How poor is Danny Collins compared to James?

In amongst all the general mess, a little detail may have passed us by - and that is how poor Collins has played since his arrival. Go back to his home debut. Who was it that stood off too far before the Boro scorer bent home the equaliser? That would be Collins. There was no attempt to close, no attempt to block, and no apparent understanding that his opponent was cutting in on to his strongest foot. Compare that with his namesake James Collins in our Claret & Blue. How many times, in that very situation, did he fling himself at the ball getting in a fantastic block?

Check out the Burnley goals. Cutting in from a different flank, but there is Collins again, statue like, failing to close, failing to block. Then look at how open we were at the back against Reading once Tomkins was moved forward into midfield! True, Allardyce didn't help when he ended up with four misfits in a mess of a puzzle in midfield, but there was no cohesion, no organisation in our back line because, to be frank, Collins isn't up to the job.

Is Reid fit now? I don't know but if he is, he looks a much better bet than Collins to me. But the trouble is, Reid is an Avram man whereas Collins is one of  Uncle Sam's boys, and we all know how Uncle Sam loves his own!