Finally it has happened. Gareth Taylor has been removed from his position as manager at Manchester City Women. And not a moment too soon. In fact, it should have been done a long time ago.
Taylor was sacked on Monday night, just over 24 hours after leading the Blues to the FA Cup semi-final and five days before the League Cup Final against Chelsea at Pride Park. However, despite relative success in cup competitions, Taylor still failed to replicate in the WSL, where the Blues have seriously foundered this season.
After pushing Chelsea all the way last season, City have fallen far short of the mark that would be expected this season. There is not much room for error in the WSL, with just 22 matches throughout the season. One defeat can be handled well, two is pushing your luck. So four before the season’s end means you can kiss the title goodbye.
At that’s exactly what has happened. A loss to Everton can be forgiven. It had to happen one day, but continual defeats to Chelsea and Arsenal in particular, who were City’s main rivals this season, as well as United is basically giving them a free run at the title.
City started so well, with a draw at Arsenal and a series of victories which ended predictably with a 2-0 loss at Chelsea. The Blues lost at Everton a month later and, following the winter break, lost successive home matches to United and Arsenal, conceding four in each match.
The Blues rallied, reaching the League Cup Final and the FA Cup semi-final, but it was the likelihood of missing out on Champions League qualification which was the final straw. City returned to the competition and won all but one of their fixtures so far but face Chelsea in the next round. Given City’s history against the West London side, it would be difficult to see City getting through.
Which is why City have acted now.
And it was the right choice, not just because of the WSL results, but because of Taylor’s apparent attitude towards many of the players.
It started with Janine Becky in 2022. The Canadian striker was played out of position for much of the previous season, then frozen out by Taylor during the 21/22 campaign before she eventually left the club in April 2022.
The following season, Taylor had a clear out the following season which saw some of the Blues key players leave the club, Georgia Stanway, Caroline Weir, Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh all left the club, with Stanway indicating that she may come back one day, which gave way to speculation that the day would arrive when Taylor wasn’t here.
Taylor’s new look City side failed to impress as they missed out on a Champions League spot on goal difference to Arsenal. But it was the treatment of Hayley Raso that caught the eye. The Australian Hayley Raso found herself frozen out of the first team, making most of her appearances from the substitutes bench before moving to Real Madrid in May 23.
The 23/24 season began with a new keeper between the sticks as England star Ellie Roebuck was the next to fall victim to Taylor. Roebuck failed to make the bench on some occasions despite being fully fit and it was clear that she was next on Taylor’s hit list.
Ellie would then suffer a stroke which would rule her out on medical grounds and when she recovered, the keeper secured a move to Barcelona.
2024 also saw the surprise departure of Esme Morgan and the retirement of Steph Houghton while Ruby Mace, who allegedly came to blows with Taylor previously, left to join Leicester.
And this year, Sandy MacIver and Alanna Kennedy were allowed to leave the club while the biggest transfer of the January window came with a huge amount of animosity.
Chloe Kelly’s protracted move to Arsenal came after the England star posted on social media that she didn’t see a future at the Joie Stadium. Kelly, like many other before her, found herself frozen out of the City first team as she became the latest to leave the club under a cloud.
That may have been the catalyst that saw the end of Taylor’s reign and, with former boss Nick Cushing taking his place, albeit on a temporary basis, City may be able to finally start moving forward. Whether Cushing takes the reins on a more permanent basis remains to be seen, but thankfully, the reign of Gareth Taylor has finally come to an end.
And it’s not a moment too soon.