Taylor hits back at Lineker

Former England coach Peter Taylor has hit back at criticism from Gary Lineker over the signings he made during his spell as manager of Leicester.

One time England and Foxes star Lineker today firmly pointed the finger at Taylor for City's demise - which culminated in relegation from the Premiership - because of his dealings in the transfer market.

Television pundit Lineker described Taylor as "a good coach and a good bloke" but claimed "the money was not spent as wisely as it could have been" on new players after he replaced Martin O'Neill.

But, while admitting to making mistakes, Taylor insisted some of his buys have turned out to be successful for City and it was wrong for him to take all the blame for things going wrong at the East Midlands club.

Taylor said: "If Gary feels like that, I am disappointed that he did not say it to me face to face when we were doing work together for the BBC during the World Cup.

"I have to say I am sorry that someone else who has never wanted to be in the position to sell and buy players as a manager should say that and I will fight my corner.

"My only regret was that I spent too much on Ade Akinbiyi (£5million) and I've been judged by certain people on that one player.

"I hold my hands up and say I made mistakes - but not everything was a mistake and a Leicester fan's website I looked at picked out three of my signings - Ian Walker, Lee Marshall and Callum Davidson - as three of the best players last season.

"I had some similar criticism from Alan Smith (former Leicester and England striker) but when they do that I just wish they would paint the whole picture.

"I don't mind them criticising my signings but why not also point out that a lot of the players who were already at the club did not play to their best form or anywhere near their maximum."

Taylor quit as manager of Brighton at the end of last season despite guiding them to promotion from Division Two and is still looking to get back into the game.

He said: "I am hoping that something comes up. I was hoping to have got something sorted by now but nothing has happened yet."