Opinion: Why Manchester City Women Need to Part Ways with Gareth Taylor

This is nothing personal against Gareth Taylor and I don’t usually advocate a manager losing their job. But in the case of Taylor, the sooner he leaves Manchester City Women, the better for the team.

The blues lacklustre defeat to Chelsea on Sunday was just the latest this season in what is turning out to be a nightmare for City. After running Chelsea all the way last season, the blues were once again touted as challengers to Londoner’s crown. However, far from being title contenders, they are struggling for form and sit in the lower half of the table.

Last week’s win at Leicester was a small reprieve, but, after losing 3-0 to Chelsea in the FA Cup with barely a whisper, the blues succumbed again, this time taking a 4-0 hammering on their own soil. It’s a third home defeat of the season and City are yet to win at the Academy Stadium in the WSL this season.

Injuries have taken their toll, but as Emmanuel pointed out in his article yesterday, the manager needs to find solutions. And he just hasn’t done so.

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes admitted that she got her tactics in the first half wrong, and subsequently changed them in the second half. City fans are still waiting for Taylor to do likewise in any match. The manager looks bereft of ideas on how to solve the current crisis and has the look of a tortoise on a gatepost – no idea how he got there, no idea how to get down and wants someone to give him a push to put him out of his misery.

The blues are a shadow of the team that came within two points of the WSL title. Confidence is low in the team, and it is visible on the face of the players. When Janine Beckie scored City’s third against Durham, it looked like a goal borne from frustration than anything else. The Canadian start didn’t celebrate – it looked for all intents and purposes that she’d had enough, summing up the feeling of the supporters.

A change of manager now can give the team a new lease of life. It can inspire confidence and that will get results. It would also give the current stars a reason to stay.

City should be challenging for honours, for a Champions League spot, for trophies, and right now, it’s not happening. That gives some of the young stars, such as Georgia Stanway, Ruby Mace and Ellie Roebuck a reason to consider their options. City can ill afford lo lose such valuable players, but if Taylor persists along the path he’s on, they may have no choice but to move on. Sadly, City are regressing under Taylor’s leadership, and it is showing in the team.

City face United on Wednesday and defeat could see the end of Taylor’s reign.