It’s a lovely surprise to hear that Kevin Doyle has signed a new deal with Wolves, which now ties the striker to the club until 2015.
Speculation mounted over the summer about a possible switch to more prestigious surroundings and I was one of those who vehemently believed he would move on.
Even after the transfer window closed my thought-process immediately switched to ‘well, he’ll be gone next summer’.
But with this new contract in place, it appears almost certain that Doyler will play out the best years of his career in a Wolves shirt.
And that is music to my ears.
Ever since his first Premier League appearance for the club – as a half time substitute in a 1-0 defeat at Man City – you knew we’d made a fantastic signing.
His deft touch, close control and ability to hold onto the ball in tight areas was truly remarkable.
This unshakable finesse, combined with relentless work-rate immediately endeared him to the fans and it’s to Mick McCarthy’s credit that he was able to harness all of these qualities to the maximum, utilising Doyle as a lone front man, as we battled our way to Premier League survival.
Put simply, without Doyle, we would have been relegated.
It’s no great criticism to suggest that his contribution last season wasn’t quite as vital with the likes of Fletcher and SEB helping to shoulder the responsibility.
Still, the big performances kept coming, not least in the 2-1 home win against Manchester United, where the striker put in a super-human showing, helping us to a famous victory over the then ‘invincible’ Red Devils.
Goals have never come in great supply – which is certainly more understandable in a 451 than it is in 442 – but to dismiss a player of Doyle’s quality for not finding the back of the net on a more frequent basis is just plain wrong.
He brings so much more to the team than that and, whilst I acknowledge that it is frustrating not to see him in the box more often, the moment we start taking his ability for granted is the moment that Molineux has officially gone mad.
Doyle is, and always will be, Superman.
Brilliant news! I’m also keen on signing up McFadden, will give us a bit of needed competition.
Fantastic news! Let’s hope he celebrates with a goal on Saturday 🙂
I don’t think it is hypercritical to say Doyle really isn’t a natural striker and that does cause us problems. Still, if he was a goal scorer there is no way he’d be playing for us, so very good news on the new contract. Lets hope the pay rise will see him return to form, by his standards he’s been pretty poor this season.
Isn’t Stephen Ward superman?
we are lucky to have two supermen
Maybe if he played in a team that actually created chances he might score more? Agree he’s not a natural in the mould of Bully/SEB/Drew Talbot. But I think he’d score a lot more in a team that created more opportunities
Not sure about a lot more. His best return in a season is 18 goals, and that was in Readings promotion season when they scored a silly amounts of goals.
It’s a bit of a trite thing to say, but he really doesn’t have a poachers instinct. We may not create that many chances, but we do put in more crosses than the vast majority of teams, and Doyle is often no where to be seen, even when we are playing 442.
In fact, more crosses than any team last season – http://bit.ly/olZKAV
Shame it wasn’t more DECENT crosses!
If only Adam Hammill played more…
I cannot decide whether I like him or not.
Very industrious, but has failed to convince so far this season.
Jury still debating this one.
By the way, “Superman” is a little over the top.
In my lifetime of Wolves supporting there has only been one man to deserve that title….Stephen George Bull.
FOMM
How dare you call Bully Superman Clive, Bully is God!
Sorry, I don’t believe in god, but I’ve met and believe in Bully!!
I bet you saw the headline and thought Ward had extended his contract!
Superman? Maybe in his first season, but Doyle looks a shadow of the player his was when he first arrived at Molineux.
18 goals in 74 appearances tells it’s own story of how effective ‘Superman’ is in front of goal. He’s played poorly in recent games, struggling to retain possession or muster any meaningful shots on goal. For the Man of Steel, you’d think his boots are made of Kryptonite based on recent performances.
Imagine if Doyle weren’t injured at the end of last season – would he have scored the goals to keep us up? I doubt it. Without Fletcher, we might well be playing Championship football again.
It’s all good and well saying ‘the big performances kept coming’ last season, but a striker who plays well once in every four or five games is certainly no Superman in my book.
I agree (sadly). Seemingly way too much Kryptonite in his diet these days. Should lose his place to the returning SEB on current form.
Respect your opinion Rob, but not having most of your points.
“18 goals in 74 appearances tells it’s own story of how effective ‘Superman’ is in front of goal.”
No it doesn’t.
If he had the same goals to game ratio for a top four club, I’d say fair enough but we’re a team who have predominantly struggled and in many of those 74 appearances, he’s been asked to selflessly play up front alone with his back to goal, teeing up others to attack.
It’s not like he’s allowed the luxury of playing on the shoulder of the last man for 90 minutes.
That said, you’re correct in that he’s not a goalscorer and indeed Fletcher is the more natural finisher. But, as pointed out in the article, he brings more than goals.
You said this:
“He’s played poorly in recent games, struggling to retain possession”
Maybe he’s not had his best two games but I haven’t seen what you’re saying about “struggling to retain possession”. For me, although he hasn’t had any meaningful efforts on goal, the one thing you can’t fault is his ability to get the ball down and find a pass.
This:
“a striker who plays well once in every four or five games”
….is just plain incorrect to me. If you’d said ‘scored once in every four or five games’ I’d say fair enough, but you can’t criticise the consistency of his performances.
Personally, I think that many take for granted his ability because he doesn’t bang in goals for fun. I can understand the frustration with Doyle as I feel it too at times, but I think it’s too simplistic a view.
Fair enough, Thomas. But likewise, I disagree with most of your points.
Granted, Doyle can hold the ball up when playing in a 4-5-1 but in recent matches I’ve lost count of the number of times he’s squandered possession with his back to a defender. The first half against Liverpool was a case in point. Whenever the ball was played into his feet, it either bounced off him or he failed to control it.
Doyle has indeed been asked to play up front in a 4-5-1 on many occasions. But before Fletcher’s injury, Doyle was playing in a front pair with the big Scot. Even with a man alongside him, ‘Superman’ hasn’t looked particularly threatening, with few shots on target let alone goals. SEB and Fletcher look a better partnership, in my opinion.
He brings more than goals, you say. We’ve scored one goal in the last four matches, which means one of two things – he’s either not linking well with his team mates, or the likes of Jarvis, O’Hara and Hunt are failing to produce any meaningful attacks when Doyle does provide them the ball. We’ve struggled on both counts in recent matches, with neither Doyle nor his team mates creating much of note against Villa, QPR and Liverpool.
I stick by my assessment that Doyle has one good game in every four or five. He wasn’t consistently good last season and hasn’t proved much better in the opening fixtures of this latest campaign.
Oh, and did I mention his goal record? 18 in 74 appearances. This season he’s scored one in six, which is poor for a striker. Irrespective of his role in the team, a forward should be bagging more goals when played regularly.
Having said all that, Doyle is by no means a bad player. But to laud him as ‘Superman’ is, quite frankly, baffling.
I couldn’t agree more with the notion that SEB and Fletcher should be our starting forwards atm. Though I look forward to seeing how Mcfadden does.
Fletcher’s goals were only needed because of how badly we reacted to Doyle’s injury. As well as Fletch did, and as important as the goals turned ut to be I think we would have stayed up comfortably had Doyle not got the injury playing for Ireland.
Delighted to hear about his deal, would be interested to hear what his wages are. Something near to 50k possibly. His performances so far this season haven’t been great but I reckon he might imporve now the contract issue is sorted.
I prefer Fletcher. More class, more guile, better in the air and will ultimately get us more goals.
I think Doyle suited us perfectly in the first 2 seasons, however i think we have, and will, find it difficult to improve a lot with him up front on his own in a 4-5-1.
He also seems to struggle to play up top with someone which is a worry as we know Mick’s plan A is a 4-4-2 for most games.
I’m delighted he’s at the club, i think he’s an excellent player but he creates some issues with the side as well as solving many.
Well I suppose he is one of our genuine class players, can`t be much fun playing with some of our shift putting in average men.
I think the opposition have sussed him out though, they know he has pace, but they now let him run into blind alleys out to the wings where our so very lacking in real pace midfield struggle to get up to support.
The predictability of our play does not help his goals ratio, which is reasonably healthy for team involved in relegation battles. Pity he can`t play left back as well.
agree, 1in 4 in top flight, playing often on his own, is a decent return.
good news!
In the modern game contracts mean nothing other than we may get a little more for him when HE decides it’s time to leave. Don’t be surprised if he buggers off in January!
Funny you should say that Jed, as I was mulling over that very point.
But signing this contract puts an end to any speculation in my eyes, the reasons being:
1. Now he’s tied to the club for four years, Wolves have more control over the situation. Handing some of the power back to the club is a bit statement that he’s accepted he’s staying put.
2. His best chance of a move to a big club was running down his contract to just 1 more year, at which time he’d be 28 and still a worthwhile punt for the likes of Spurs, Liverpool, etc for a few mill.
Now, he might have a get-out clause or something else written into the contract that allows him to leave for a set fee, but that fee is likely to put-off interested parties in my eyes.
And even if he does leave, you’d imagine that now it will only be if it’s a deal that suits the club.
Unfortunately Thomas I think player power is a lot stronger than club power, certainly for a club of our size and stature.
It was refreshing in the summer to see the stance Spurs took over Modric, but that’s the exception to the rule.
If and when Doyle decides it’s time to move on he’ll be moving I guarantee that, so while it’s nice to read about a new contract, it really doesn’t mean diddly!
With Jed on this. Contracts are great new as it’s a sign he feels comfortable. But if he changes his mind, it’s not going to stop him from going anywhere is it?
One good thing: we can recoup his real worth if he decides to go.
Good news! Maybe it is to our longer term advantage that the short term form hasn’t been so good – if he’d rattled in 6 by now, he might well have attracted loads of interest by January.
Whats that saying about class being permanent / form temporary and all that? I think this is the case and now this is sorted he’ll start showing the great form that wowed us all from the first time we saw him (albeit his penalties haven’t improved – his Valladolid effort stank as bad as the one at Blackburn!)
Once he turns that GPS system off from his bonce and starts being a bit more direct again we’ll all be fine.
One of the few clubmans still available. Nice he extended contract. Unfortunately he lacks proper support. Bring in Mc fadden. Scottish/ Irish combination!!!
Glad he has signed but now hope he can find his form from our first season in the Prem – as last season and so far this season he has been a shadow of that excellent player that kept us up.
I personally don’t buy into him not needing to score goals/team contribution blah, blah, blah – he needs to net 10-15 per season if he plays up front (as that’s what strikers are there for).
For me Doyle and O’Hara have been the least impressive of our “quality” players so far this season (set against their own high standards).
I loved Doyle in his first year, lets hope he celebrates his new contract with the winner against Newcastle. A few shots on target would be a start!
Form is temporary. Class is permanent. Doyle is class and every Wolves fan has been wooed by his play and his role in our survival in the Prem
I’m over the moon (option g I think) that he’s signed.
An arguable blip in form and people question him because he isn’t scoring….. Load of bobbins.
Fantastic news for the club, the team and the fans.
Man City not saying the same about a certain player at the moment!
Maybe if we have a whip round the whole of Wolvo we can afford to loan Tevez for a month in January?
Of course this is good news for us, so congrats to Kevin Doyle and to Wolves!
I think it’s good to see investment in the squad in any way, whether that’s tying a good player down by offering a superior contract or signing a good player like Roger Johnson.
I’m not going to wail and gnash my teeth over the ‘pitiful state’ of our squad just yet, as in theory it’s better than last season and the best I’ve EVER seen in 29 years, but it would be nice if they can invest just that bit more in January as the lack of depth is still a bit worrying.
If McFadden signs that will be good.
I was playing the new FIFA 12 last night…Mick should have a go, then he’d see that we defo need a better LB. Just sayin’
I loved Martin’s golf shot reference.
A “tevez, …..nasty little five footer”
Priceless.
Seems to me our left back has been tevezing for the past few years….refusing to play football!!!
Now that’s going to get me some flak on here!!!
Bring it on, it’s Thursday and a slow footballing day!!!
By the way, if you think our current form stinks, look at the Houston Astros, just finished their season yesterday, having lost 106 games!
Maybe McCarthy isnt so bad after all!!
Joking….he’s gotta go.
FOMM
All a longer contract does these days is ensure that if a big club came in, (say Arsenal in January), we will get good money for him.
And the problem with that is it will somehow end up in the pocket of the fat greaseball controller, and not get spent on new players!!
FOJM
Now the sanotised wwfc website says MM prefers tp play 442. Thats fine except only two of the back four are good enough if we do that, our skipper and any one of the four right backs available (Stera, Foley, Zubes and young Irish lad)..
Berra, bought for £2.5m, overpriced by £3m clearly is n`t up to it. As for the left backs, god help us, neither of them are good enough and Clive`s views come into play for me.
442 needs Henry sat in front of the back four, not in a 2 man midfield with O`Hara, with 2 wide men easily bypassed. In pre-season and at Blackburn and home to Fulham, it worked with the 2 wingers working inside to support O`Hara. We need to get back to that otherwise another embarassing home defeat is on the cards.
clearly shows that the knockers are pig-headed:
Berra > Johnson SO FAR this season; and
Ward > the lot!
I prefer my knockers pear shaped actually……with big nips on the end!!!
+1
Do you actually watch the Wolves play? Berra has been very good this season and has stepped up from last season.
I agree, Berra has looked solid – maybe this at least has something to do with Big Rog next to him providing more experience.