United 1 Rochdale 0 - report

[Pinchy]

Doyle hasn't always been 'this good' Woody. For much of his Lane career he was Micheal O'Monty. Running around a lot, trying hard, chasing the shadows of better players but achieving, at best, very little and at worst, being a positive liability.

NC has sorted him out; given him a well-defined role and a new sense of purpose. He has not looked back since the sending-off against Fulham. I give him enormous credit but let's not pretend it's same as it ever was.

Some Blades, not you, should take a short break from incessant juvenile petulance, and reflect upon just how blessed we are to have our manager.

 

[LSF]

Apart from Darth, who Doyle has obviously done something quite nasty to one of his family, it has become fashionable to praise Michael these days!
I've never been a trendsetter before, nice innit

 

[wizadry]

Probably a lot to do with the fact that he hasn't played there since 2012! And by the sounds of it, he was up against big lumps. I always said I wanted to see him up front in a 4-4-2, or playing behind a target man anyway, not as a lone striker.

Completely agree.If you're to play Murphy up top,it has to be with someone else or not at all,i thought it was a strange one from Clough tbh considering we had Mcnults and Higdon on the bench.

If the 2 players mentioned weren't fit you could understand it abit more but they were.Never mind,we still won.

 

[davidpinder]

After another 4-0 win last night maybe the result/performance was better than some including myself gave us credit for

 

[Woodwardfan]

Doyle hasn't always been 'this good' Woody. For much of his Lane career he was Micheal O'Monty. Running around a lot, trying hard, chasing the shadows of better players but achieving, at best, very little and at worst, being a positive liability.

NC has sorted him out; given him a well-defined role and a new sense of purpose. He has not looked back since the sending-off against Fulham. I give him enormous credit but let's not pretend it's same as it ever was.

Some Blades, not you, should take a short break from incessant juvenile petulance, and reflect upon just how blessed we are to have our manager.

Thing about Doyle is that he is Mr. Consistency. What he brings to the table is all he's got in his locker. In a successful team he looks good. In a struggling team he looks awful.

He would never claim to be a game changer nor could he ever be one. Successive managers have made him captain and probably had his name first or thereabouts on the teamsheet. That speaks volumes about the man as a leader and a player. It is a matter of opinion whether "every team needs a Michael Doyle", modern opinion questions the type of "holding player", "ball winner" type needed.

IMO Doyle has been one of our key players and has always been sorely missed when out of the side. Young spectators should spend a game just watching him perform his role as player and captain. He is very limited with the ball but usually plays within his limitations. When the rest of the team is not playing well he feels the need to be more adventurous and often looks awful. It all boils down to who his fellow midfield partners are and if they can do all the creative bits and do as they are told positionally then he can just keep on doing what he does which is organising the midfield positionally and in conjunction with the back 4, always badgering Collins in particular as the senior man back there. He is our best ball winner by a street, a veritable terrier, very hard too and has an amazing engine.


OK Pinchy, this is a bit OTT, but I think we will miss Doyle when he leaves and he is getting on a bit. Fans' opinions of Doyle are similar to those they had about Stephen Quinn who similarly exasperated them. Quinny too was great in a good team and awful in a bad team but he has gone on to prove his quality as a player. 100% commitment and a willingness to do the hard yards and the "dirty bits"