Trying to solve the CT conundrum26.05.2014
Go inside the mind of Chris Taylor, the man who has led South Melbourne to its tenth-straight NPL win.
By Craig MacKenzie
(Image credit: Cindy Nitsos)Chris Taylor is a complex character. So is his former coach John Gardiner.
Their paths crossed at Sunshine George Cross in the 1980s and the indelible mark left on Taylor by the football genius of Gardiner is there to see.
It’s as if Taylor has taken on the coaching persona of his one-time mentor, in fact there is an eerie similarity in some of their mannerisms.
Taylor’s deadpan gameday expression in the dugout or standing in the technical area chin resting in the palm of one hand as he ponders his next move are Gardinerisms.
So is his usual greeting, eyes peering up from a slightly bowed head, a seeming shyness that camouflages the warrior within.
If Taylor wasn’t such a successful football coach he could be a world-class poker player.
Mere mortals such as us who look upon Taylor from afar have little chance of getting to know him well.
His players are much closer but they have no chance of unravelling his mystique because he won’t let them.
“I think when you are coaching you are trying to get the best out of individuals and one of the philosophies I’m really big on is that I need to know more about my players than they’ll ever know about me, “ Taylor said.
“Sometimes coaching involves a bit of front. Coaching often is about managing situations and sometimes by looking like you’re upset you can get a positive response. But that’s just part of my style of managing people.”
It’s a style that gained impetus at Thomastown over two decades ago (as assistant to Ken Murphy), then developed at Sunbury, Altona Magic, Melbourne Raiders, Green Gully, Altona East Phoenix, Sunshine George Cross, Melbourne Knights and Dandenong Thunder.
His journey also includes being Victorian state coach and winning dual VPL Coach of the Year honours as well as coaching Victorian state junior sides and a gig as head zone coach with the Southern Blue Tongues in the Victorian Champions League.
It’s been a journey with a purpose and that purpose becomes all too clear when he talks about his current destination.
“I’ve done the hard yards and I’ve worked very, very hard to get here. It’s been a long process but it’s nice to look back on all that work and say to yourself that it’s really paid off because now you are at South Melbourne, the most famous football club in Australia.
“For me South Melbourne is still the biggest and the best club going around.
“You can say that Victory has been a fantastic invention and certainly they are the flagship of the A-League but there are other clubs there that pale into insignificance when compared to South Melbourne.”
Taylor is one of the highest credentialled coaches in Victoria and is about to complete his AFC A Licence.
He has a liberal dose of football pragmatism and he is forthright.
His views can ruffle feathers and are significant points of difference between him and some of his counterparts.
“I learned a lot from John Gardiner and what he taught me is still relevant today despite the different buzzwords in use now.
“We all want to play like Barcelona or Real Madrid then reality kicks in and if you haven’t got the cattle you have to adjust your philosophy to achieve your outcomes.
“Sometimes outcomes may be the way you play football, other times it might be results.
“I find that a lot of coaches I speak to get lost in philosophies.”
Not Taylor though and this is where his competitive nature takes over.
“If you ask me whether I’m outcomes or results driven I’d love to say outcomes but results mean a lot to me. I want to win every game we play.
"I know that’s not what everyone wants to hear but I see a lot of coaches going around and painting a pretty picture of how many passes their team has and that they play a lot of possession brands which tends to gloss over the result.
“People don’t get passionate when they get beat but they get passionate when they win and at the end of the day the game is about results.
“We say that kids just play for the enjoyment but I wouldn’t like to be a kid growing up and getting beaten every week. For me results are paramount.”
Once the dust settled earlier this year from the off-season stoush between clubs and FFV over the structure of the NPL, Taylor got down to business assembling a squad that could face the challenge of competing in four major competitions – NPL Victoria, NPL (national) Championship, Dockerty Cup and FFA Cup.
And it didn’t take him long to make heads turn by selecting 15-year-old former junior Andy Kecojevic in his first-team squad.
“I feel I’ve got a duty in terms of what we are trying to achieve at the club and while it would be nice to go out and get the best players available we’re aiming at building a culture within the club that takes the club to another level.
“Part of that is to either promote from within or get young players from other clubs that fall into line with what the NPL is all about.
“Younger players are great to work with anyway. They are enthusiastic and respond well.
“Okay, not every one of them is going to be a success but I certainly believe that we will create talented players as we have been doing over the years.
“Sometimes a young player just needs that opportunity and encouragement they might not always get offered at other clubs.”
When Taylor casts his net it can drift far and wide as evidenced by last week’s capture of 19-year-old midfielder Dion Kirk from Adelaide United.
Kirk was Adelaide’s Most Valuable Player in last season’s National Youth League and his signing is yet another statement of intent from Taylor.
“We think Dion (Kirk) has a lot of potential and he’s a prime example of what we are trying to do,” Taylor said.
“We are trying to enhance what the NPL wants to do and this is to give young kids an opportunity.
“We want to keep improving and although we’re doing okay at the moment we might need to freshen things up when the transfer window opens. We’ll see.
“But it’s not a case of going out and changing for the sake of change.”
On and off the field life’s good for the man his mates call ‘CT’.
Sunday’s 1-0 win away from home against Werribee was the club’s tenth in a row, the greatest start to a season in a history that dates back to 1959.
And Taylor’s personal life is stable and fulfilling. He has married for the second time and he and partner Michelle have a four-year-old son, Ryder.
“Obviously I’m very fortunate at my age to have a four-year-old son and Michelle and Ryder are my main priorities so everything else runs a very distant second after that.”
Distant it may be but coaching in a sport he is passionate about means a lot to him.
(Image credit: Cindy Nitsos)“I get nervous all the time before games.
“As a coach you can’t directly affect the result of a game other than by making certain changes which means that you are relying on other people to achieve what you want to achieve.
“I love being involved at this level. I really do like local football and that’s where my focus has been for some time.”
But now and again Taylor allows himself time to dream, to imagine what his football future may hold and it’s a positive future that emerges.
“Without doubt I’d love to be a full-time coach but that would be the ultimate goal for a lot of people in football and it’s often not possible here because of limited opportunity.
“To be coaching South Melbourne in the A-League is my dream and I like to think that that is possible.
“I like to think that it’s more logical than some of the other ideas that are being floated around at the moment.
“If South Melbourne was in the A-League I don’t think that our crowds would be any less than some of the clubs in the competition right now.
“South Melbourne as a whole would probably need to market itself a bit differently but the infrastructure and the people are there and I don’t think that it’s a far-fetched idea.
“I think it would only enhance the A-League.”
Whether or not that dream proves to be pie-in-the-sky remains to be seen and currently the greatest source of satisfaction for Taylor in football terms comes from helping to make players better.
“It’s a great feeling, it really is. I guess a prime example is to see a player like Ivan Franjic get selected to go to a World Cup.
“If you believe that you’ve played a small part in his development then it’s a fantastic feeling and as a coach it makes everything worthwhile.”
It’s even better than winning awards which has become almost commonplace for Taylor.
“I’m not so sure that these awards mean a great deal because they are individual awards and being a coach isn’t about being an individual.
“For me the greatest thing a coach can do is to take a club and change the situation they are in and build a better future for them.
“I like to think that I’ve done that in most cases.
“When I’ve been to a club I think I’ve taken them to a better place in terms of developing players and probably improving the club overall.”
Taylor can hold his head high if that turns out to be his legacy at the most famous football club in Australia.