the Wembley final.
That brought a happy end to a frustrating season for Taylor who showed his potential when he scored seven goals on loan from Forest in the first half of the 2019/20 season.
He returned to join Vale on a three-and-a-half year deal in January 2021 but injuries hindered his chances of getting a run in the side.
There was interest in him in the January transfer window, but the thigh problem put paid to that. However, after getting back to fitness at Vale, he has made his case for more regular football at Vale Park.
Sproson said: “It’s a very lonely place when you are injured, especially when your team is doing really well. You feel as though you belong to the club but you are not part of it.
“It is a lonely road. There were times in the winter when I would meet him for a coffee and my role really at that point was just to try to keep his chin up. There were options for him in January but his thigh injury resurfaced and that quashed that. So it was a case of get your head down, work hard and let’s see what the summer brings.
“So, I was absolutely thrilled when he came on against
Hartlepool. I think Jake was more thrilled he was fit and wasn’t having problems with the injury.
“His ability is not in question, it was just whether he could stay fit. He has proved that now. The way he played, as we know, is what Jake Taylor can do.”
Taylor’s transfer to Vale in 2021 was heavily weighted towards bonus clauses, rather than an upfront fee, because Forest believed in the midfielder’s potential.
Sproson added: “He is looking forward to staying fit. I think Jake needs to play games. The more Jake
gets on the pitch, the better you will see him perform. Like any player, that breeds confidence.
“You saw what he can do in the play-off games with his turns, his movement and his passing. It was a case of getting over the injury and getting his fitness back to a level where he would manoeuvre himself back into contention which he has done.”
Meanwhile Sproson, who played 500 games and won three promotions with the Vale, says it meant a huge amount to him to see them win at Wembley to get back
to League One after a five-year absence.
The 62-year-old, who was summarising on the game for BBC Radio Stoke with fellow former Vale promotion winner Adam Yates, said: “I am absolutely thrilled. It was quite emotional. It’s been a long journey and Vale, as usual, didn’t do it the easy way!
“We seemed
to have thrown it away against Newport but won at Exeter and turned Swindon over quite comfortably at home. Then I thought we were in control in the final.”