Changing the Cityzens’ trainer just five days before the League Cup final and four games ahead of Chelsea could hurt more than help.
There are numerous accessible times for a club to sack a director. Of course, the middle of the season is ideal, with transnational windows and, if a league is lucky, the coming in the rankings, the downtime break. Still, the week of a mug final would not be on the list. Yet, that was the moment when Manchester City women’s platoon head trainer Gareth Taylor realised his time at the club was over. On Monday evening, less than 24 hours after he’d guided the Cityzens to the FA Cup semi-finals and five days before he was set to lead them out in the League Cup final, his departure was verified.
That is an astonishing schedule in itself. Zoom out a bit to take into account three further games, and it becomes indeed more astonishing. City’s opponents on Saturday are Chelsea, winners of the last five Women’s Super League titles and the platoon presently eight points ahead at the top of the table. City’s opponents in the coming three institutions are also Chelsea, as two legs of their titleholders League quarter-final tie make up a meeting in the WSL.
For Nick Cushing, who was appointed interim after Taylor’s departure, the return to the club could not have been more delicate. The 40- time-old spent further than six times in charge of the Cityzens before moving to New York City FC and winning their only WSL title to date. But despite the struggles under Taylor and former success with Cushing, City’s decision to make this change at this time presents an inconceivable threat that could actually hamper their chances of success rather than enhance it.
