Graham Taylor took over the England job amidst much optimism, following England’s strong Italia 90 campaign.  The expectation was that England would continue to be a force at major tournaments.

However, the optimism evaporated as Taylor struggled to get to grips with the unique challenge of international football.  He failed to develop a playing identity for the Three Lions (beyond a stale version of his beloved direct football) and struggled to manage the erratic talents of Paul Gascoigne. 

Taylor’s relationship with the media and the fans became increasingly fractious and after a poor European Championship in Sweden, the pressure mounted as England set off to qualify for USA 94.  The qualifying campaign was littered with tactical errors, bizarre selections, key injuries, humbling defeats, strange officiating, not to mention ambiguous syntax (“Can we not knock it?”, “Do I not like that?”). 

Taylor’s composure unravelled, with the whole grisly spectacle being recorded for an unintentionally hilarious fly-on-the-wall documentary. 

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