Appointment When Taylor was appointed, critics in the media complained that he had never won a major trophy – although he had taken teams to second place in the league twice and an
FA Cup final once in
1984. It was also pointed out that Taylor had never played in "top-flight" football, let alone international level and that winning the respect of the players might be difficult. His critics also noted although he had ditched the long-ball game at Aston Villa, there were still tactical worries about his intentions, given that English clubs were looking to dispense with "route one" football in favour of a more "picturesque route to goal".
1992 European Championship Despite the unease at his appointment, England lost just once in Taylor's first 23 matches (a 1–0 defeat to
Germany at
Wembley Stadium in September 1991). However, England struggled to qualify for
Euro '92. In a group containing
Turkey,
Ireland, and
Poland, England were held to 1–1 draws by Ireland and managed just 1–0 wins home and away against Turkey. It was only a late goal from
Gary Lineker against Poland that saw England qualify at Ireland's expense. England's qualification for the Euro 92 finals proved to be the high point of Taylor's tenure. The number of players that Taylor was using in the run up to the championship was also questioned, the press and public viewed this as evidence Taylor did not know his best team. He used 59 players in total, as he struggled to find a "new spine" after the retirement of
Peter Shilton,
Terry Butcher and
Bryan Robson. He also faced accusations he could not cope with "stars", after he dropped
Paul Gascoigne for
Gordon Cowans for a qualifying game against Ireland. fearing he might "lose his head" in what would be a "bruising" encounter. Matters were not helped by Taylor's reluctance to use creative players who were not perceived to have high work rates, such as
Chris Waddle and
Peter Beardsley. He also suffered several injuries, notably to
Gary Stevens, Lee Dixon, John Barnes and Paul Gascoigne, leaving the squad in a makeshift position going into the finals. England were drawn to face
France,
Denmark and hosts
Sweden in
group 1. In the opening game against Denmark, England started brightly and missed several chances to take a lead.
David Platt was guilty of a particularly glaring miss. Thereafter, Denmark began to dominate the match, and nearly won with minutes left as
John Jensen struck a post. The game ended 0–0. In the match against France, Platt nearly scored with a diving header which went inches wide of the post, and
Stuart Pearce hit the bar with a free-kick. The game also ended 0–0. England needed to beat hosts
Sweden to advance to the semi-finals. Lineker crossed for Platt to open the scoring on four minutes with a mishit volley. However, England wasted several chances to extend their lead. Platt made a pass to
Tony Daley who wasted a chance to pass to Lineker in the open. England held a slender 1–0 lead at half-time. After half-time, Sweden changed their personnel and formation, and dominated the second half, scoring twice to win 2–1 and eliminating England.
1994 World Cup Qualification Stuttering start '' headline on 24 November 1993 following Taylor's resignation as England manager. Eighteen months earlier he had been called a "Turnip" by the newspaper, after England's defeat to
Sweden in
Euro 1992 Taylor's relationship with the press was partially restored when he admitted his mistakes a few weeks after the finals. However, this did not last long. England's first game after Euro 92 ended in a 1–0 defeat to Spain in a friendly,
The Sun depicted Taylor as a "Spanish onion". England were drawn in Qualification
Group 2 for the
1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States. The group contained
Norway, the
Netherlands,
Poland,
Turkey and
San Marino. England were expected to qualify along with the Dutch. England began with a disappointing 1–1 draw with Norway. Norway were the early pace setters, with victories over San Marino, the Netherlands and Turkey. Gascoigne returned, but the Norwegians were confident. Despite dominating the game, England could muster only half-chances. Platt gave England the lead in the 55th minute after a cross from Stuart Pearce. Norway rarely threatened, but equalised in the 77th minute, when
Kjetil Rekdal scored from 20 yards. The draw flattered the Norwegians but put them clear in the group.
Three wins and a Dutch draw The campaign seemed to get back on track with two wins against Turkey (4–0 at home and 2–0 away) and a 6–0 home victory over San Marino. During the latter game, Taylor confronted a spectator who was racially abusing Jamaica-born
John Barnes, telling him "You're talking about another human being so just watch your language". In April 1993, England faced the
Netherlands at
Wembley Stadium. England went 2–0 up in 24 minutes through
John Barnes and
David Platt. However, Taylor's luck had started to take a turn for the worse, as Paul Gascoigne was injured by
Jan Wouters' elbow, but Wouters was not sent off.
Dennis Bergkamp scored a goal for the Netherlands towards the end of the first half, against the run of play, but England continued to control the game, and looked to be heading for a win which would have ended Dutch hopes of qualification, following the side's defeat in Norway, and a draw at home to Poland. But four minutes from full-time
Marc Overmars outpaced
Des Walker, prompting Walker to foul him inside the penalty area. The penalty was converted by
Peter Van Vossen and the game ended 2–2. Suddenly England's "World Cup life" looked in danger.
Dariusz Adamczuk of Poland scored in the 36th minute, although the team missed several chances to extend their lead.
Ian Wright salvaged a vital point through forcing an equaliser in the 85th minute, for a final score of 1–1. Subsequently, Taylor said: "We made a complete mess of it. I'm here to be shot at and take the rap. I have no defence for our performance", although his honesty did not spare him a roasting from the press, who were now calling for his head. In July 1993, Peter Newman, an independent candidate in a
parliamentary by-election for
Christchurch, stood under the banner "Sack Graham Taylor".
The US Cup With their World Cup hopes hanging by a thread, Taylor's England were to play a four-team Tournament in the U.S (
1993 U.S. Cup), which was expected to be a precursor to the following summer's tournament. Taylor stated before the game against the
United States:In football, you're only as good as your last game, and at the moment we're poor. You can always lose any game, to anyone. It's how you lose that matters. That was the thing that shocked us all in Norway. We would have been looking for a win here anyhow, but if we'd won last week, it wouldn't have been considered essential. Now it is. Whether we like it or not, people expect us to beat America, and there is definitely more intensity about this game because of our performance in the last one. For Taylor, the US Cup began with a humiliating 2–0 defeat to the United States, in
Boston. U.S. goals by
Thomas Dooley and
Alexi Lalas were reported by
The Sun as "YANKS 2 PLANKS 0!". After a 1–1 draw with Brazil, and a 2–1 defeat to Germany, Taylor's tenure was now being questioned. In October, England were to play the Netherlands in Rotterdam. With Norway having won the group, the encounter would effectively decide the second and last qualifier of the group. The game was played at a furious pace, with the Netherlands putting England under pressure early on. However, England hit back with a string of counterattacks, with Platt heading just wide and
Tony Adams having a shot cleared off the line by
Erwin Koeman, while
Tony Dorigo hit a post with a deflected 35-yard free-kick after 25 minutes. Two minutes before half-time England were fortunate to have a
Frank Rijkaard goal ruled out for offside, even though replays showed the goal was legitimate. Just minutes later, Koeman took a free kick outside England's penalty area. His first shot was blocked, but it was ordered to be retaken because of encroachment. Taylor resigned on 23 November 1993, six days after England's failure to qualify. He went "with great sadness", saying: "No one can gauge the depth of my personal disappointment at not qualifying for the World Cup. This is the appropriate course of action in the circumstances," he said. "If we didn't qualify, it was always my intention to offer my resignation." Taylor had also agreed to be filmed during the
qualifying campaign for
Cutting Edge, a
Channel 4 fly-on-the-wall documentary series, in which his portrayal further undermined his authority. This was during the film
An Impossible Job; Taylor was heard to use foul language, and what became his personal
catchphrase: "Do I not like that", uttered just before England conceded a goal to Poland. ==Return to club management==