Matt Taylor: Neil McDonald will be massive help at Walsall

Taylor has now officially taken over as boss after being poached from Spurs’ academy set-up.

He enters into his first full-time head coach role but will bring experienced manager and coach McDonald with him, a move he insists is essential.

Taylor said: “It’s massive. Neil is somebody that I’ve had the pleasure to play for when he was assistant to Sam (Allardyce) at West Ham. I thoroughly enjoyed working with him on a daily basis as a player and then I was fortunate enough to work with him as a coach when I was player/coach at Swindon. I know how Neil works and the strengths that he has, which would probably marry up with what my weaknesses are. That’s important for me.

“We have a relationship where we can be honest with each other. He’ll challenge me and I’m sure I’ll challenge him. What you have to remember, it’s about the collective ‘we’ not ‘I’. That’s important. They’ll be situations I haven’t been through, that Neil has. There will be conversations I haven’t had and I can lean on Neil. That’s vitally important.

“I was really happy when Neil agreed to help me out and be part of, hopefully, what will be a successful team here.”