"Graham Taylor: An Impossible Job" is a 1994 British fly-on-the-wall documentary directed and produced by Ken McGill, written by Patrick Collins, and made by

Chrysalis A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

for ''

Cutting Edge Cutting edge or The Cutting Edge may refer to: *The cutting surface of a blade or other cutting tool *State of the art, the highest level of development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field Businesses *Cutting Edge Creations, an Ame ...

''. The documentary follows the

England football team The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affiliat ...

through the 18 months before their failure to

qualify Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

for the 1994 FIFA World Cup Finals and showed the pressure manager

Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln ...

was under before his resignation. It was originally broadcast by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

on 24 January 1994.

Background

Neil Duncanson (who joined

as a freelance producer in 1991) suggested the documentary, though some of his colleagues believed they would never get permission. The title of the film, ''An Impossible Job'', reflects the difficulties of the England manager's position. Film-maker Ken McGill and his team recorded

and his team throughout the qualifiers. Taylor agreed to take part in the programme as he hoped it would show the differences between club and international management. But as results turned for the worse, the focus shifted to Taylor and the documentary captured a manager increasingly bereft as results went against him. In 2013, journalist Rob Shepherd revealed, "None of us in the ' Hack Pack' who followed England at the time knew that a documentary was being filmed. But Graham Taylor did." Taylor thought about cancelling filming before the trip to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

in June 1993, but believed that the written press - who were already hostile towards him - would seize on it as an admission England would not qualify. Before England's match against

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, the Dutch FA had denied access to the crew filming Taylor, but the England manager helped to smuggle them inside the

De Kuip Stadion Feijenoord (), more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip (, the Tub), is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same na ...

stadium. The crew donned England tracksuits and carried their film equipment into the stadium in team kitbags.

Synopsis

The documentary follows

before, during and after

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

's crucial qualifier against the Netherlands in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

. England's

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed * Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * B ...

started poorly with a home draw against Norway in October 1992. Taylor's subsequent touchline performances included the quotes "Do I not like that" and "Can we not knock it?" from an away game against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

in May 1993. During the following game, with England 2-0 down in Norway in June and making several misplaced passes, Taylor can be heard off-screen saying "fucking hell". Taylor visits David Platt in Italy to ensure the player consents to his captaincy being handed to

Stuart Pearce Stuart Pearce (born 24 April 1962) is an English professional football manager and former player, who was most recently a first-team coach for Premier League club West Ham United. He was nicknamed "Psycho" for his unforgiving style of play. ...

. He holds court in front of an audience of prison inmates of Ashwell Prison. He quips and scolds journalist Rob Shepherd during a press conference: Shepherd looks dejected by Taylor's team selection for the game against the Netherlands and pleads with him to change his mind. Taylor mocks him for his negativity, "Rob, I can't continue... Rob, I can't have... Listen, Rob... I cannot have faces like yours around about me. proarious laughterNo I can't – I tell you this now, if you were one of my players with a face like that, I'd fucking kick you out. You'd never have a chance. Put a smile on your face, we're here for business, come on." In October 1993, during the penultimate match in the Netherlands, referee

Karl-Josef Assenmacher Karl-Josef Assenmacher (born 30 May 1947) is a former German referee. Career Assenmacher, born in Hürth, Germany, has officiated a total of 153 games in the Bundesliga and 99 games in the 2. Bundesliga. From 1983 to 1993, he was a FIFA referee ...

did not send off

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is the younger brother of his former international teammate Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman. Koeman was ca ...

for fouling Platt. After Koeman scored, Taylor vents his frustration on the fourth official Markus Merk and the nearside linesman. After repeatedly complaining about the decisions, he says to Merk: "You see, at the end of the day, I get the sack." He then says to the linesman, "I'm just saying to your colleague, the referee has got me the sack. Thank him ever so much for that, won't you?"

Appearances

( England manager) *

Phil Neal Philip George Neal (born 20 February 1951) is an English retired footballer who played for Northampton Town, Liverpool and Bolton Wanderers as a full back. He is one of the most successful English players of all time, having won seven First ...

(England assistant manager) *

Lawrie McMenemy Lawrence McMenemy MBE (born 26 July 1936) is an English retired football coach, best known for his spell as manager of Southampton. He is rated in the ''Guinness Book of Records'' as one of the twenty most successful managers in post-war Engli ...

(England assistant coach) *Fred Street (England physiotherapist) * Charles Hughes (

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world ...

Director of Coaching) *Rob Shepherd (''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

'' journalist) * David Platt *

Paul Gascoigne Paul John Gascoigne (, born 27 May 1967), nicknamed Gazza, is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is described by the National Football Museum as "widely recognised as the most naturally tale ...

* Carlton Palmer *

Ian Wright Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer. He works as a pundit for BBC Sport and ITV Sport. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arse ...

Paul Ince Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince (; born 21 October 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of EFL Championship side Reading. A former midfielder, Ince played professionally from 1982 to 2007, sta ...

Paul Merson Paul Charles Merson (born 20 March 1968) is an English former professional footballer, manager, commentator and sports television pundit for Sky Sports. Originally a forward, Merson found success as an attacking midfielder and playmaker later ...

Broadcast and release

The film was broadcast by

on 24 January 1994 as part of the ''

'' documentary series. A censored version of the film was broadcast a few days later. More than six million people tuned in to watch the film. A 77-minute version of the film including previously unseen footage was released on VHS on 7 July 1997 retitled ''Graham Taylor: "Do I Not Like That. The Final Chapter"''. North One (which now owns

) sold the documentary to ITV who broadcast the extended version of the documentary on 5 October 2008 on

ITV4 ITV4 is a British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a line-up that consists of sports, cult classi ...

Aftermath

During the qualifying campaign, commentators felt that Taylor and his two assistants

and

gave the impression of never being in control of their situation. Neal was criticised for being a ' yes man' after the documentary was broadcast. The 2001 comedy feature film '' Mike Bassett: England Manager'' was inspired partly by Graham Taylor and ''An Impossible Job''. In 2013, Ken McGill told ''

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside ...

'', "I found it hard to take the consequences of the film. But there is nothing I would change. It is a piece of honest film-making."

Reception

The '' Daily Express'' called it "A fascinating mix of

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

and personal tragedy." 101 Great Goals said in 2008, "...the documentary is a super watch... Above all, it explains much about the pressure of being the England manager. It does also make you wonder how Graham Taylor is now a respected pundit." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' reported in 2010, "''An Impossible'' Job was immediately hailed as a comic masterpiece". Daniel Taylor of ''The Guardian'' in 2013 described it as "a piece of television gold." David Elkin of ''Pulp Football'' in the same year said, "The documentary is a brilliant examination of the media, the pressure and the utterly ludicrous nature of being the England national team manager." He added: ''An Impossible Job'' gives a real insight into the doomed campaign and the nature of the role." Barney Ronay in his 2010 book ''The Manager: The absurd ascent of the most important man in football'' said,

aylor Aylor may refer to: * Aylor, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community * Mark Aylor (born 1978), American former rugby union flanker * J.M. Aylor House, a historic house in Hebron, Kentucky, United States See also * Ayler Ayler is a ...

"turned out to be a brilliantly absorbing subject for a tragicomic documentary film." Andy Mitten in his 2003 book ''The Rough Guide to Cult Football'' said, "the programme's enduring legacy is to present him

unfairly as a provincial buffoon."

Awards

References

External links

* * *
''An Impossible Job''
on tvduck.com

''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

''. 8 October 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Impossible Job, An 1994 films 1994 British television episodes 1994 documentary films British television documentaries Channel 4 documentaries Cutting Edge (TV series) episodes Documentary films about association football Films shot in London Films shot in Poland Films shot in Norway Films shot in Italy Films shot in the Netherlands Films set in London Films set in Poland Films set in Norway Films set in Italy Films set in the Netherlands 1994 directorial debut films England national football team 1990s English-language films British sports documentary films 1990s British films