When it comes to winning international football matches with Northern Ireland, manager Lawrie Sanchez is in a very short queue. In February, less than an hour into his first match in charge of the Province, he watched them score their first goal for two years and six weeks later presided over their first win in 16 matches. A short queue indeed. But those waiting to heap praise on Birmingham City's goalkeeper Maik Taylor are much more numerous and only yesterday did the former Wycombe manager get his turn. He made the most of it too. Sanchez, two matches into his reign as manager of the national side, believes on form that the 32-year-old is the top goalkeeper in the Premiership. That's why he made the former soldier captain for the victory in Estonia but he is not the only one to heap praise on Taylor in the last few weeks. Blues manager Steve Bruce is a leading official in the Maik Taylor Fan Club which numbers several thousand fans, a legion of journalists set to name him Northern Ireland Player of the Year and quite a few fellow custodians, past and present. Much more of this and Taylor's career could be over as a swollen head prevents him from standing between the sticks. But, according to Sanchez, that's not likely to happen. Since taking up the post Taylor has emerged as a leader of men. "I hold him in the highest regard," he said. "I made Maik captain for the last game in Estonia as a reward for all his hard work and commitment. He is not a natural Northern Irishman [born in Hildeshein, Germany] but has chosen to play for this country and that means a lot. "I spoke to him before that match and told him that I wanted to see [Manchester United's] Roy Carroll play. He said he understood and he came all the way to Estonia to sit on the bench having played in the Premiership only the previous Saturday. "When Roy pulled out with a sore shoulder I offered him the captaincy because he had shown us such commitment to the Northern Ireland cause." It is that devotion which has won so many admirers since his move from Fulham just before the start of the season. His display in the 0-0 draw with Manchester City had critics likening him to a cat and purring things like 'world class' and 'best ever'. A few weeks later Bruce had seen enough and turned his season-long loan into a four-year £1.4 million transfer. Then again, last Saturday, Taylor pulled off three outstanding saves to deny his former employers a win and, in doing so, recategorised their European chances as 'outside'. Thanks to his performance that result, and the many others like it, his and Birmingham City's continental prospects can be described as 'achievable'. Sanchez said: "He has been as good as anyone this season. There can not be too many in front of him in the Premiership at the moment especially with Tim Howard at Manchester United out of the team. "Birmingham are sixth in the league and that would put him in the top six goalkeepers but you have to consider what has been spent on the players in front of him. "Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle have all spent millions and millions on players but that has not been so much the case with Maik so that puts him in even higher regard. "He is developing into a topclass goalkeeper, he has been an integral part of the success in Birmingham and to be offered a four-year contract by them shows just how highly Steve Bruce regards him as well." If Blues can make it into the Uefa Cup, or even the Champions' League, this season's development could continue apace. "Playing at the highest level and in Europe will of course help any player improve, even goalkeepers, who will come up against better-quality forwards. "He has done that for Northern Ireland over the last few seasons and that will only continue if they make it into Europe." If he does there might be even more people lining up to say nice things about him or even sending SAEs to The Maik Taylor Fan Club, c/ o St Andrew's, Birmingham. | 
