Taylor told BBC Radio Leeds: "I've got two chairmen and a board of directors that expect me to manage the club.
"I can't be soft because we want to win more matches than we don't. It's not easy (deciding who to release) because we've been an inconsistent team."
Taylor added: "We need a very, very good team so I've got to be 100% honest with myself on that, and I've never had that problem.
"I've never got that soft that I'll give somebody a year if they don't really deserve it.
"The last five matches we've gone unbeaten and I hope that carries on, but before that we were good, bad, good, bad so you never know and sometimes that list will change.
"But if it meant there was a player that was good and bad, good and bad then there's a chance he won't be on the (retained) list, because to me I want good, good, good, good and maybe occasional bad for us to have a good season."
Source: BBC Sport
Source: BBC Sport