Kevin Doyle Needs a Move

There is no point Doyler tearing up Championship defences for the rest of the season. He's been there, done that and got Reading promoted. The boy needs a new challenge. He's proven himself at International level and that he is competitive in the Premier League. I wouldn't even blame too much for Readings demise. It was the amount of goals they leaked more than their failures at the other end which sent them down last season. They conceded more than 5 in at least two matches. Doyler had a hamstring injury which hindered him all year and it wasn't exactly like the players further out the field were putting chances on a plate for him. Playing up front for Reading last season was a thankless job, working your socks off for 90 minutes and barely getting a sniff of a chance. Doyler did that job last season with all the commitment and determination you'd expect from a Paddy because that's what Paddy's do.

That's how the Irish players seem to be viewed by Premier League Managers these days anyway. About 5 Irish players start every week in the Premier and that's if you include Robbie Keane whose days of starting at Liverpool look numbered already. Premier League managers see the Irish as solid squad players at best. Josh, Kilbane, Glenn Whelan and the like are not players their managers look at to win games. They are players you can throw in in a crisis. The reality is that the Irish players are no worse than most of the foreigners plying their trade in the Premier League but they are the easiest to leave out of the side. The supporters will probably want to see local lads or English lads getting a run, they'll most certainly expect the big money overseas signing to be playing but no one is going to kick up too much of a fuss over an Irish player getting a run.

My worries for Kevin Doyle are twofold. If he goes up with Reading this season they look hopelessly ill-equipped survive in the Premier League. Steve Coppell is a great manager but he is not a man to make drastic changes so I would expect Doyler to spend the season faffing about trying to close down marauding full backs and doing his best to hold up the ball just to give a moments respite for his overstretched defence.

Kevin Doyle doesn't need another season like that. He's too good a player. That job is for the likes of Ricardo Fuller and Marlon King. Doyle needs to be playing on a team that have half a chance of winning and will create chances for him. A team like Reading, only better.

This might well happen for him. Everton, Aston Villa and Spurs are sniffing around and he's cheap compared to the £12 million Fulham spent on Andy Johnson or even the £20 million Liverpool paid for Robbie Keane. Apparently he was available for £7 million during the summer but no one was willing to take the chance. Why pay that kind of money for a squad player, I suppose? I'd would surprised if they all feel the same in January. The trouble is if Kevin moves to one of these clubs, he'll rarely play. If he does play, it will only be to cover injuries or maybe 20 minutes at the end. Clubs will play him as a right winger and do everything except give him a run of games at centre forward.

Everton badly need a striker with Yakubu out injured for the rest of the year but when James McFadden was there, he only played sporadically. If David Moyes did sign Kevin Doyle it would be as back up to Yak and Saha, not as their replacements. That's just the role of Irish players in the Premier League, they are the supporting cast, not the main event. No, no I don't think Doyle moving to the Premier League would be a good idea. He'd either never play or end up being wasted on a bad team but Kevin Doyle does need a move. He needs a fresh challenge and he has to be playing at the highest level because he is that good a player. He has already proven himself in the Championship (he won Championship player of the season in his first year at Reading) and playing there this season is a step backwards.

What Kevin Doyle needs is a move abroad. He needs to move to Serie A, La Liga or the Bundesliga. These leagues are full of top class international players, great crowds, Stadia and atmospheres. I am certain Doyle would excel in any of these leagues. There is less money available so in theory and based on Champions League performances, you might even say that these leagues are weaker than the Premier League. Yet there are still good enough for the vast majority of the players in the Italian, Spanish and German squads. Quality wouldn't be an issue and Doyler has shown himself well able for the Premier League.

If Doyle moved abroad he wouldn't have to overcome the idea that the Irish are only squad players which is holding back so many of our players in the Premier League at the moment. In Europe he would just be a foreigner like everyone else. If he is going to leave Reading, why not go abroad? One club is the same as any other.

The move didn't work out for Robbie Keane but he was very young and the manager who signed him was sacked soon a few weeks later. It did work out for Liam Brady. It semi worked out for Ian Harte except he wasn't good enough to play at any level and it seems to be going ok for Steve Finnan. He's pushing on and suffering a few injuries but I'd imagine Steve will be as consistent as ever when he gets a run of games. Doyle himself trained with Turin for a summer as a youth and Mick Wallace often took his Wexford team on tours around Europe. In many ways Doyle is already a European style player. He is technically excellent and it is obvious from the way he plays that he has been well coached. He just looks the part.

He is a bargain at £7 or even £8 million and he has already proven himself on the international stage. He was about the only Irish player to give our opponents any trouble in the last qualifying campaign and who can forget his goal against the Slovaks. It says something that he was able to walk away from that disastrous campaign with his reputation enhanced. Doyle is level headed enough that he would be able to adapt in a foreign country. What difference does it make to him anyway. He already is in a foreign country.

My hope would be that Doyle would get a regular run of games, improve as a player by playing in a technically superior league and also improve his confidence because it would be that little bit easier to score goals. The most important thing for a player like Kevin Doyle is to be playing regularly at the highest possible level. He is not going to get that in the Premier League and the Championship isn't doing him any favours.

I've taken it upon myself to engineer this move for Doyler. I'm going to have the following letter translated into Italian, Spanish and German and e-mail it to every club in the top division in those countries. I'm doing them a favour by offering them the bargain of the Century, I'm doing Doyler a favour and I'm doing the Irish team a favour by getting Doyler back playing at a decent standard.



To Whom it May Concern:

I think you should sign the Reading and Repubic of Ireland Striker Kevin Doyle in the January transfer window. He is already the top scorer in the English Championship with 15 goals in just 21 games. He has also scored 6 times in 23 games for a badly struggling Republic of Ireland team. He scored 13 goals in his first season in the Premier League but struggled with injuries the following year and only scored six times as Reading were relegated. He was awarded Man of the Match in Ireland's recent World Cup Qualifying Game against Cyrpus.



He is available for £7 million pounds which represents a great bargain for a proven international goalscorer. He is a quick, strong, skilful old fashioned centre forward. It is likely that Premier League clubs will try to sign him in the January. Everton, Tottenham and Aston Villa have already made their interest known but I fear that they will only use him as a squad player and that is why I think he needs to play in Europe. He is only 25 years old and there is no doubt he would be a great asset to your club.

Watch these youtube clips for more:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJNeqiOPmDw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhkAYcb6q1E&feature=related


but I assure you he represents excellent value and guarantee you at least 15 goals a season.


Yours sincerely,


Kieran O'Donovan


I didn't want to make it too long because my buddies probably wouldn't translate it if it was. I don't think there is any need to say too much more. The clubs I'm sure will carry out their own investigations if he is not already known to him. The purpose of the letter is purely to bring Doyle to their attention.

This is the letter I sent to my buddy Pablo from Spain. I met him in college in Germany hence the brutal German, he'll hardly get back to me but at least the wheels are in motion.

Pablo,

wie gehts dir?

Kann ich ihnen einen gefallen bitten? Kannst du die folgenden Brief auf Spanisch untersetzen. Ich will diesem Brief zu jeder Mannschaft in La Liga schicken denn Ich moechte diesem Spieler in la Liga spielen sehen. I weiss dass es schwer zu tun ist und es macht nichts wenn du es nicht machen kannst. Ich freue mich auf dich zu Hoeren.

Danke Schoen,

Kieran


I also wrote to Sarah from Itlay and Jan from Germany to get the letter translated by them. It is a big job but we'll see what happens. Just to keep ya'll in the loop I thought it best to publish all correspondence. I've already sent it to Ajax, surely they're in the hunt for a centre forward now that they've sold Huntelaar to Real Madrid.

Hey Sarah,

We were in Marburg together but I don't think we ever hung that much for some reason...pity but I definitely had a great year there. Oh, how I miss those crazy nights in Schwarz Weiss!! Anyway could you do me a favour...it's a big ask I think so don't worry if you don't have time to do it. I just thought I'd ask. I want to email all the clubs in Serie A to try to get them to sign an Irish soccer player so I wonder if you could translate the letter below into Italian....

thanks, Kieran


Hey Jan,

What's going on in the Burg? Can you do me a favour and translate the following letter into German. I want to get an Irish striker a move to the Bundesliga and I'm going to send this letter to all the clubs there. If you get a chance, if not there is no problem.

thanks,Kieran