WHAT a difference a year can make. This time 12 months ago, Kilmarnock striker Eamonn Brophy was lapping up plaudits, and rightly so. The forward was Killie's top scorer with the Ayrshire club just one point behind Rangers in the Premiership standings, Steve Clarke was getting the best out of him and his side were seemingly destined for European football in the following campaign.

And while 2019 will likely be a year that Brophy will look back on fondly - he finished the season as the sixth-top scorer in the top flight and made his international debut for Scotland - the Killie striker has been unable to replicate his form this season.

Brophy has just three goals to his name at the halfway point of the campaign and while the chopping and changing in the Rugby Park dugout can't have helped his cause, Killie fans should be concerned about the drop-off in the 23-year-old's form. There is little doubt that the decline has been dramatic.

Last season, Brophy was simply far more lethal in front of goal. His goals per 90 minutes in the Premiership was three times larger last season (0.52 per 90) than it is this year (0.17). He was attempting an extra shot per game on average, which is clearly useful for a striker, but it is the slump in the former Hamilton striker's conversion rate that is perhaps most worrying.

After hitting 55 shots in the league this season, just three have gone in; that gives a shot conversion rate of around five and a half percent. Last season, that figure stood at 12.5 percent, which is a decent return, all things considered. Similarly, Brophy's shot accuracy has dropped from 36 percent to 31 and his expected goals per 90 - a metric that determines both the number and quality of chances that a forward is presented with - has halved.

What this all means is that not only is Brophy becoming increasingly profligate in front of goal, but he is also being presented with fewer goalscoring opportunities - and the ones that he does get generally have a low probability of resulting in a goal.

It would be unfair to lay the blame for this entirely at Brophy's door, though. Kilmarnock are now on their third manager in less than a year and this inconsistency in tactical approach is clearly not beneficial. It is worth bearing in mind, too, that Killie are the second-lowest scorers in the league this season with just 17 goals after 21 games. And after the series of first-team departures last summer, there is a serious lack of creativity at the club.

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But the real turning point for Brophy arrived last January when Greg Stewart's loan at Rugby Park expired. The two forwards had an excellent understanding on the pitch and combined well; eight of Brophy's 11 league goals last season arrived in the first half of the campaign.

Once Stewart moved to Aberdeen on loan, Brophy was often partnered with Kris Boyd up front and for all his qualities, the former Rangers striker wasn't exactly a dynamic player. Brophy was tasked with doing most of the running in the Kilmarnock front line and the goals dried up.

This season, Brophy has primarily been deployed as a lone striker and the evidence would suggest that this is a role that simply does not suit the 23-year-old. Brophy's best form arrived when he had a partner to play alongside and it appears as though he struggles being the focal point of his team's attack.

It is no secret that Killie are in the market for another striker during the transfer window and finding the right player could ultimately be the deciding factor in whether or not Brophy can rediscover his scoring touch. Under Steve Clarke, he showed that he can be a superb forward at this level and Alex Dyer will surely be hoping that he too can bring the best out of Brophy. With goals hard to come by at Rugby Park, it could be the determining factor in the Ayrshire club's season.