Sideways Sammy

Having struggled last season to make an impact within a back-up role at centre-forward, Ellis Simms has learned from that experience to become someone who needs less of a run-up to play himself into form. With one of the best goals-to-minute ratios in the team, Simms has generally done a job this season whenever called upon. Nonetheless, that it is barely a debate as to whether Simms should be the number one in his position shows that the striker still has plenty to improve upon.

Ellis Simms started off his time at Coventry City being the kind of physically tall centre-forward who didn’t relish using his raw attributes to impose himself on games. During his time at the club, Simms has become much more reliable in competing physically with opposing defenders and with his work-rate to run the channels, making himself a useful option in the team to provide a focal point in the final third. A lack of pace and movement to get into scoring positions are Simms’ biggest limitations and why Frank Lampard has very rarely played him over Haji Wright when both are fully fit.

Ellis Simms has shown in spells of his three seasons at Coventry City that he is someone with the ability to go on scoring runs, dominate opposing defenders and just generally look a touch above Championship level. The issue with Simms has been consistency and self-confidence, which has made it often feel a case of taking one step forward and then another backward soon after. There is no doubt that the good version of Ellis Simms would be good enough to make the step up, but the fact is that there are doubts that Simms has had plenty of opportunities to clear. Whether a strong run of form between now and the end of the season would change that is a question only Frank Lampard can answer.