I interviewed Michael Doyle and Neill Collins...

[CrookesBlade]

Completely that. Weir had attempted, in his first job, to completely redevelop a team and its style. At its core was a new role for McDonald. The minute he was sold unexpectedly Weir lost both his best player for any system, but the key player in the system he’d built the team around. It would have been like Coutts suddenly being sold in October 2016. Unfortunately Weir had neither the experience (or ability?) to rapidly develop a completely new approach for us that worked. He tried to persevere with the original system too long, and we then when he finally moved from it seemed to just lurch from one system to the next till his eventual sacking.

I have some sympathy for both Weir and Adkins – they were not working in easy environments. Weir had some flexibility in terms of space in the squad, but then had his best player sold. Adkins had limited flexibility in terms of space in the squad, arguably made one of the most important signings in our recent history, and gets surprisingly little credit for moving on a lot of deadwood that season (probably because folk won’t ever look past the two pieces of deadwood he brought in).

In my opinion both Adkins and Weir aren’t anywhere near as bad in terms of what they did with what they had compared to someone like Robson, who was basically given carte blanche to invest and recruit and made decisions that had long-lasting impacts on the club.

Yeah, in fairness to Adkins he was never blessed with resources (was Sharp his only cash signing?) and wasn't allowed to sign anyone permanently in the January window. Did hand out some daft contracts though.

Robson on the other hand had the biggest budget we had ever given any manager up until this year and would have relegated us had he not been allowed to leave to spend more time in the off licence. Being too young to remember him in his prime as a player it always amazes me to hear the terms in which people talk about him (Captain Marvel etc), or indeed the fact he was able to get Middlesbrough promoted.

 

[BladeInIreland]

The only one that was undeniably a good signing was Beattie. Sharp clearly wasn’t ready for that role at that time, Hendrie and Carney were awful. Despite selling Jagielka and Davis, we didn’t bring any centre-back replacements that summer. Naysmith wasn’t really any better than Armstrong. Speed and Ehiogu arrived far too late.

Well obviously it is all a matter of opinion but I thought the business was good. Sharp under the right management could have done well. Beattie was great. Hendrie and Carney wernt good, I think the latter was more to do with out Australian links at the time ( a bit like the lad from Malta) than a Robson decision. Speed and Ehiogu were great. Bardsley, cotterill and Cahill all good loans. I'd agree about Armstrong but at the time there was huge doubts he would play much more due to injury. Naysmith was a reliable international. I think a half capable manager would have got that team promoted.

 

[BladeInIreland]

He was signing quality players but they were at the end of their career though. We were only ever going to get 1 season out of the likes of Ehiogu and Speed (God rest their souls)

I think speed did more than that. If I remember correctly Ehiogu did get an injury. I see your point but they both were amongst our best performers.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

I'd agree about Armstrong but at the time there was huge doubts he would play much more due to injury.

I’m not sure if you’re slightly misremembering this based on what happened later in his career, but that certainly wasn’t the situation with Stretch in summer 2007. He’d just had a decent season in the Prem, and was in the majority of Robson’s squads – mostly starting in midfield if Naysmith was fit. I think he was Reading’s player of the season the following season. Naysmith was not brought in because of fitness doubts over Armstrong.

I don’t deny that Speed and Ehiogu were good signings, but they were made about 6 months after the point they were needed.

 

[The Crab]

I seem to recall Robson blowing our parachute payments on over the hill big names but I could be wrong.

That is my recollection. His little black book of contacts was last seen by Indiana Jones

 

[BushBlade]

Enjoyed that. Wasn’t aware of Collins’s situation early 2012, not sure it was made public at the time.

“I’d love to see a game between that Wilson side and Chris Wilder’s League One promotion team.”

I think Wilder’s team would have wiped the floor with them. That Wilson team was fine when up against the division fodder that made up League 1 that season, but plenty of the team went missing when needed in the big games against our competitors that season. In the away games in particular at Charlton and Wednesday, the likes of Williamson and Evans just weren’t anywhere near what they looked like against the rest of the division.

In a one-on-one game Wilder would out-think Wilson, and Wilder’s 2017 team would deliver when needed. Wilson’s team wasn’t as mentally strong, or as consistent against the top teams. For all the talk of it all being down to Evans’s conviction, if we’d handled McDonald’s absence at Hillsborough better (it was an otherwise full-strength team) and just drawn the game that would have been enough to go up.

Also, would love to know the player on the fitness test...Yeates?

I was at that Charlton game and our best player on the day was Doyle. I’d been telling my Spurs mate who came with me how good McDonald and Evans were and both made me look stupid. That wasn’t the only time I went to see us in London and McDonald didn’t turn up, Brentford springs to mind immediately.

 

[BushBlade]

The major lesson from the Weir debacle (and indeed from our other rookie manager appointments, by and large) is never, ever appoint a rookie manager. Let someone else break them in.

We’re not an easy club to manage. We’re a relatively big club carrying a heavy burden of underachievement. I don’t think the interference from our former owner and his family made it any easier.

 

[madeinsheffield]

I was there at every stage of that period, it would appear your brain stops you remembering some of the trauma you eyes and emotions have experienced! Dark dark days, makes you appreciate what has happened in the last 3/4 years even more.

I'm halfway through Sunderland 'til I die, I was saying to my son how I felt for their fans, their story is similar to ours, and the least they expect is the team to work hard. Having just been reminded of our journey the two are very similar

 

[BladeInIreland]

I’m not sure if you’re slightly misremembering this based on what happened later in his career, but that certainly wasn’t the situation with Stretch in summer 2007. He’d just had a decent season in the Prem, and was in the majority of Robson’s squads – mostly starting in midfield if Naysmith was fit. I think he was Reading’s player of the season the following season. Naysmith was not brought in because of fitness doubts over Armstrong.

I don’t deny that Speed and Ehiogu were good signings, but they were made about 6 months after the point they were needed.

I probably am although I'm sure he had a bit of an injury record. He had identified the other lads in the summer but we didn't pull it off. Again not sure how much he can be blamed for that. That period did cripple us for the following years but I'd still place the blame for that at the top.

 

[BettingBlade]

Thinking about these two brings me back to what Wilder says about passion and commitment. He says it’s a given in his teams which is in complete contrast to the squads that Collins and Doyle were in.

They were the only two that really put themselves around in that period. In fact I can’t think of many players in the last decade (before Wilder came in) that would have played regularly in his team. How long Collins and Doyle would have played under Wilder we will never know but I would have certainly thought they’d have played a vital part in that league one season if they’d have been around. I think the pair of them, however limited people thought they might have been ability wise, probably deserved a bit of success in a Blades shirt.

 

[Steve Mackan]

Thinking about these two brings me back to what Wilder says about passion and commitment. He says it’s a given in his teams which is in complete contrast to the squads that Collins and Doyle were in.

They were the only two that really put themselves around in that period. In fact I can’t think of many players in the last decade (before Wilder came in) that would have played regularly in his team. How long Collins and Doyle would have played under Wilder we will never know but I would have certainly thought they’d have played a vital part in that league one season if they’d have been around. I think the pair of them, however limited people thought they might have been ability wise, probably deserved a bit of success in a Blades shirt.

Yep, I'd agree with this. Working for the team first, technique second. I actually think both Doyle and Collins were very comfortable in League One. But more importantly, they set standards in the dressing room, at least they had standards, whereas some of the dross we brought in did not care a jot. Imagine where we might've been without them?

 

[Houston_Blade]

I’ll read this, but nothing will change my view on the footballing ability of these two players. Awful footballers best consigned to history.

 

[Steve Mackan]

I’ll read this, but nothing will change my view on the footballing ability of these two players. Awful footballers best consigned to history.

I wonder what you think might've been the case if they'd jumped ship and left? Both played over 200 games for us. CW might've needed a further promotion to get us to the top flight had we not have some throughly decent professionals at the club. Any how, the article isn't revisionism or some attempt to suggest that Doyle and Collins were the best players we've ever had.

 

[Houston_Blade]

I wonder what you think might've been the case if they'd jumped ship and left? Both played over 200 games for us. CW might've needed a further promotion to get us to the top flight had we not have some throughly decent professionals at the club. Any how, the article isn't revisionism or some attempt to suggest that Doyle and Collins were the best players we've ever had.

I know it wasn’t an attempt to suggest they were the best players. In the opinion of a lot of fans they were good, honest players. I just don’t buy it.

I honestly think that they were part of the problem and the fact that we had them as senior pros during our stint in league one was one of the major reasons we stayed there for so long. I won’t go over old ground, my thoughts on Doyle and Collins have been stated numerous times.

There used to be people calling Cresswell a ‘parasite’ when he played. He was 10 times the player that these 2 were in my opinion.

I don’t despise them at all but I just really think that they don’t deserve to be thought of as some kind of club legends based on them being complimentary towards the club that paid them good wages for poor performance for a few years.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

I wonder what you think might've been the case if they'd jumped ship and left? Both played over 200 games for us. CW might've needed a further promotion to get us to the top flight had we not have some throughly decent professionals at the club. Any how, the article isn't revisionism or some attempt to suggest that Doyle and Collins were the best players we've ever had.

For me, they both were good when we played well in League 1 with Wilson and Clough, and were still reliable in Wilson’s 2nd season, but they both clearly weren’t good enough to lift us under Adams (even taking into account the tough environment they went into), and then appeared part of the problem in 2nd season Clough and for Collins the Adkins era. I’m sure they put more effort in than others in that period too, but ultimately both had limitations. They will unfortunately both symbolise our inability to get out of League 1 in that spell – probably harshly, but for all the good they did in the better seasons they were part of the problem in the poorer ones.

 

[Danny_Blade]

I don't apportion any blame whatsoever to Collins and Doyle for our relegation and subsequent failure to bounce back. Even though Ched was wrongly convicted it was still his stupidity that cost us in that first season. Then after that first L1 season it was mainly down to having a poor budget even by L1 standards but it was because we had to cut costs for not bouncing straight back, McCabe seeking a co-owner and selling our best players when offers came in for them.

Now I didn't particularly like Collins and Doyle because as already mentioned they both had limited abilities and will always be remembered as being part of one of the darkest periods in this club's history. But it's not their fault they were given the opportunity to sign for us back in January 2011 is it?

I just want to point out that they were fringe players at their prior clubs so you've got to admire their bravery to some extent for joining us - a team that had spent most of the season in the relegation zone so they knew they were signing up for a relegation battle. So we needed players with that sort of character because the rest of our team that season were spineless especially once we lost Morgs. They both could've just said no I'll stay at my current club in the reserves picking up my weekly wage but instead they left behind the comfortable option and chose the harder one, the relegation battle with us.

 

[Booker4]

I'll always defend Collo and Doyler; they might not have been the best players we ever had but they were part of a tough history and it could have been very different if Ched hadn't gone down. Players are much less remembered if they played in sides that didn't achieve and Collins and Doyle fall into that to a certain extent also. I remember the first Wilson season with fond memories, it doesn't get mentioned much now because we failed to get promoted and then had further 5 years of playing in League One, but there were some great games in that season, similar to the promotion under Wilder in that we just brushed teams aside.

Also the cup runs under Clough involved both and they were great memories. Not many third division clubs achieve two successive cup semi finals - I should give much credit to Clough there and maybe remember him too harshly based on the defensive league performances.

As personalities Collins and Doyle should be lauded because they did really care about the club and gave their all. In other circumstances it could have been different but they'll always receive a warm reception from me if they ever return to the Lane or as opposition.

Great interview by the way, well done mate!