One of our forum regulars, “Cliffmann,”  is a friend of Martin Taylor. He offered to speak to Martin to gain an interview for Joys and Sorrows.

So over to Cliff:

———————————————————————————————

Joe Hart, Blues, Match Attacks. That’s probably my 7 year old sons current loves in life in the right order. Match Attacks for those unfamiliar with them are cards of the current premier league teams which give stars based on attack and defence ability.

Alex (my son not Eck!) has changed favourite players like most people change socks, Cameron Jerome, Frank Queudrue and Martin Taylor have all been one time preferences. So this year he was a bit surprised Tiny was not in the match attack pack, so we found a card on the internet of Martin from a previous season. When he saw it he was aghast at the fact Martin only had one star, not the maximum of 5 for either attack or defence.

The reason for telling the story is that we know Martin quite well as a family, so next time Alex saw him he decided he would not call him Martin any more and he would be affectionately known as “one star”. One of the funniest things I have ever seen is seeing this massively tall man struggling to come up with a suitable put down for a 3ft 7 year old.

So when he left the club for Watford in January without the chance to say goodbye to the fans I thought it would be nice for him to say goodbye and also maybe think of a response to his new nickname.

“Love the questions mate, something a bit different to usual. I think whoever decided on my one star status must have been watching one of my poorer performances. I always feel it’s better to be underestimated than overestimated, it gives you the chance to surprise an opponent who may have thought they were gonna get an easy game. That aside it was great banter from Alex!

Just a quick note to the fans to say thank you for all the support I received when I was at the club. It’s probably a standard thing to say for a player who leaves a club but I think I can sincerely say that I received fantastic support especially during a certain difficult period of my career and that loyalty from the blues fans helped my family and I enormously.

I’ve always enjoyed speaking to fans that I bump into around and about, they’ve always got good footballing opinions of what’s happening at the club. All in all it’s been a pleasure to play for Birmingham City. Thank you”

1. How did the move to the club originally come about?

It was a few years ago now, Jan 2004 to be precise but Blackburn were going through a bit of a transition. We’d had a good season the year before but some new faces were brought in and I found it more difficult to hold down a place. Sometimes as a professional you get the feeling that your time at a club has passed and you need to move on to further your career. Birmingham showed a lot of interest and were doing very well at that time. I spoke to a couple of lads who were at the club already and it sounded like an excellent opportunity to come to a club that was on the up. It took a couple of weeks to sort out but just before the window closed I found myself 100 miles down the M6 playing at the blues.

2. What was Bruce like as a manager?

I enjoyed my time working with Steve Bruce as a manager, he had wealth of knowledge of the game that he liked to pass on to his players. There were periods when I was at the club that I would have preferred to play more games under him but I always felt that he believed in me as a player who could do a job for him. He had a good team working with him, I thought Erik Black in particular was a very good coach

3. When the new owners came in did you as a player notice a changed atmosphere or is it a press myth?

There was actually a change in atmosphere around the place when the new owners came in. I would agree that sometimes a football club could have a change of ownership and the players would see no differences, however Carson Yeung’s arrival did bring a new feeling. The owners were very direct in their contact to the players showing us what they were planning for the club and the positive changes that they would bring. The previous owners did a great job when you compare the club from when they bought it to when they sold it but the new owners have their own ideas of how to make Birmingham City competitive further up the premier league. They know that for it to be successfully marketable the club and its facilities need to be comparable with the top premier league clubs and these are the differences that the players are now experiencing.

4. So in terms of Blues teams, were the Robbie Savage era better than the current team do you think?

I’ll sit on the fence on this one and say that it’s difficult to compare teams from different eras as they had different styles with their own positives. Both the team when I first joined and the team this season have done exceptionally well to stay in the top half of the premier league. If the current squad can maintain that position for a few seasons then that consistency would be the only separating factor of the two eras.

Martin "Tiny" Taylor

5. When you signed for the club, Steve Bruce said you were versatile and could play left back, right and centre, was he serious? Surely you are 100% centre half?

I actually played all over the pitch at Blackburn and was quite versatile when I was a younger player, if you can imagine! I actually made my debut as an emergency centre forward and played there a few times after that. I also found myself in midfield a few times. It’s often the case that centre half’s play full back when they first progress to the first team and that was what happened to me being used at both right and left. I quite enjoyed it being able to attack for a change and had probably my most successful season at Blackburn when we finished sixth playing a good portion of it at full back, mind, it helped having Damien Duff in his prime helping out in front. My body shape has changed as a player as I have got older into more of a centre half’s, gone are the days of overlapping the winger to get a cross in, I’m happy to just hold fort now.

6. Highlight of being at the club and your best performance?

Highlights would have to be getting promoted twice, especially the first time when we beat Sheffield Wednesday at home to put ourselves on the brink of an immediate return to the premier league. Even though we hadn’t quite made it yet, there was a great feeling following that game.

My best performance would have to be Newcastle away in the FA Cup replay (5-1). Not surprisingly I enjoyed every minute of that game.

7. If you search youtube you can be spotted sat on the bench during a blues-villa game. Two questions… See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugcutAxYD7I around the 1.39 mark!

a) What is the Blues-Villa derby like for a player in terms of pressure/preparation?

The game is prepared for like any other, but the big difference is the pressure and tension that you feel when you get out onto the pitch.

As a player you can sense from the crowd that its not just another game and that the result is the only thing that matters. That’s why the best things about derby games tend to be the tackles as everyone is wired up and doesn’t want to be the one to miss a tackle or make a mistake that could lose the game. Skill and flare tends to be forgotten for an afternoon.

b) What happened to that awful “curtains” hairstyle?

I was very proud of my ‘curtains’ hairstyle thank you very much and I would love to be able to grow it back if a. I could, and b. it came back into fashion.

8. How do you cope with not being in the team, do you get all moody or are you quite relaxed about it?

I would love to tell you that I accept it really well and it doesn’t bother me but in reality I probably get a bit moody.

It’s very frustrating as a player when you work hard all week with the rest of the players but end up not involved in the game on the Saturday. It’s vital to maintain a good condition when not playing as you could be called on at short notice but its a much more enjoyable job when you are playing regularly and experiencing the highs and lows in the team.

9. What career would you have done if football had not worked out?

I think about this occasionally but still don’t know. I think a lot of people don’t really work out their vocation until a few years after leaving school, when they’ve tried a few things or realised they’ve chosen the wrong subject at university.

I would probably have been like this, my favourite subjects at school were maths and geography but I probably would have ended up doing something completely unrelated to these.

10.  You won a league cup medal with Blackburn, is it a treasured possession or lost somewhere in the loft?

It’s actually quite treasured with my other medals, three championship runners up gongs.

When I played the final at Cardiff, one of the older lads in the squad said I should treasure playing in a final because not many professionals get the chance in their career.

I’ve been fortunate to have had that chance and would love it again. It’s also a great thing to hold onto to show the grand kids in a few years who won’t believe that granddad was able to run never mind play football.

11.  Who were the biggest jokers at the club and were there any stand out pranks played?

In the time that I was there a few jokers have passed through the changing rooms. Dunny was always one for a prank, as well as Sav. I can’t think of a particular one but there was always some good banter flying around. Ian Bennett was great fun to have around the training ground, he had the lads in stitches on a daily basis.

Martin "Tiny" Taylor

12.  What’s it like being so tall?

I often don’t think of myself as being particularly tall, I suppose I’ve got used to it now. The only time it is ever a problem is when I hit my head on doorways or low hanging signs, or have cramped legs on transport. I think I’m still above the anthropometric/economic trade off of seating as many people comfortably in a specific area.

There are however advantages to being tall, such as at concerts or in highly stacked supermarkets, oh and not forgetting jumping for headers with Duncan Ferguson!

13.  How is Watford different in terms of set-up, ambition and treatment of you as a player?

The set up at Watford is excellent from the facilities to the staff at the training ground to the help I received when I first joined. I found the transition between clubs quite comfortable as many of the training methods were very similar to the ones I was used to at Birmingham. They are a very community friendly club and I have been welcomed very well by everyone at Watford. Like any team in the championship they have ambition of getting promoted to the premier league and being as successful as possible.

14.  Have you met Elton John yet, and did he have those great star shaped glasses on?

Unfortunately I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Elton John yet. Hopefully one day in the future.

15.  You have already scored for your new club, are you settled in already?

I am pleased with how the first month has gone. To get on the score sheet is a bonus, but I am happy with how I’ve settled in and we’ve had some decent results in that time. As a team we’ve been dominant in all the games I’ve been here which is not easy in the championship as all teams are very competitive.

16.  What are your personal ambitions now and do you have plans in place for life after football?

My ambitions are now to play as many games as possible with Watford and to try and get promoted. I think we have as good a chance as most of being in and around the top positions in the championship and if it didn’t happen this season then we would just try for next.

I don’t have any concrete plans for what to do after football. It’s difficult to plan as I don’t know when that will be, hopefully not for another few years. Unfortunately there will be time when I come to retire, something as a young professional looks a lifetime off but creeps up on you all too quickly. The best thing is to prepare that it could happen at any time and not be surprised or disappointed when it does, just be ready to move on to the next chapter.

17.  Pressure time now! With a chance to annoy your friends and colleagues what would be your best 11 during your time at the club?

1. Goalkeeper – Maik Taylor

2. Right Back – Stephen Kelly

3. Left Back – Jamie Clapham

4. Central Midfield – Damien Johnson

5. Centre Half – Kenny Cunningham

6. Centre Half – Raidi Jaidi

7. Right Midfield – Sebastian Larsson

8. Centre Midfield – Stephen Clemence

9. Centre Forward – Mikael Forssell

10 Centre Forward – Nicklas Bendtner

11 Left Midfield – Gary McSheffrey

Martin, I think I speak for everyone who supports the blues in saying we hope you do really well at Watford and things go well…

Good luck One Star!

Cliff

Images used with kind permission from Birmingham City FC