Turnip
Graham Taylor and the press
Turnip
This was arguably the most iconic football headline in the 1990s:
The reason for the ire of The Sun, of course, was England’s exit from Euro ‘92 at the hands of Sweden. England managed to score only a single goal during its 3 group matches, and blew a 1-0 lead that would have otherwise seen it to the next round.
So what was Taylor’s problem?
Well, the fact that Taylor never settled on a proper English squad was certainly problematic.
Sure, injuries played a role — but, seriously, England in the run up to Euro ‘92 used something like 60 different players. In hindsight, I really wonder if Taylor knew what he was doing.
And, of course, Taylor should never have said what he said about possibly winning the 1994 World Cup.
I wonder if there aren’t still England fans out there who wonder if Brian Clough would have done a better job.
In the end, of course, the FA made no change, leading eventually to the second version of that famous turnip cover:
