Former skipper Taylor ‘could write a book about what went wrong’ at Cobblers

Former Cobblers captain Ash Taylor has opened up about his second-season troubles at the club, saying he could ‘write a book’ on what went wrong and claiming manager Keith Curle didn’t want to ‘work’ with him because of a ‘clash of personalities’.
Ash Taylor and Keith CurleAsh Taylor and Keith Curle
Ash Taylor and Keith Curle

Signed from Aberdeen in the summer of 2017, centre-back Taylor could hardly have experienced two more contrasting seasons during his time at Northampton.

Following a first campaign in which he played nearly every game and was voted the club’s Player of the Year for his performances at centre-back, his second was hampered by injury, poor form and non-selection, ultimately leading to his departure two weeks after the season finished.

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The 28-year-old left the Cobblers in mid-May after his contract was terminated by mutual consent, paving the way for him to return north of the border and back to Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen a couple of weeks later.

Asked about his turbulent time at the Cobblers and why it didn’t work out, Taylor told the Scottish Sun: “My first year at Northampton went really well on a personal level but you could write a book about what went wrong in the second year.

“I don’t really want to go into it all as I prefer to look at the positives of coming back here. I didn’t get on with the manager. It wasn’t about ability, he didn’t want to work with me as I had an opinion and there was a clash of personalities.

“I was part of the group as I was the captain and I was on the lads’ side but I was frozen out of the squad in the last four weeks of the season for some unknown reason.

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“Things didn’t work out the way they should have. I’d moved there for family reasons. My wife and I had a whirlwind change after having our first kid and we wanted our family around us which is why we left.

“I’d to think long and hard about leaving and at the time it was the right decision for my family.

“As for the footballing reasons? Maybe I’ll look back on it in a few years and wonder but for now I’m pleased to be back at Aberdeen.

“Derek is the best manager I’ve worked with and the best manager in Scotland. That’s why I jumped at the chance to come back up here.”

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Taylor was dropped from the squad for Town’s final five fixtures last season and made the decision to return to Aberdeen after a chance meeting with the club’s head of recruitment Russ Richardson.

“It’s just nice to be back here and back in the red,” he added. “I jumped straight at it. It was a chance meeting with Russ that helped bring it about.”