Date of Birth: 23 01 1986
Place of Birth: Greenwich
Position: Defender
Nationality: England
Steven Taylor Rumours and Transfers
26 10 2007
England Under-21 skipper Steven Taylor has been told to cut out "crap" performances in a candid message from boss Sam Allardyce.
The young defender was frozen out of Allardyce's squad for the win against Spurs, not even making the bench, and has yet to agree a new deal with the club.
Taylor was heroic for his country at Euro 2007 but has suffered at club level under Allardyce, paying the price for Newcastle's 3-1 defeat at Manchester City, along with Czech stopper David Rozenhal.
Allardyce has ordered Taylor to learn from United's Brazilian stopper Claudio Cacapa and the way he uses brain rather than brawn to snuff out danger.
Big Sam reckons he now has the strength in depth to axe stars - even if their performances dip for just one game.
Four Allardyce summer signings, Habib Beye, Cacapa, Abdoulaye Faye and Jose Enrique are now the first choice defence.
Newcastle are looking to build on their strongest start for 10 years by beating Reading tomorrow and asked about Taylor's future, Allardyce said: "It's not about me dropping players, it's about players dropping themselves because they played crap at Manchester City. If you play that badly, you're likely to lose your shirt. That's not just Steven Taylor - it's most of the back four on that day. One poor performance can cost you. It's frustrating and disappointing for the player in question, but that's the nature of the game. Steven trains his hardest every day and of course he will be frustrated. Basic repetitive training is the answer, particularly for defenders. That hasn't happened too much in the past here. No disrespect to previous Newcastle managers, but it doesn't look as though it has. The perfect example for Steven is Claudio Cacapa. He's not as quick as Steven, not as young but his brain gets him in to positions before the forwards. He makes it look simple. That's one of the big things to learn as a defender - reading the game."
04 10 2007
Stuart Pearce has named his England Under 21 squad for the Euro 2009 qualifiers against Montenegro and Republic of Ireland.
Manchester City's impressive Michael Johnson has been recalled, while Preston full-back Billy Jones has earned his first call-up.
Johnson missed the away victories over Montenegro and Bulgaria through injury, but after some excellent performances for his club he is likely to feature in the forthcoming fixtures.
An injury to Michael Mancienne has created an opening for Jones, while Birmingham City's Cameron Jerome has been included after impressing Pearce with his performance against Manchester United.
"Cameron has forced his way in at club level. I saw him play against Manchester United and thought he caused them problems and was a handful," Pearce said.
"Also Billy Jones has come in, to supplement what we've got, since losing Michael Mancienne to injury, so we just hope we don't lose any more."
After an excellent start to their qualifying campaign Pearce has emphasised the need to drive on and improve in their upcoming back-to-back fixtures.
"We need to capitalise on the two games coming up," he added.
"The two results out in Montenegro and Bulgaria were very good, we couldn't ask for any more from the players. We haven't conceded a goal in the two games, we've scored five, picked up maximum points, but we now need to capitalise on the two games coming up. But it just goes to show the mark of the group, we feel that we have picked up two very good results away from home, but we're not top of the group."
England Under 21 squad:
Goalkeepers: Ben Alnwick (on loan at Luton Town), Joe Hart (Manchester City), Joe Lewis (on loan at Morecambe)
Defenders: Martin Cranie (Portsmouth), Craig Gardner (Aston Villa), Billy Jones (Preston North End), Nedum Onuoha (Manchester City), Andrew Taylor (Middlesbrough), Steven Taylor (Newcastle United), David Wheater (Middlesbrough)
Midfielders: Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham Hotspur), Adam Johnson (on loan at Watford), Michael Johnson (Manchester City), Michael Kightly (Wolves), James Milner (Newcastle United), Fabrice Muamba (Birmingham City), Mark Noble (West Ham United), Andrew Surman (Southampton)
Forwards: Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Dexter Blackstock (QPR), Matt Derbyshire (Blackburn Rovers), Cameron Jerome (Birmingham City), Luke Moore (Aston Villa).
