Saturday 14 January 2017 11:46, UK
John Barnes paid tribute to his former Watford and England manager Graham Taylor on Soccer AM, describing him as a "huge influence" and a "great man".
Taylor died at the age of 72 on Thursday, having managed Lincoln City, Watford and Aston Villa before becoming the national manager in 1990.
He took Watford from the Fourth Division to the First Division in just five years and led the club to the 1984 FA Cup final, where they lost 2-0 to Everton.
He also gave Barnes his debut at the club as a 17-year-old.
"He was a huge influence," said Barnes. "Not just on my career but my life. I was here with no parents living in digs and Graham looked after me. He had faith in me and belief. He cared about players off the field. He was a great man."
After leaving Watford to join Liverpool in 1987, Barnes played for Taylor again in the 1990s when he was manager of England.
And he recalled how Taylor gave him a show of support when he faced criticism from fans.
"There was one particular game against San Marino where the crowd were booing me," said Barnes. "The crowd got on my back and I wasn’t having a great game; did I want him to take me off? Probably yes, because it was quite horrific.
"But he didn’t take me off and at the end of the game he said ‘if you gave the ball away every single time I wouldn’t have taken you off, I was going to leave you on to let them know they can’t treat an England player that way’. And I thank him for that."
Watch Barnes' tribute to Taylor in the video at the top of the page.
