Will the real Matt Taylor please stand up

Let's not get any wrong ideas here - I really like Matt Taylor as a player. When he spanked in that 25 yard right footed curler at Nottingham Forest, you could see me in the background on Sky celebrating like a deranged monkey. When he cracked in an even better one against Leicester, I really thought he was one of the brightest young players in English football.

Mean and moody

What concerns me is that that's two seasons ago now. Ever since the days of Merson, Festa and Diabaté, whilst the club has moved forward, Taylor seems to have stood still. At first, it was an injury that hampered him. When he eventually returned - with seemingly a couple of extra pounds to show for it - there was something just a bit off. Still, coming back from so serious an injury, it was to be expected.

Yet even months later, he still seemed to be labouring. His willingness to take players on seemed to be diminshed, and his passing was slightly off. His best performances, for some odd reason, came in the FA Cup - scoring twice against Scunthorpe, equalising brilliantly away at Liverpool, and putting in an equally good performance in the home replay against the Scousers. Yet despite this, he was flattering to deceive with his league performances - were we just expecting too much?

This season has been a strange old one. With talk of a move to his boyhood club Spurs, it was always going to be interesting how he reacted. Despite frequently appearing in the local media and talking about how he wants to earn his place, when he has been given a chance he's hardly given Unsworth or Berger cause to be fearful. Against Palace he had an awful first half and made a series of errors in the build up to their goal (although improving in the second half); and against Norwich his two mistakes led to two goals. Whilst of course it's impossible to blame one player for everything leading up to a goal, it was his push that lead to Norwich's penalty, and his man who scored the header for their second equaliser.

Could it be he's low on confidence? Not happy playing at left back? Could it really be he's not good enough for the Premier League - yet? Whatever it is, let's hope we soon see a return to the rampaging and effervescent Matthew Taylor of old; for the good of himself AND the club.