He's a bit of a paradox, our Billy. He came to the club wanting to play 6, but that's his weakness.
He's become quite decent at the rote mechanical side of 9: flat passing from dummy half, crisp service, energetic defence. So too, Corey Paix. They're both good enough in my opinion.
But whenever he steps beyond that - where thinking's involved - or pushing momentum, he becomes something of wandering speed bump. He's capable of running from dummy half, and beating the first line of defence, but he generally looks lost once he's in the clear and what happens next gets pretty random. It costs our attack, particularly close to the line.
Paix is no Harry Grant, but our attack noticeably becomes more coherent once he's injected. The ball generally goes to the right player. He doesn't get in the way.
Unfortunately, I don't think football brains is something that comes with trying harder. He's already busting his guts. His effort is beyond reproach.
