The Portsmouth great and Tottenham Hotspur legend who’ve helped shaped career of new Fratton arrival

The prodigious left foot, whirring energy and commitment of Matt Taylor means he will always be revered around these parts, after six years, 29 goals and 342 appearances which straddled some of the best days in this club’s history.

Of course, it’s the showreel goals which stand the test of time, with some of the most iconic long-range efforts the Premier League has ever seen emanating from Taylor’s mercurial and instinctive talent.

It was ability quickly noted by new Pompey arrival Josh Oluwayemi, when he first saw the left-sided flying machine in action.

But the new keeper wasn’t watching Taylor in his top-flight pomp, but at close quarters at his former club Tottenham’s training base in Enfield.

Oluwayemi was influenced by the 40-year-old when they worked together in the Blues favourite’s near two years as Spurs under-18 coach.

And, even after the boots had been hung up after his illustrious career, the Londoner was wowed by what he saw from Taylor.

‘Matt was great,’ Oluwayemi said, of the Blues hero.

‘He came to Spurs as an ex-payer - and he still had it!

‘Matt had a great left peg on him, that was the first thing I noticed about him when he was kicking balls after training.

‘He was a great guy and obviously knew a lot about the game.

‘I thought he looked young. When he first came I thought “oooh, is he going to join in!”.

‘But he was a good coach who helped everyone he worked with in his time at the club.’

After 11 years at Spurs, Oluwayemi was fortunate enough to receive some top-level guidance as he learned his trade between the sticks.

That included gaining advice from former England No1 Joe Hart and France’s Hugo Lloris.

Oluwayemi was particularly thankful to have received a guiding hand from legendary Spurs and Northern Ireland keeper Pat Jennings.

Now it’s about putting that knowledge to good use as he aims to make the grade at Fratton Park.

He added: ‘I had some big influences coming though.

‘Joe Hart was great for me, Pat Jennings was just brilliant and Hugo had some great words of wisdom and had time to help me develop.

‘The goalkeeper coaches were very important like Perry Suckling, Alex Welsh and Dean Brill.

‘It was a great goalkeeping experience, and even coming here you can see there’s a great goalkeeping base with (coach) Joe Prodomo.

‘It’s a great next step in my career and I feel like I can build and do some good things here.

‘Of course, I’m coming to play but I have to respect the way systems are, the way we play and the level I’m at now.

‘All I can do is improve, train and show I’m good enough to get into the team and gain the gaffer’s trust.’