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Graham Taylor Documentary: “Do I Not Like That – The Final Chapter”

The documentary “Do I Not Like That – The Final Chapter” follows Graham Taylor, and his disastrous attempt to lead England through qualification to World Cup ‘94.

The documentary is now infamous for all kinds of reasons. Taylor’s use of the phrase “Do I not like that”. Phil Neal emerging as the ultimate Yes Man. Ronald Koeman escaping a red card and then destroying us with a free kick. San Marino putting one past us after seven seconds. And of course the swearing, which seemed like a big deal in 1994, but now barely registers.

The documentary is available on YouTube in 14 parts, which I’ve embedded sequentially below so you can watch online:


Hard to know what to think fifteen years later. I was young at the time and had fallen in love with football (and the England team) as a result of our performances at Italia ‘90. I couldn’t wait to see England play in a World Cup again, and it seemed to me that Graham Taylor was to blame for that not happening. I remember being very very angry, and this documentary did nothing to change my mind.

But watching now I mostly feel sympathy for Graham Taylor. He made some poor decisions, and had no clue about public relations and how to present himself to the media. But he was also desperately unlucky, dealing with injuries to key players like Alan Shearer, Stuart Pearce and Paul Gascoigne, a fair bit of injustice in the Holland game and a hostile press that couldn’t wait to see him fail.

If I was desperate for England to qualify, then I can’t even begin to imagine how Taylor was feeling.

Still… part of me wonders if maybe the results might have been better if the camera hadn’t been there. Here’s what Taylor told The Guardian in 2006 when asked if he regretted the documentary:

Q: If you had your time again would you take part in that Channel 4 documentary?

Taylor: That was planned in the event of England qualifying for the 1994 World Cup. In effect it was to show what the England manager’s job was other than when internationals were going on. A decision to go ahead was made six months beforehand. I made the decision and then we lost to Norway and Poland, which opened up the possibility we may not qualify and changed the angle of the documentary.

So as with Euro 2008, the failure to qualify seems to have its roots in an arrogant assumption that we definitely would.

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Comments
By diana | August 20th, 2009 at 6:06 am
Top

Funnily enough, USA ‘94 was the first major football tournament I remembered, though France ‘98 was the time when I started to follow a World Cup tournament.

Too young to remember anything from Italia ‘90 because I was two-going-on-three at that time, so USA ‘94 became the first World Cup I remembered. Though it took me years since that tournament I first remembered to know that Brazil beat Italy on penalties in the final. And to be honest, I had no idea England never qualified for USA ‘94 until very much later.

At least now I know who uttered that immortal line of ‘Do I Not Like That’, because I have always wondered who first said it.

Posted from Singapore Singapore

By ifotbol.com | August 20th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Top

Rewatched this the other day and came away with far more sympathy for Taylor than after first time around. Love his press conference when he tells the journos to cheer up and stop taking things so seriously.

Posted from Argentina Argentina

By Jack | August 23rd, 2009 at 12:41 am
Top

When is McClaren coming up with his documentary?

Posted from United States United States

By Gene | August 24th, 2009 at 7:01 am
Top

How in the world did Koeman escape a red card for that elbow??

Posted from United States United States

By yasuhito | August 30th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
Top

japan the best tean

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