Peter Hutton's Brandywell revolution highlights Roddy Collins' misuse of striker Patterson

"I can't figure out why everyone seems to be up in arms about leaving Rory out.  Rory has got one goal this season.  We haven't been creating chances and Rory's job is finishing so until we get it down and start creating a lot more chances, then we can look at putting someone in who can finish them.”

Roddy Collins, April 2014.

It seems almost a lifetime ago that last season’s League of Ireland top scorer was dropped from the Derry City panel.  Collins’ rationale was that the Candy Stripes weren’t creating chances so there was no point in selecting him.

Peter Hutton has come in and times have changed (See View Gallery above to browse the passing stats of the last two home games which show no problems with using Patterson to create opportunities).

The football is different, chances are no longer few and far between and Patterson has reverted to type – back amongst the goals.

It takes no genius to work out why.  The front man is being fed the ball, the players are told to look for, they’re told to work openings and that can only happen when the striker is brought into the equation – not treated as a separate entity.

In the last two games at the Brandywell, City have banged in nine goals and, of the four midfielders that were analysed in those games, their passing stats show exactly the difference in playing styles between Hutton and Collins.

Barry McNamee, playing as a deep-lying midfielder against Aberystwyth, sourced Patterson out more than he did any other team mate in that European clash.  Mark Timlin did the same against Bray, Stephen Dooley picked up where Timlin left off.

Only Patrick McEleney didn’t pass to Patterson the most – he opted to bring McNamee into the play with just one more pass than he did his striker.

With City having hit their form of the season, the squad have shown that creating chances and finishing chances should not be exclusive of one another.  They’ve shown through their play that they need to work together, not separately.