his kicking has been ordinary to say the least
Totally agree and I would think that is why he was dropped, perhaps if the experts watched him, actually watched him, they would notice that he either misses his target more often then not and he pops the ball up rather than stab passing it to leading players. His kicking style has the ball in the air for a very long time meaning by the time it gets to the intended target, the player is swamped by opposition players.
Good move, he must improve his kicking.