By Mark McCadden

Copyright irishmirror

Bohemians need to develop a “nasty streak” to avoid more nights like last weekend’s 4-3 defeat to Derry City.

New signing Douglas James-Taylor has quickly settled into life at his new club – and has already scored five goals in seven appearances.

Break it down to goals-per-minute and his record to date is even more impressive, with the former Drogheda United man scoring a goal every 101 minutes.

“Hopefully I can get it below 90 by the end, that would be nice, a goal-a-game,” he said.

“It’s been good on the goal-front. I think that performance-wise it’s been decent, but we want as a team to get more points and turn the good performances into wins.”

So, how do Alan Reynolds’ men achieve that?

“I think one aspect of it is… we spoke a lot about it after the last game (against Derry) because it was obviously a hectic game with lots of back and forth,” said the 23-year-old.

“Because we’ve got a team that is so honest and hard-working, sometimes we need to get that sort of nasty streak, game management, whatever you want to call it, into the game, where we can recognise the state of the game and grind out results a little bit.

“Sometimes we try to score the perfect goal or win in the perfect way, when sometimes, especially at these latter stages, by any means necessary is something we need to take into account.

“But at the same time, we are looking to build something here, so our principles are going to stay the same, and the way we play football and approach games will be the same.

“But maybe there are a few moments where we can slow the game down or sense that we are on top, and make the most of it.

“They aren’t massive things, just sensing things within the game, I’d say.”

James-Taylor completed his move to Bohemians in July after he spent a year on-loan at Drogheda United from sister club Walsall.

When his Walsall contract expired at the end of the last English season, he was offered a deal to make his Drogheda move permanent, but opted instead to move to Dalymount Park.

He admitted that the move was “stressful”, but that he quickly settled into life at Bohs.

“The first couple of weeks were a bit stressful, coming from another team in Ireland, Drogheda,” he said. “That was a bit of a stress for me at the start.

“Then (there was) the new environment, the new role I have to play on the pitch as well.

“But looking back, it was a short period before I felt like I was settled in with the group and my teammates and my housemates (Niall Morahan, Colm Whelan, Archie Meekson and Alex Lacey) as well.”

Pressed on the stressful element, he replied: “I’d say that it was weird because my contract came to an end in the middle of this season, so that also made it slightly strange, going from one team to another.

“You are trying to achieve goals with one team for six months and then you are competing against them the next week, almost.

“But I’d say it was a good thing and a bad thing, because obviously it meant I knew the league a bit more, understood what it took, and just moving over, away from home, I’d already done that.”

“But I feel settled in Ireland now. Obviously I’ve not got friends and family as close as they were before, so that’s always something that you’ve got to contend with, making plans to go home and having people come over here.

“That’s just another aspect that I think I got used to very quickly as well.”

As for life on the pitch, James-Taylor says he is “starting to build those connections” with his new teammates, which is an ominous warning to defenders around the league, given his goalscoring form to date.

“They are understanding more what I like and I’m understanding more what positions to get into. I think we can get better on that.

“It’s been not that difficult to build that understanding, to be honest, because they are all quality players and they are all players that want to talk and understand each other and push each other.

“It’s been easy, especially having those conversations in-game when things happen, and you see those pictures a lot more.

“When there is that much quality around you, it’s fairly simple to explain what I want, and also for my teammates to do that as well.

“I’ve been happy with the goals and hopefully I can get a few more by the end of the season.”

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