Former Portsmouth, West Ham and Bolton favourite hails ‘God’ Paul Merson for role in 2002-03 title-winning season at Fratton Park

The 40-year-old has given an eye-opening insight into the true brilliance of the ex-Arsenal man during their time together at Fratton Park.

Merson made the surprise drop to Harry Redknapp’s second-tier outfit in the summer of 2002, joining a then 20-year-old Taylor in calling the south coast home.

The pair would go on to play pivotal roles in the Blues’ success that term as they won promotion from the old First Division with 98 points.

Yet it would prove to be their only season together, with Merson moving to Walsall the following summer, while Taylor remained at PO4 until 2008.

It’s no secret the lifestyle the former England international lived during his 12 months at Fratton Park, with Redknapp himself admitting he often turned a blind eye to the then 34-year-old’s ways.

Taylor is the latest name to share what went on behind closed doors at Pompey and revealed he was star-struck the first time the pair met in training.

The ex-Blues favourite told FootballWebIndex: ‘I did not expect to see someone like Paul Merson at training on the first day of pre-season.

‘I had only ever watched Merse play on the TV at the highest level of the game for Arsenal and England so it was unbelievable to be now training and playing alongside him.

‘For myself and all of the younger players, he was brilliant.

‘To emphasise his quality and how easy he made the game for me, I would make a run in the game up and down the line and invariably Paul would find me with a pass through the eye of a needle.

‘Then, the rest was up to me because he had done the hard part by playing the killer pass that put the opposition on the back foot.

‘He was our captain in the promotion-winning season and he was remarkable because on a match day, he would not warm up.

‘He would sit in the changing room with Harry having a chat and a cup of tea then at ten to three, he would put his boots on and go out onto the pitch for the match itself and be the best player on the pitch every week.

‘An unbelievable talent and what he gave us at Portsmouth in that season was truly unbelievable.

‘Paul is a God to the Pompey fans and rightly so because he was vitally important to us reaching the Premier League.’