'I didn't hesitate': Andrew Taylor opens up on his move to Sunderland and a 'daunting' first day

The former Middlesbrough and Bolton Wanderers defender joined the Black Cats in 2019, shortly after the appointment of Phil Parkinson.

Taylor, who had played under Parkinson at Bolton during the previous campaign, had spent the summer in limbo after leaving the Whites and deciding to call time on his playing career.

But that period of wondering what was next quickly came to an end when Parkinson picked up the phone after arriving at the Academy of Light.

Speaking to The Full-Time Football Show about his move to Sunderland, Taylor said: “It's really good, I'm enjoying it.

“I'd stopped playing in that summer and was uhming and ahing really of what I was going to do next, taking a bit of time.

“Then the manager rang me and asked if I'd like to come up and be the first-team coach. I didn't hesitate - I said yes straight away.”

And while Taylor expected a gentle introduction to life on Wearside, he was very quickly thrown in at the deep end – on what he admits was a ‘daunting’ first day at his new club.

“It was daunting because it was my first coaching job from playing,” he explained.

“Even though you do your badges and stuff, it's not the same. They give you some tools but they don't prepare you, and I didn't have the luxury of going and working with under-14s or anything first.

“I remember my first day, we sat down and we were going through what we were going to do for the session.

“I thought, maybe for the first week or two, I would just shadow the manager or assistant manager and feel my way in.

“But we sat down and the manager just went 'Tayls, I want you to do this possession and the passing drill. Is that alright?'

“And I went 'yeah, yeah, of course it is' - but inside I was s******* myself!

“It was the best thing I did, getting chucked in.”

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