Kevin Doyle in fear of axe at Wolves
Friday 25th November 2011, 11:00AM GMT.
Can’t see video? Update Adobe Flash Player
Video may take a moment to load. Return to Video Index
Kevin Doyle today admitted he is living in fear of the axe for the first time as a Wolves player.
The £6.5million striker has scored just two goals this season despite being a Premier League ever-present, but is expected to retain his place as a lone frontman in the 4-5-1 formation ahead of fit-again Steven Fletcher.
With Wolves forced into a minimum of three changes for tomorrow’s clash at Chelsea as Richard Stearman is out with a broken wrist and Jamie O’Hara and Stephen Hunt are suspended, Doyle fears for his own place.
The Republic of Ireland international said: “With the run we’ve been on I don’t think anyone is massively staking a claim to keep their own place, including myself.
“All of us are susceptible to be dropped on recent results and, for those coming in, if we get a result then it gives them a chance because positions are open.”
Doyle insists tomorrow’s daunting challenge is one where Wolves can upset the odds.
McCarthy’s men would fall into the drop zone for the first time this season if Bolton beat Everton and Wolves fall to defeat.
But Doyle was part of the side that took the scalps of Manchester United and others last season and believes this is the sort of test where Wolves can cause a shock.
He said: “It’s games like this when people least expect us to get anything that we sometimes pick something up.
“More often than not we’ve actually risen to the challenge and perhaps played better than normal.”
UK Sport
Latest Blog — A week is a long time in football
This time last week we were staring down the barrel, third from bottom with a worse record than at the same stage last year, writes Saddlers blogger Mark Jones.
Saddlers Blog
Business Awards
Book a Business Awards table
Join our celebrations of the region's best in business on Thursday March 22 - book your table now
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Express & Star and Shropshire Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases
OUR NEW APP
Get the new E&S app
Download the Express & Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
expressandstar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
doyler it ay ur fault m8,its the muppet who keeps playing ya up front on ya own,no service equals no goals no chances no goals no hope chin up doyle ull come though it
Report abuse
Doyle is part of a team and does his part fantastically; he’s not a prolific goalcorer, but he’ll always chip in with a few. Most chances we create involve Doyle’s hard work ; the problem isn’t Doyle its having a goalscorer working with him. Fletcher is good, but not brilliant. SEB is average. For Wolves to progress we need someone like Defoe in the team (he’s bench warming at Spurs at the moment I believe) .. so Moxey, show some ambition and bring in some proper prem quality.
Report abuse
At least you are honest with yourself. Given the bus parking tactics one can only reason with you not getting any goals.
Chelsea are also on a bad run but I bet they are licking their lips at this one.
Report abuse
I dont think you can entirely blame Doyle, for his lack of goals, in the system of 4.5.1. which MM plays, KD does most of his work 20yrds from the goal area playing down either flank, or holding the ball, to bring other players into the game,therefore resctricting ,his attempts on goal. If he’s played in a 4.4.2. system alonside Fletcher, with say Jarvis/Hammill ,i think he would get more shots off at goal, and score more goals,because he would be getting more assits off Jarvis/Hammill/Fletcher, and he would be doing the same for Fletcher too. We must remember in the right system ,with the right players around him he’s ‘proved’ he can score goals in the BPL. Anyaway ‘imo’i wouldn’t drop him, as he does a tremendous amount of work for his team mates,we know its going to very hard to get anything off Chelsea,especially with them losing the last three games, and they will want to put that right a.s.a.p. but the lads can only give it their best,and in football you just never know? GOOD LUCK LADS FOR TOMORROW: UTW:
Report abuse
Doyler may not be a prolific goalscorer but let’s not forget that he creates many of our chances through his tireless running down the sides of defences. The two O’Hara goals v Swansea and Wigan immediately spring to mind.
It’s no bad thing that players feel they have no automatic right to be in the team.
In O’Hara’s absence tomorrow, I would play Doyle ‘in the hole’ with a licence to roam and Fletch up front,with Doyler being encouraged to join Fletch up top whenever he can.
I’m not expecting anything tomorrow but next week v Sunderland is a massive game.
Report abuse
What about Anelka to go with doyler?
Report abuse
No2 – Growler.
Defoe? Get real!
Report abuse
Drop Doyle back to replace the suspended Hunt..fletch upfront..simples
Report abuse
Doyle is more than just a striker but the formation isn’t helping him. Doyle has naturally ended up one the wing all the time and is quite capable of hold his own there anyway. The problem is being the lone striker when this happens we have no-one in the box. Perhaps with Hunt out Doyle can start one of the wings Jarvis or Hammill on the other wing and play Fletch on his own up front. 2 strikers on the pitch when needed but we are also keeping our 451 formation. On top of that we’ll have someone to get on the end of those deadly Hammill crosses when he plays.
Also fits into Mick’s Round peg strategy ;)
Report abuse
Why does Mick always sound like he`s just got out of bed. Chelsea 0 Wolves 1.
Report abuse
Doyle needs a striker to play with him to be effective, not that this will happen tomorrow.
Fletcher has to play regardless.
Report abuse
the fact is playing the negative football we are doyle isn’t gonna score. in our first season we went out and attacked teams from the off, we had nothin to loose. so why can’t we do that now? were trying to defend and all we are doing is loosing. we went out v blackburn, got in their face and got 3 points. however swansea at home, wba away, newcastle, liverpool, everton etc we have had the same old formation 4-5-1.
dont worry doyler, a team you deserve to play for will soon come and get you!
mick and moxey out!
Report abuse
Everyone’s place is unsafe except that of Karl Henry, he should have said.
No. 8 Steve. Great idea, one too difficult for Mick to come up with though I fear..
Report abuse
Agree with no 8, Steve Smith. Doyle spends half his time on the wing holding the ball up. Why not play him on the wing in place of hunt and see how he does.
Buzzing for tomorrow. 1-0 Wolves.
Wolves Ay We………..
Report abuse
doyle should be sold he gives no comittment to the club he falls over more times than hes on his feet and rememberhe stalled on signing a contract in case a big team came in for him.
Report abuse
With regard to Wolves buying a striker or even loaning one, which in my opinion would be a better bet,it is the wages structure that Wolves have that makes it very very difficult for us to get a quality striker in.
You have only got to look at the transfer fees that have been paid for Rooney, Carroll, Torres,Bent to name just four but over and above that fact, let us assume that the following list of strikers that were available and we could try to buy one of them then… with let’s say an average wage of,£50,000 a week (£5M) a year on top of the actual purchase fee then anything up and over £12M is required.
Heskey, Defoe, Owen, Kalou, Fuller, Berbatov, Chamakh, Asharvin, Kevin Davies, Adebayorand Klasnic.
From this latter list each of them could be bought if the price was right but there are three questions to be answered by the 3M’s.
Will they make an offer?
Will they come to the Wolves with us being in the current league position?
Will they take a drop in salary to play for us?
IN ALL PROBABILITY THE ANSWER TO THOSE QUESTIONS WILL BE NO.
Even if a loan for one or two of these players was a possibility would the Wolves pay their current wage. Again the answer is difficult to predict.
No I do think that we have to look at either our young lads and see if we can turn up a gem (worth a risk) or go for a lower league player such as Rhodes or Taylor-Fletcher to name but two.
The future looks grim unless there is a change of payment strategy or we can fight on with the non net finders we have.
If we cannot score enough goals to win matches then we will have to buy defenders so that losing becomes more difficult and we draw enough matches to escape relegation.
Report abuse
Cannot drop Doyle (despite rather sensationalised headline), also cannot leave Fletcher out against Chelsea. We will have to play enough ‘lesser-impact’ players as it is!
We can do with Zubar being fit, because we need him to regain and keep the right back slot!
Report abuse
so he should hes been hardly prolific, as some point out its his other play that helps, but to be brutal hes here to score goals. What confuses me and a lot of other fans is the managers faith in playing him, esp when others are hardly given a chance to prove themselves, Vokes, Milijas, Spray, Hammill, are just a few. Yesterdays get used to more of the same as Everton away, troubles me, to say we played well is a joke, they were there for the taking, one shot on goal and a peno at that shows a complete lack of faith in the team, not as stated by Mick being cautious, since when has being cautious won games… er never. If this is the approach we are going take for the rest of the season then i cant see us getting more than 20 points from our remaining fixtures. To think we are going to get anything from the top 4 let alone top 8 is unlikely given our form at the moment. To say the squad is good enough is rubbish if so why play like we did at everton ?? how many more games does roger need to settle in, hes supposed to be the captain !! After all the ‘we dont want to go through that again’ that was spouted after the last game of last season, we are in a dog fight again and showing no progress for a team in its third season in the top flight, were making the same stupid mistakes time after time, that is not progress. The above might sound harsh but thats the reality of it ‘Fickle fans’ or not makes no difference, they want the same as the rest, to do better, but we are worse than when we first got promoted. Theres time to turn it around again but i cant see us getting out of a dog fight for a third season can you ?? Up the Wolves.
P.s if Arsenal and the Italian teams were really interested in Doyle they would have bought him, they arent and wont, FACT.
Report abuse
Please please please just play doyler out wide right or even left in Mick’s 5 man midfield . He speends most of his time out wide linking play up anyway so he may as well put his shift in out there instead. Playing him out wide would mean that he would actually be in the box attacking the ball with crosses coming in from the left flank and he would then be joined with fletch down the middle hopefully in the right place at the right time.
Report abuse
2 goals isn’t bad considering he has been playing as an attacking midfielder in our 4-6-0 formation.
Report abuse
I feel sorry for Doyle, he could do much better with a better team. How can he score many goals when his role is to try and win the ball from one of the many thumps upfield and hold it until a couple of reinforcements dare cross the half-way line in support? He’s obliged to go for the spaces to the sides and hope others can do the business in the middle if he can get the ball to them.
Who knows, MM might give him a break at Chelsea ….. and play him at right back!!
Heaven’s knows I hope we get something out of the game, but whatever we do MM will be delighted ….. nuf sed!
Report abuse
I feel sorry for Doyle, he could do much better with a better team. How can he score many goals when his role is to try and win the ball from one of the many thumps upfield and hold it until a couple of reinforcements dare cross the half-way line in support? He’s obliged to go for the spaces to the sides and hope others can do the business in the middle if he can get the ball to them.
Who knows, MM might give him a break at Chelsea ….. and play him at right back!!
I hope we get something out of the game, but whatever we do MM will be delighted ….. nuf sed!
Report abuse
I would play Fletcher, even if it was only to gain more ‘match fitness’ having only played a reserve match v arsenal the other night. Since his injury, so a further run out, would get him much sharper for the match v Sunderland, which is another 1 of MM 10 games we must win he says? UTW:
Report abuse
Reading the emails over the last few days the only theme seems to be abuse of MM when he does go i suspect we could be in for another long spell outside the top flight.Colin.
Report abuse
Think if doyle spent more time on his feet and not on the ground he would be more productive and also if he stopped smileing all the time cos us fans have not got a lot to smile about! yes i wuould drop him rem when he was injured last season we hardley missed him!
Report abuse
doyle should take o’hara’s place, fletcher back up front.i don’t fancy ward against sturridge but who else is their.
Report abuse
Can someone please explain to me what the fascination is with Kevin Doyle? Yes, he does a lot of work outside the box – but so did Michael Branch a few years ago but he couldn’t score goals for toffee either As a ‘lone striker’ I can’t see the point in us playing Jarvis, Hunt or Hammill and expect them to put balls into the box for our ‘lone striker’ who is out on the opposite wing – never in the box. He does not play well as a second striker and had not clicked with Fletcher, Vokes or Ebanks-Blake when they have played and for a ‘lone striker’ to have score only two goals, having played all season is ludicrous – and he missed a penalty!
Striker – never!! maybe play him in O’hara’s position or in midfield but up front? – we have no chance of staying up if this persists
Report abuse
personally i d play doyler up front with messi in the hole, jarvo n jairzinho on the flanks..beckenbauer as libero and rivaldo, pele, bestie n peter knowles on the bench lol
Report abuse
By the way, completely off the subject, both Hunt’s successful penalties were truly awful. Any goalkeeper just standing up, centrally, would save them easily. Really easily.
Doyle’s penalties are no better.
Should get Andy Thompson on the Subs Bench.
Great job by all 3Ms. All will be fine. Believe.
Report abuse
28 steve, and of course McCarthy as center half wit
Report abuse
Doyle would be has proved a good formidable goal scorer under a manager who knows what he’s doing Sorry happy clappers but it’s the truth stats don’t lie.
Report abuse
28steve hill
You left out Mike Bailey
Report abuse
There aint one player at the club that is now Premiership quality, no surprise the worst manager in the Premierships history has ‘coached’ any talent out of them; MM out, Moxey out, sort it Morgan or GET OUT.
Report abuse