During his time at Stevenage, Boyd earned the nickname "The White Pelé" – this was down to his use of tricks, as well as the amount of flair Boyd brought to the team at such a young age. Stevenage manager Graham Westley, who gave Boyd his first run of matches in the first-team, described Boyd as a "special talent" following his two goals away at Woking in August 2005. Westley proceeded to call Boyd "gifted", and a player with "fantastic technical ability". He has been labelled a creative and flamboyant midfielder, and described as "a player who will create goalscoring opportunities all game long". Boyd has stated that he considers assisting goals a "big part of his game", and says "I try to create chances for other players and that gives me just as much pleasure as scoring". Boyd's creative nature is emphasised by the fact that he has assisted over 50 goals for Peterborough during his time at London Road. Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson has said that Boyd "has the tendency, and ability, to score goals from long distance", talking after Boyd's 35-yard volley against Boston United. This was further highlighted when Boyd scored from just inside the opposition's half in a win against Huddersfield Town in October 2012. Boyd collected a Saido Berahino knock-down, before hitting a dipping volley from the edge of the centre circle. Manager Darren Ferguson stated – "If Lionel Messi had done it you'd be seeing it over again. For vision and execution it was one of the best I have seen". Boyd also scored several long range goals during his time at Stevenage, scoring from outside the area on seven occasions; most notably on the half-volley from 30 yards in a match against Cambridge United in January 2006.