Man City captain Greenwood shocked Taylor was sacked

Manchester City captain Alex Greenwood was “shocked” by the decision to sack head coach Gareth Taylor five days before the Women’s League Cup final.

City are fourth in the Women’s Super League, 12 points adrift of defending champions Chelsea, but are still competing in three cup competitions.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Greenwood said: “I had to digest it – I was obviously quite shocked when I was first told as it wasn’t something I expected.

” Ultimately the decision was made and we have to respect the decision and trust the decision. “

Taylor succeeded Nick Cushing in May 2020 and led City to two major honours – but Cushing has now returned as interim boss.

The club said in a statement when announcing Taylor’s departure that it” prides itself “in competing at the top of the WSL and qualifying for European competition but” unfortunately, results this season have so far not reached this high standard”.

Greenwood said she was not told any more about why the club made the decision but” for positive reasons, they want to move forward with Nick so we have to come together and trust that decision”.

She added:” My role as captain is to bring the team together and make sure the focus remains the same – which is on the final on Saturday and the run of games we’ve got coming up. I was shocked by the news, of course.

City face Chelsea in Saturday’s League Cup final (12: 15 GMT kick-off), which is live on BBC One, in a run of four back-to-back games against the Blues.

They will then play Sonia Bompastor’s side twice in their two-legged Champions League quarter-final, with a WSL meeting in between.

Taylor had been a controversial figure at City, with several players speaking out publicly about their experiences during his time in charge, including England goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck describing her relationship with him as “fractured”.

However, Greenwood said she had a “really positive” relationship with the 52-year-old.

“I was his captain and we had a really healthy relationship”, she added.

“I don’t expect everyone to have the same relationship with the manager, that’s football. Ultimately he has to make decisions and he’s never going to please everyone”.

Cushing will be in charge for the remainder of the season, having previously helped City win the WSL and the FA Cup, plus the League Cup twice, before leaving in January 2020 to join MLS side New York City.

“We were excited by that appointment because he knows the club really well, he’s been here before, he comes with a huge history of winning and his mentality to win is second to none”, said Greenwood, who is currently sidelined with a knee injury.

“I had a really, really good chat with him on Tuesday morning.

Former Manchester City players Ellen White and Jen Beattie, who both played under Taylor, have questioned the timing of the sacking.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live’s Women’s Football Weekly podcast, White said:” Very odd timing I would say – it’s super strange.

“I feel a bit sorry for him because]he has] a lot of injuries. But you’ve got to throw it back to the club at the same time to be like – are you invested into this team, where do you want this team to go?

” He could have gone months ago, last year potentially. I don’t think they’re in that bad a position at the moment. It’s just the weirdest timing ever. “

Beattie said it was the players she felt for most and the impact it has on their cup final preparation.

” It’s the timing for me, absolutely wild, five days before a cup final.

“I understand the decision making, but I do think the timing was really, really unfair on the players”.

Both White and Beattie worked under Cushing in his previous spell at City and believe he is the right choice to take the club forward.

“He understands what Man City is about, he understands the club, the expectations and he is a figure that a lot of people will know”, said White.

“I think he’s got some great ideas. He’s very diligent, he’s very tactical, he’s good at communication and he loves being on the grass. He’s a very, very good coach”.

Beattie played under Cushing for four seasons at City and was part of the WSL-winning side in 2016 and won two FA Cups and two League Cups under him.

“In my experience under Nick, Nick had this unbelievable ability to make you focus on the task in hand and to be able to shut out the noise”, she said.