Tin hat ready !!!!!, is Doyle that bad ?

[Pedro Verde]

I think Doyle should 'pull a hamstring' on Saturday be out for 4 weeks then we might know if anybody who is currently at the club can do a better job

 

[sheffielder]

Which is what people like me who defend Doyle are trying to allude to.

Not really

 

[LSF]

Not really

Really?

 

[Grecian2000]

Yes, he's that bad. He's a wretched player. Sadly he's nowhere near the worst player (in fact he's probably in the TOP four) in the team.
That basically sums up where we are and what we're about at this moment.

Over the last few seasons we've swapped out 11 players, gone through tens of others and ended up with 11 stiffs. If you take a moment in time (the first team in the first season after Robson for instance) the comparison is thus:

Kenny v Long (at least Long shows potential but he's streets behind a fully functioning Paddy).
Sun v McMahon (Oh dear, let's not even tink of what's come in between).
Naysmith v Hill (didn't much care for Naysmith but . . . ).
Morgan v Collins
Killa v Maguire
Halford v Lappin (even got a full back instead of a winger and it's still a hideous come down).
Tonge v Flynn
Speed v Doyle
Quinn v White
Henderson v Porter
Sharp v Miller

Subs.
Ugo v Coady
Spring v McGinn
Cotts v Baxter
Stead v King
Webber v Taylor
+ Howard and Cuevellier
Subs don't really match 1 for 1 but it's clear only whoever came up against Spring would be even close to being acceptable.

If anything Doyle can stand in coparison with his predecessor (and subsequent ones, as one must include Montgomery!) far easier than most of the team!

Fuck me I've depressed myself now just writing down where our "good business" has taken us!

 

[FleaPitBlade]

Its even more depressing if you then consider the players that have passed through the door in the time between that point and this.

I'm sure we could assemble a squad of ex Blades, still playing, that could push a top half premiership finish.

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

According to our manager on RS last night he is just about the 1st on the team sheet - that is sad.

McGinn is the first name on my team sheet. Pretty much the only proper midfielder we have.

 

[JohnDenver]

Spring v McGinn

1-0 to the class of 2013!

 

[LoughboroBlade]

When asked if Michael Doyle should be captain he did say that he was the best person for that role 'at the moment'

And he's absolutely right in my opinion - and that comes from someone who thinks he's very poor in that role. We are a team front to back that lacks strong leaders, which is why the organisation in key areas is poor. We need to get several potential captains in - primarily a central defender and central midfielder. We really don't have anyone at the club that in my view displays qualities that would make them good captains - it's one of the reasons I think we struggle in high pressure situations.

As a comparison vs the opposite of this, in our '06 promotion, any one of Morgs, Short, Jags, Unsworth could have effectively captained the side - the fact we had all on the pitch at various occasions made for a more organised team. It was a similar situation in '03 with Murphenauer, Page, Macca, Brown and the Chief.

You could remove the armband from Doyle, leave the captaincy unassigned, and see zero effect on the team's performancin my opinion.

 

[diplomat]

I don't mind two holding centre mids but only if the rest of the team is basically set up to attack. To do that you need two energetic full backs a-la Walker/Lowton who are genuine outlets. Maybe White could do it on the left? The centre mids then sit and cover these advances. A bit like how Germany like to set up ( admittedly not studied them recently but they like it in tournaments) where licence to attack is given to half the team where the remaining have a strict defensive job.

Doyle is ok at sitting, he breaks stuff up and keeps possession. The problem is that no-one takes responsibility for forward thinking so it is often left to him and it's not his strong point. When L**ds went up they got him on loan to sit in front of the back four and went on a long unbeaten run.

People keep going on about Baxter and he played the through ball go the game on Sat but infuriates me massively. He's clearly unfit which is an outrage. He also likes a quick one two and then makes sure he's marked to avoid the next phase of responsibility.

I like McGinn and something must be wrong behind the scenes. Him and Doyle sat in the Notts County game and we looked better for it, retaining the ball whilst off ball movement from a combo of Brandy, Westlake and Macca created space and allowed us to move forwards. Sadly I've not seen this since.

Elsewhere, Brandy needs to learn when to pass as he's all bluster and little end product. He can add a dimension though when not being a nob.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

When asked if Michael Doyle should be captain he did say that he was the best person for that role 'at the moment'

The problem is that Doyle is only as good as or is as poor as the rest of the fuckers.

I suspect the latter

 

[Bladesman]

Its even more depressing if you then consider the players that have passed through the door in the time between that point and this.

I'm sure we could assemble a squad of ex Blades, still playing, that could push a top half premiership finish.

Top half PL finish? Doubt that but a top half championship finish then yes. They were here and did that with us already though.

Jags, Walker and Cahill are PL quality.

Any other player we have had over recent times are championship at best.

 

[sheffielder]

Couple of points.

I love when people on here and Rob Staton say that all managers made Doyle captain so they must know something. Well I do know that Wilson and Weir are currently out of work, so can we not learn from their mistakes.

Unfortunately because at present Doyle is not only late for a tackle, he is also too late to foul anyone we might never see if another player as the balls to take on the captaincy.

Doyle is the only player that has players all minutes this season from the midfield or attack. Everyone else has been dropped for whatever reason. I just don't understand why we can't experiment with dropping Doyle for a game.

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

Hes had the captaincy thrust up on him because we have no one else. Take it away from him ,ship some out get a strong respected leader in the team and I reckon Doyles game will improve ,as will the team.That would be my priority.

Probably true sitters but who would you give it to?

I genuinely can't think if a suitable alternative. Any that I think might be worthy of it are players that I would want to lumber with the responsibility.

 

[sitwell]

We need to bring someone in. John Eustace for me .

 

[Hodgyman]

My main issues with Doyle are his lack of apparent communication and rallying on the pitch, his tendency to point the finger at others following his own mistakes and that he hides, effectively marking himself out of play at times.

I agree with all of the above plus I seem to remember that Danny Wilson's downfall (and perhaps Adams' and Weir's ) was due to senior players not getting behind their manager and influencing other players to do the same. Our captain in one of our influential senior players.

There has certainly been a lack of support for the previous managers judging by the performances on the pitch

 

[Foxy]

We need to bring someone in. John Eustace for me .

What about Keith Fahey?

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

What about Keith Fahey?

Is he still training with the club? He always looked a reasonable player to me, could think of worse.

 

[fishpie]

I like to love anyone in a red and white shirt, but Tony McMahon's testing me more than Doyle this season....not sure which side of the debate that makes me!

 

[sitwell]

What about Keith Fahey?

To be honest I don't know much about him ,does he look that kind of player ? Spoke to a brum fan who says he s a very good footballer ,but he told me King would rip this league apart.

 

[Sharpestblade]

I don't think he is that bad. He is hampered by a back four with no pace which has to sit too deep otherwise they get exposed and because the full backs aren't good enough or fast enough to get forward and create chances he ends up with the ball in forward/creative positions a lot more than he should.