Taylor delighted to 'marry up' with Cowleys again
Lyle Taylor has played international football for Montserrat
- Published
Colchester United summer signing Lyle Taylor believes fate has led him to work with Danny and Nicky Cowley once again.
Taylor played under Danny Cowley in 2009-10, when he was formerly manager of non-league Concord Rangers and assistant boss Nicky was a team-mate.
The 34-year-old has joined Colchester on a one-year contract after appearing for Wycombe Wanderers and Cambridge United on short-term deals last season.
"This isn't by accident. Yes, it's taken a number of years for us to marry up (again) because when Danny got into the league, they were at a level I wasn't quite at and then I had some success at a level above the level they were coaching at," the former Nottingham Forest striker told BBC Essex Sport.
"Danny was my first manager in men's football, Nick was the captain, and (chief scout) Simon Bassey has been a friend and a confidante, and somebody who's been a massive part of my life and my development over the last nine years.
"To be able to work alongside those people is massive for me and that's why I chose to be here."
Taylor scored three times in 23 games last season - 21 of them in League One - and intends to have an impact for the U's, both in terms of goals and helping younger forwards like Samson Tovide and Bradley Ihionvien.
He said: "Brad and Samson have a chance to have really good careers. They are two young boys that are obviously hungry, good athletes, well built, they just have to learn the nuances of being a horrible centre-forward."
Following his spells with Wycombe and Cambridge, Taylor wanted to find a new club early to ensure he was able to have a full pre-season and agreed the deal with Colchester earlier this month.
"It makes such a difference in terms of your capacity throughout the season," he said.
"It's important to have a baseline. Especially at my age, you need a baseline of strength and aerobic fitness, so I'm really glad to get it over the line."
Taylor was not involved in a 2-0 win over non-league Maldon & Tiptree, Colchester's first pre-season friendly, but has almost a month to get ready for the start of their league campaign, away to one of his former clubs, AFC Wimbledon, on 10 August.
He added: "This is by no means 'let's just play for this season and call it a day'. Absolutely no chance.
"Yes, my deal is a year long and it's up to me to earn a contract longer than that and that's what I aim to do, but I want to be part of this project - this is building a football club forwards and I want to be part of that."