NEW: Michael Doyle Interview

[YorkBlade]

Former Blades Captain opens up about his time at United, the unknown stories from a split dressing room, the cockney walk, his unceremonious exit and that FA Cup semi-final

AUDIO:

Spotify https://spoti.fi/2Wus1Hi
Apple https://apple.co/3DjI4IJ

VIDEO:

 

[sitwell]

Got a great reception from both sets of supporters on Saturday ,loudest of them all I reckon.
Unless you count the boos for piggy Nilson.

 

[Houston_Blade]

I’d rather listen to “How to be a good striker” narrated by Oli McBurnie.

One of my most disliked Blades players in my 30 years of watching us. I was never hoodwinked by the fact that he said nice things about us in interviews. I don’t mind a limited footballer but this bloke was one of the driving forces behind us remaining in league 1 for such a long time.

He seems to be liked by a lot of our fans though and I’ll get called all sorts of names for not worshipping him.

 

[Bartleby]

Hi

sorry, not related to this one, but was on youtube a bit ago looking at something else and this popped up as if it was new content ( it says "Premiered Mar 9, 2022").

Thought I remembered seeing the Woolford one ages ago. Is this Wilder sacking by text revelation a new bit of news or is it just youtube being twats?

 

[YorkBlade]

Hi

sorry, not related to this one, but was on youtube a bit ago looking at something else and this popped up as if it was new content ( it says "Premiered Mar 9, 2022").

Thought I remembered seeing the Woolford one ages ago. Is this Wilder sacking by text revelation a new bit of news or is it just youtube being twats?

It's a short clip of the longer video on our 'clips' channel for people who don't want to watch the full interviews.

 

[Bartleby]

It's a short clip of the longer video on our 'clips' channel for people who don't want to watch the full interviews

Yeah but is this a new revelation or was it on the Woolford interview you posted ages ago? I did watch that in full but have slept since then.

 

[YorkBlade]

Yeah but is this a new revelation or was it on the Woolford interview you posted ages ago? I did watch that in full but have slept since then.

It's a short clip from the original interview, nothing new.

 

[Bartleby]

It's a short clip from the original interview, nothing new.

Ah ok. Seems a bit naff that it popped up like that as if it was new news when it's not then, came across like someone was having a snipe at Wilder.

Edit: I look forward to watching the Michael Doyle one, as I'm curious to know what split that dressing room!

 

[dazzlingblade]

I’d rather listen to “How to be a good striker” narrated by Oli McBurnie.

One of my most disliked Blades players in my 30 years of watching us. I was never hoodwinked by the fact that he said nice things about us in interviews. I don’t mind a limited footballer but this bloke was one of the driving forces behind us remaining in league 1 for such a long time.

He seems to be liked by a lot of our fans though and I’ll get called all sorts of names for not worshipping him.

No name calling here, it's all about opinions , I certainly don't worship him , he wouldn't appear in my top 100 blades players I've seen


But on the other hand he probably wouldn't be in my 100 worst

Limited , but gave everything week in week out

 

[Houston_Blade]

No name calling here, it's all about opinions , I certainly don't worship him , he wouldn't appear in my top 100 blades players I've seen


But on the other hand he probably wouldn't be in my 100 worst

Limited , but gave everything week in week out

It’s the last bit of your post that always irks me. I don’t think he did give everything, I think he stood in midfield and pointed as oppo players ran past him.

People batter Oli Norwood for doing similar but Doyle isn’t fit to breathe the same air as Norwood.

There are far worse players, I just dislike Doyle the most because he gets away with being shit because he did a cockney walk once and says nice things about us in interviews. Others like McEveley, Stewart, Sammon etc. rightfully get called out for being wage thieves but he gets away with it.

 

[Geordie Blade]

Others like McEveley, Stewart, Sammon etc. rightfully get called out for being wage thieves but he gets away with it.

I haven’t seen anyone accuse those players of being wage thieves. There’s a big difference between being having limited ability and being lazy. You seem to be actively disliking them as people based on how good (or not) they are at football.

 

[Houston_Blade]

I haven’t seen anyone accuse those players of being wage thieves. There’s a big difference between being having limited ability and being lazy. You seem to be actively disliking them as people based on how good (or not) they are at football.

I've not said anything about them as people, I consider them wage thieves because they were happy to take (good) money from the club in wages despite putting in substandard performances pretty much every week. I know we gave them the money, however some of them really were going through the motions.

 

[dazzlingblade]

It’s the last bit of your post that always irks me. I don’t think he did give everything, I think he stood in midfield and pointed as oppo players ran past him.

People batter Oli Norwood for doing similar but Doyle isn’t fit to breathe the same air as Norwood.

There are far worse players, I just dislike Doyle the most because he gets away with being shit because he did a cockney walk once and says nice things about us in interviews. Others like McEveley, Stewart, Sammon etc. rightfully get called out for being wage thieves but he gets away with it.

Be a boring world if we all saw things the same way

 

[Guesty]

It’s the last bit of your post that always irks me. I don’t think he did give everything, I think he stood in midfield and pointed as oppo players ran past him.

People batter Oli Norwood for doing similar but Doyle isn’t fit to breathe the same air as Norwood.

There are far worse players, I just dislike Doyle the most because he gets away with being shit because he did a cockney walk once and says nice things about us in interviews. Others like McEveley, Stewart, Sammon etc. rightfully get called out for being wage thieves but he gets away with it.

I don't think he was lazy as such but he played like his right leg was absolutely planted on the turf, as if he had a ball and chain around his ankle.

What also annoyed me is that he had a genuinely good long range shot on him...if he was properly set. The amount of times he'd shoot while off balance/leaning back/the ball was 3 foot off the ground etc. was infuriating.

 

[Alan Birchenall's hair]

Crap. So limited he made Monty look like Zico. Didn't even seem to be a great trier. Saw the ball hit him on the arse and go in for one of his few goals (Shrewsbury or possibly Tranmere...)

 

[Klaatu Barada Nikto]

Probably the worst player I've ever seen as our club captain. Examplified most of what was wrong with club at the time. Limited in ability and application.

 

[Houston_Blade]

Probably the worst player I've ever seen as our club captain. Examplified most of what was wrong with club at the time. Limited in ability and application.

Give a stirring and tearful interview though so gets his arse kissed by many.

 

[Booker4]

Give a stirring and tearful interview though so gets his arse kissed by many.

Have you watched the interview out of interest. I have just started and you can hear how much he cares for the club and how find he is of United. You may not have rated him but I think for his affection alone for the club is worthy of greater respect but maybe you just think it's all fake. I don't, and I have much more time for Doyle then many ex players. The ones who I don't care for are the sort who leave and don't say anything at all in words of gratitude, even if that is just standard stuff. John Lundstrom springs to mind.

 

[BladeInIreland]

It’s the last bit of your post that always irks me. I don’t think he did give everything, I think he stood in midfield and pointed as oppo players ran past him.

People batter Oli Norwood for doing similar but Doyle isn’t fit to breathe the same air as Norwood.

There are far worse players, I just dislike Doyle the most because he gets away with being shit because he did a cockney walk once and says nice things about us in interviews. Others like McEveley, Stewart, Sammon etc. rightfully get called out for being wage thieves but he gets away with it.

Similarly to you he just reminds me of our lows and he played a big part in that. However my opinion of these things in general is he didn't sign himself and we agreed to pay whatever wages he was on. No gun to our head. I dont blame players for not being good enough, I blame who signed them and even then not always as often it can go either way.

If they are poor due to attitude then that is different but I don't think that was the case with him. He was part of our policy of buying cheap and somehow hope we stay up policy or ,"cutting our cloth accordingly" as McCabe put it.

 

[diplomat]

I've not said anything about them as people, I consider them wage thieves because they were happy to take (good) money from the club in wages despite putting in substandard performances pretty much every week. I know we gave them the money, however some of them really were going through the motions.

Maybe the money wasn’t that good and that’s why they were playing for us instead of a better player. . . . Shit I’ve just thought about that and apparently we offered him and Collins a very lucrative contract as we were desperate and were in contract disarray, didn’t we? And they both stayed so long because they were so overpaid. . . Yeah shit, ignore that first bit

I’m not sure what I think about Doyle. I think he was supposed to add a bit of steel but also lacked the presence to do so. I remember after a couple of games the chap next to me sighed with resignation and said he was just ‘a Micky Adams scratcher and biter’ and wouldn’t offer us anything in terms of class or creativity. He was part of a team that shot itself in the foot umpteen times to get relegated. Then a mainstay as we struggled to get back up. Part of so many instantly forgettable viewing experiences.

However, he was also there for the cup runs and played his part in some of the best single day experiences I’ve had with United (these were made better by the fact I was resigned to us not being very good).

Either way, as an interview I look forward to it. He was a constant through several managers and I look forward to his perspective.

 

[Houston_Blade]

Have you watched the interview out of interest. I have just started and you can hear how much he cares for the club and how find he is of United. You may not have rated him but I think for his affection alone for the club is worthy of greater respect but maybe you just think it's all fake. I don't, and I have much more time for Doyle then many ex players. The ones who I don't care for are the sort who leave and don't say anything at all in words of gratitude, even if that is just standard stuff. John Lundstrom springs to mind.

I haven't watched or listened to this one and probably won't. I've heard an interview with him in the past about his time at the club and in my view he was trying to play up his level of emotion and sincerity.

He's probably just a nice bloke and I'm doing him a disservice but I had him and Collins down as being at the top end of the earnings scale through a pretty shit time for the club and then our resurgence began when these 2 were jettisoned into the level of football that they belonged at. Not their fault that we paid them as I've said before but I just don't buy this love for the club that they've both professed. They had a love for the money they were being paid to be league 1 dross in my opinion and we were the willing suckers who paid them.

At least if you asked McEveley and McMahon they'd say "yeah I stole a living whilst at Sheff United but who wouldn't with my obvious lack of footballing ability?!".

The Hull semi-final season was the first and only season since 1991 that I'd not had a ST due to the fact that I really didn't like the club and the players at the time, particularly after Wilson left the year before. I had a personal connection to someone at the club in the Wilson era and really didn't like what I heard about how him and Barlow were dealt with.

 

[Booker4]

I haven't watched or listened to this one and probably won't. I've heard an interview with him in the past about his time at the club and in my view he was trying to play up his level of emotion and sincerity.

He's probably just a nice bloke and I'm doing him a disservice but I had him and Collins down as being at the top end of the earnings scale through a pretty shit time for the club and then our resurgence began when these 2 were jettisoned into the level of football that they belonged at. Not their fault that we paid them as I've said before but I just don't buy this love for the club that they've both professed. They had a love for the money they were being paid to be league 1 dross in my opinion and we were the willing suckers who paid them.

At least if you asked McEveley and McMahon they'd say "yeah I stole a living whilst at Sheff United but who wouldn't with my obvious lack of footballing ability?!".

The Hull semi-final season was the first and only season since 1991 that I'd not had a ST due to the fact that I really didn't like the club and the players at the time, particularly after Wilson left the year before. I had a personal connection to someone at the club in the Wilson era and really didn't like what I heard about how him and Barlow were dealt with.

I was very annoyed when Wilson was sacked too, that was a stupid decision by McCabe. You've forgotten that there were some good times with Collins and Doyle though, such as the 90 points we got under Wilson, mainly Ched related admitedelly, but Doyle and Collins were still regulars. We got to the semi as you referred to with Doyle a regular and the league cup semi with Doyle a regular. Doyle knew he wasn't a great player but in my view he did a job, kept it simple, ticking over, and didn't let us down in my view. I was far more annoyed at Ched for being an arse to put it mildly and that ruined our season, and after that Williamson rejecting our contract offer to join Portsmouth who had minus 15 points to start the season, so that was obviously a move for more money.

Doyle seems to appreciate United and he still comes back to watch us occasionally, that's in the video. Each to his own but I think Doyle and Collins were good servants and are unfairly labelled as gash because we were in league one for years but the club were constantly selling players, understandibly at times, but I don't get the distain for them.

 

[Deadly_D'Jaffo]

I understand any bittersweetness about Doyle. Yes, he truly loved and cared about the club...but he was also captain during possibly the worst spell in the club's modern history which is no surprise because the one thing that I disliked about Doyle above anything else, was how he constantly berated teammates whilst wearing a captains armband. He got the armband because he was the best of a bad bunch when it came to leadership skills but he was never captain material imo.

A guest on the UTC podcast recalls a story at Coventry FC where Rob Page smashed Doyle's teeth out during a training session. I bet Kevin McDonald daydreamed about it doing it once or twice, because Doyle seemed to dig him out for no reason whatsoever.

I have fond memories of the cockney walk at West Ham and his post-match interview against Charlton but that's as far as I can stretch.

 

[Klaatu Barada Nikto]

I refer back to this excellent comment by shorehamview

It shows how shite we've been when Doyle is the outstanding player on the pitch. It's like being served eleven turds on a platter and being asked to pick the tastiest one.

 

[Houston_Blade]

I was very annoyed when Wilson was sacked too, that was a stupid decision by McCabe. You've forgotten that there were some good times with Collins and Doyle though, such as the 90 points we got under Wilson, mainly Ched related admitedelly, but Doyle and Collins were still regulars. We got to the semi as you referred to with Doyle a regular and the league cup semi with Doyle a regular. Doyle knew he wasn't a great player but in my view he did a job, kept it simple, ticking over, and didn't let us down in my view. I was far more annoyed at Ched for being an arse to put it mildly and that ruined our season, and after that Williamson rejecting our contract offer to join Portsmouth who had minus 15 points to start the season, so that was obviously a move for more money.

Doyle seems to appreciate United and he still comes back to watch us occasionally, that's in the video. Each to his own but I think Doyle and Collins were good servants and are unfairly labelled as gash because we were in league one for years but the club were constantly selling players, understandibly at times, but I don't get the distain for them.

My view on the ‘servant’ bit hasn’t mellowed over the years, he was very well paid for being pretty shit. Same with Collins.

Ched was a knob but he doesn’t pretend to love us like Doyle does.

When he came out on the pitch on Saturday at Coventry it made a bad game worse for me.

 

[Gin&Juice]

Saw Michael Doyle come to the defence of some kid who was being ragged by stewards after the Charlton match. I don’t think the kid did anything wrong other than overcelebrate at the front of the Kop. So my respect for him goes up. Even if he was ridiculously shit.

 

[YorkBlade]

All I'll say is the ability of the player in no way reflects the quality of the interview.

This is the case for any player. The most intriguing interviews have been with some of our worst performers, my personal favourite is our chat with Martyn Woolford.

 

[Houston_Blade]

All I'll say is the ability of the player in no way reflects the quality of the interview.

This is the case for any player. The most intriguing interviews have been with some of our worst performers, my personal favourite is our chat with Martyn Woolford.

I did enjoy the Woolford and Hammond ones despite disliking them as players.

The problem I have with the Doyle is the arse kissing he gets from our fans, if you can assure me you don't blow smoke up his arse and question why he was shit and got away with it for so long it might be worth a listen!

 

[YorkBlade]

I did enjoy the Woolford and Hammond ones despite disliking them as players.

The problem I have with the Doyle is the arse kissing he gets from our fans, if you can assure me you don't blow smoke up his arse and question why he was shit and got away with it for so long it might be worth a listen!

It's free content and the choice is completely yours.

Thank you for watching the others, it is greatly appreciated.

 

[Houston_Blade]

It's free content and the choice is completely yours.

Thank you for watching the others, it is greatly appreciated.

As you're so polite I'll give it a listen and see if I change my mind.

You should get your posh mate from JNC to come on and interview Dave Kitson