Simon Parker column

“Every time you have a chat with other managers after games, his is always the name that crops up.”

Those were Stuart McCall’s words after City had locked down Omar Daley on a new and improved long-term contract. Other clubs were sniffing around and it looked a sound bit of business at the time.

Almost three years to the day that he put pen to paper, Daley traipsed off the Valley Parade pitch with boos ringing in his ears.

Subbed eight minutes from the end of the Lincoln game, he was carrying the can for an abject team performance in the second half of yet another depressing defeat.

The Marmite nature of his play makes Daley a convenient scapegoat.

On the one hand he possesses the electrifying pace that has drawn flattering comparisons with fellow Jamaican Usain Bolt. On the other, his naturally laid-back Caribbean demeanour has infuriated punters who want to see their players sweating for the cause.

Three months after heralding that deal in 2008, McCall was called upon to publicly defend Daley against terrace accusations of laziness.

“Sometimes Omar’s body language and his reaction to things does not look the best,” conceded the man who would have sold his grandmother to win a tackle during his own days in claret and amber.

But it was that latent ability to make something out of nothing that kept Daley’s managers on side. For every minute spent tearing your hair out, there was always that possibility that his next touch would prove a brilliant one.

The stats did not always back that up. Certainly the number of assists credited to him since his arrival four years ago hardly back up claims that he could turn games on their head.

It was unfair that Daley was viewed as the like-for-like replacement for Jermaine Johnson.

When JJ was hastily flogged to Sheffield Wednesday to help pay the wage bill, Daley found himself cast as the heir apparent.

Much was demanded of him from the start; probably too much given he had just turned up from playing lower-level soccer in the US.

Those expectations have not dropped over time. Supporters, managers, opposition would always anticipate more.

Let’s not rewrite history here. Daley certainly delivered in his first full season – his worth to the side demonstrated beyond doubt by the cataclysmic collapse from promotion contenders to play-off chokers during the 2009 run-in following his serious knee injury.

City’s best – and only – hope of escaping this awful division was ripped away the moment Daley was left crumpled on the turf by a cluttering lunge from Darlington defender Neil Austin.

His selection by his peers for the League Two team of the season was scant consolation for the wrecked dreams.

In truth, Daley has not been the same player since.

There have been notable highlights – the comeback goal against Aldershot last season; his double in the 5-0 demolition of Oxford; the way he twice ran Bury ragged and a net-busting volley at Valley Parade into the bargain.

But those stand-out moments only stand out more because there have been fewer of them.

Peter Taylor has tried to accommodate him but it has never looked the right fit. Daley’s maverick nature does not suit a manager who expects his players to stick rigidly to the prepared systems.

Kevin Ellison, on the other hand, has played under Taylor twice before. He appears more of a round peg for a round hole, given the nature of City’s current plight.

Ellison scored twice at Valley Parade last season – that’s one more goal than Daley managed.

His in-yer-face attitude should suit the scrap we now find ourselves in. It won’t be pretty but then this is probably no time for fancy flicks.

Daley, no doubt, will excel in a Rotherham team that have been scoring goals for fun. Oh for an Adam Le Fondre in a City shirt.

And good luck to him. With Daley’s contract finished in the summer, his time with City looks to be up.

There will always be an element of “if only” about his four-year stay. But he still deserved better than the angry postscript that followed him off 11 days ago.

Daley could have delivered a lot more – but then the same accusation should be levelled at those he has left behind. He was a League Two player; no different from the rest. But he was always the easiest target.