GREG TAYLOR wasn’t included in the Scotland squad for the World Cup qualifying double header against Denmark and Belarus.
But the former Celtic defender still made his presence known during the live TV coverage – albeit in a rather different capacity!
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Taylor, who as 14 caps, had been a squad regular since Steve Clarke’s appointment as Scotland boss back in 2019.
However, he hasn’t been part of any of the head coach’s camps since November last year.
Even with Kieran Tierney pulling out of the current squad through injury, Clarke elected to call-up Sassuolo’s Josh Doig as back-up to skipper Andy Robertson on the left side of defence.
Tierney’s return to Celtic in the summer ultimately saw Taylor move on after six years at Parkhead.
The 27-year turned down a new contract with the Hoops and decided to head for Greece.
He penned three-year deal with PAOK, joining the club on a free transfer.
Taylor has so far made three appearances for his new club, all of them being 1-0 wins – one in the Europa League against Wolfsberger and league wins over Larissa and Atromitos.
The former Kilmarnock star has only been in Greece for just over two months.
However, it seems like the BBC reckon that’s enough time to hand the five-time Scottish Premiership champion a new role.
Following on from Friday’s more than respectable 0-0 draw with Denmark in Copenhagen, Scotland beat Belarus 2-0 last night in neutral ground in Hungary.
The Danes, meanwhile, were thumping Greece 3-0 in Athens.
After the first two games, it leaves Denmark and Scotland tied at the top on four points, with the Greeks a point behind after their opening 3-1 win over Belarus last week.
Next up for Scotland, it’s Greece at Hampden.
So who better to call upon for some expertise than a man actually IN the country?
That’s exactly what the BBC did during their live TV coverage of the Scots’ win in Belarus.
During the post-match debrief, host Jonathan Sutherland and pundits Scott Brown and Neil McCann analysed the goals from Denmark’s thumping win over the Greeks.
Then, they called upon a man with a brand new expert role – none other than Taylor!
Sutherland said: “Goodness me, if only we had a Greek correspondent to call upon – and as if by magic there he is, Greg Taylor!”
“Which match were you watching most closely? I’m sure you had an eye on that surprisingly heavy defeat for Greece by Denmark.”
Crossing live to Taylor in Greece, fans couldn’t help but notice how the Beeb had decided to label him.
When Taylor’s name appeared at the bottom of the screen, most would’ve expected it to say something akin to ’14 Scotland caps,’ maybe even ‘won five Scottish league titles with Celtic’ or perhaps just his current club ‘PAOK.’
However, Taylor was presented on air as “Greek Football Correspondent.”
Now it was obviously a little tongue-in-cheek and fans were loving it.
One took to social media to say: “Having Greg Taylor as ‘Greek football correspondent’ is incredible.”
Another added: “BBC calling Greg Taylor their Greek football correspondent is actually hilarious.”
A third joked: “Why has Greg Taylor been relegated to ‘Greek football correspondent?'”
A fourth noticed: “Our Greek correspondent: Greg Taylor.”
While another quipped: “That’s not Greg Taylor. That’s Georgios Taylokisinovas.”
Taylor seemed rather settled in his ‘new role’ and quickly delivered some inside info from his own club’s dressing room!
He told the BBC team: “I think from speaking to the couple of lads in the team who are in the squad, they were quite confident going into the camp and hoped to pick up on a few positive results so they’ll be disappointed with tonight but on the Scottish boys, it was important to win tonight after a good result in Denmark.”
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Brown then chimed in with: “Fantastic to see you’ve got a great tan out there, pal. Looking magnif. Those curtains as well, spot on. Always looking magnif. How are you enjoying life over in Greece?”
Taylor replied: “I’ve settled in really well, the team are progressing each game and we’ve had a few positive results in the qualifying games in Europe so we’re building nicely.”
Host Sutherland then asked Taylor about the biggest changes he’s found swapping Scotland for Greece.
And it seems like it’s the late night starts to games that are proving the thing he’s struggling most to get used to!
Taylor revealed: “The kick-offs are later here because of the temperature so it’s getting used to that but the standard has actually been really good.
“We’ve got a lot of good players, international players and yeah, it’s been enjoyable.”
While most fans noticed Taylor’s name on the screen, others were more focused on where he was doing his interview from.
He was wearing a white T-shirt and sat in front of a plain white curtain – and many seemed to think he was calling in live from his BARBERS.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
One fan joked: “Nice of Greg Taylor to take a break from his haircut appointment to chat to the guys at Sportscene.”
A second asked: “Is Greg Taylor getting interviewed during a haircut?”
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