The 47-year-old, who was unveiled on Thursday, spoke openly of his aims and objectives in his first CityTV interview, targeting domestic and continental glory with the Champions League the ultimate prize.
City held an impressive record in the competition, having reached the semi-finals twice consecutively at our first attempts before being edged out by six-time tournament winners Lyon on both occasions.
With the past two campaigns having proven disappointing with successive early round eliminations at the hands of Atletico Madrid, Taylor admits he intends to restore the players’ confidence as a priority, as he begins his venture into first-team football.
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Speaking to the media for the first time since his appointment in a press conference, he declared: “I feel personally that I’m ready for this moment.
“It’s a big step up, a big responsibility but one I’m thoroughly looking forward to getting started with. I’m really excited about the future.
“This Club has won six trophies in six seasons – I’m under no illusions and cup competitions can be extremely difficult, especially in the knock-out phrase. You have to be right in every single moment.
“That’s the beauty of cup competitions, especially the FA Cup – the magic of the underdog.
“(As for the Champions League), we really want to progress and improve our status. I’m not surprised Nick (Cushing) said he wishes he could have done the two semi-finals again against Lyon – I’ve watched them and on occasions, we were unfortunate.
“The big thing Lyon have over the rest of the field is a belief and winning brings that.
“I’m really interested in working with the players to ensure they have the belief that will be doing our very best and that we belong at that level.
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“If we can get those right, plus other things, hopefully, we’ll be successful.
“I’ve been watching a lot of previous games – I’ve even watched every England international for the last two years. We have a focus on international players, players in Europe, national games; even games not involving our players...
“I’ve really enjoyed the process – I’ve been crazily writing notes!
“In terms of philosophy, that’s an important thing to me. I want to play winning football with style and a bit of class.
“Even if we were successful enough to win the Champions League, it doesn’t stop there. We’re always looking to improve, looking at the next objective: retaining it and how to do that.
“We’re constantly evolving. You can’t sit on previous success.
“As a manager, I have many influences – I’m an evolving coach with fundamental morals with the things I hold dear to me.
“This is a really good step up for me and I feel comfortable in having had a playing career, knowing what it means to want to win, trying to win, behaving in the right manner.
“I’m extremely focused on the objectives and I’m looking for ways to challenge.
“I’m under no illusions – I’m confident but I need as much support as I can get. I had that in the Academy – the success there was a team effort. I may be at the forefront but I don’t take lightly the amount of work people are putting in on a daily basis.
“That’s a big part of what I’m about – team ethic. It’s a joint thing.”
