Ryan Taylor targets starting role...

Ryan Taylor has stated today that he won't be happy to sit on the bench at NUFC and wants to prove to Alan Pardew that he is capable of performing at Premier League level.

Now I'm not sure if you all know about my feelings towards Ryan Taylor, but I'll guess that you may have more of a clue by the end of the article. I'm not one to get on the backs of players and at times I can go too far defending them, but something about Ryan Taylor really really grates on me. Still, at least he wants to prove a point I guess;

“I’m always there and available for the gaffer. I know what he means by me being a different option. If he needs me, I’ll be there." said Taylor. “Like any player, I’m not happy to sit on the bench. I want to show him I can play, and that I can be in that starting XI.”

Now excuse me whilst I vomit a little bit, but the thought of seeing him playing first team football for us in the Premier League makes me wretch. I wasn't mad keen on him last season either, and that was in the Championship. A temporary sub is all he has ever been for us.

I just fail to see what Taylor can add to the team. He isn't fast, can't pass, can't dribble and has somehow managed to gather a reputation for being a set-piece specialist, although as yet I've not seen any evidence of this in a black and white shirt.

The final straw for me was the Bolton game. I was in the Milburn Stand that game, blissfully unaware that Joey Barton, who I'd been watching warm up, was to be ruled out. When I saw Ryan Taylor trot out of the tunnel in his place I was less than impressed. I knew he'd balls something up

Sure enough, ten minutes into the second half, my hunch turned out to be correct as he miscontrolled the ball and then tried to snap a Bolton player in half. I said to the wife, who was doing her nails or playing with something sparkly at the time, that Taylor was an 'idiot' ;) and that his lunge was a straight red. We know the rest......

Fast forward six weeks, and have we missed him? I'd say no, although others may disagree. Taylor does admit however that he has been disappointed to have been ruled out;

“It was six weeks, almost to the day I think, since I got sent off,” Taylor told the Gazette. “You never hear of a three-game suspension being six weeks. Normally, there’s a midweek game somewhere along the line so you play two in one week."

“It’s just the way it went for me. I’d come back from an injury I couldn’t prevent, and then had a suspension 55 minutes into my comeback game, which wasn’t ideal. Hopefully, now I’ll get a few minutes on the pitch now I’m fully fit and free from suspension.”

Hopefully? For you maybe Raylor!