Record signing Kevin Doyle has been told he has made a “massive blunder” in joining Wolves by an old critic of Mick McCarthy.

Outspoken pundit Eamon Dunphy, who wrote Roy Keane’s highly controversial autobiography, was the man behind the attack.

In a thinly-veiled attack on the Wolves boss in his Irish daily newspaper column, Dunphy claims the other clubs interested in the £6.5million striker all have “hugely successful managers.”

Dunphy wrote: “I feel that Doyle is a top-class striker and he has been Ireland’s best player under Giovanni Trapattoni.

“But I do feel that he has made a massive blunder by joining Wolves.

“Sunderland, Fulham and Bolton all actively chased his signature, while Aston Villa and Everton have also shown an interest in securing his services in the recent past.

“Any one of those clubs would have been a far better destination for Doyle.

“Fulham, Everton and Villa are clubs on the rise and all of them will be playing in the Europa League next season.

“Crucially, all of them also have hugely successful managers.”

Dunphy feels Doyle should have given the move further thought before sealing the deal.

He said: “He should have asked himself this question- ‘if I was good enough to spark Chelsea’s interest 18 months ago, should I now settle for Wolves?’

“It’s not as if no other Premier League clubs were interested in signing him.”

McCarthy and Keane had a huge falling-out during Ireland’s preparations for the 2002 World Cup, which culminated in Keane being sent home.