Kevin Doyle..... is he that good?

[Norfolk Royal]

Doyle has excellent touch and awareness and is very strong, probably from playing Gaelic football or something.

[Royalupnorth]

Personally I agree his biggest asset is his vision and awareness.

The reason he is scoring goals is because he is in goal scoring opportunities so many times per game.

Henry seems to prefer through balls he can run onto.
Rooney looks to want to pick the ball up in midfield and run at defenders.
Kuyt constantly tries to break the net with full, not always accurate, shots.
Others look for poachers goals.

Doyle looks for all of these and seems to think that scoring for the team is more important than getting goal of the month.

[xtreme rebel]

Doyle has excellent touch and awareness and is very strong, probably from playing Gaelic football or something.

Not really....Gaelic Football mainly involves passing with your hands or belting long balls into the forwards. Doyle is strong though and the GAA may have been the reason for this.

The thing, IMO, that makes Doyler so good is that he has this technique whereby his first touch very often gives him a head-start on his marker. Call it a great first touch but quite often Doyle's first touch gets him away from his marker.

At Cork City, Doyle had pace and was very strong in the air. He scored many headed goals. He's carried this on with Reading it seems.

I don't think Doyle is that much of a different player now than what he was when at Cork City but he's certainly more confident given his success last season and this season.

He's a level headed lad and will keep his feet on the ground.

I had to laugh at posts about saying he'd be the next Robbie Keane....Doyle should be Ireland's main striker now....he's better than Robbie Keane IMO.

[cheeryoleary]

Kevin Doyle..... 70K (initial)
Goals scored.... 7
Cost per Premiership goal.... 10K

[Royal Fleet]

Kevin Doyle..... 70K (initial)
Goals scored.... 7
Cost per Premiership goal.... 10K

Shevchenko......£31m
Goals Scored.....3
Cost per Prem Goal.....£10m

[Archie's penalty]

I only watched one game live last season against Cardiff City straight after New Year. We tore Cardiff apart it was just scintillating stuff - won 5-1 and it could have been 8. But I remember it most for Doyle's performance - was absolutely sensational. He just kept going the entire game, had amazing touch and a brilliant attitude. Realised then that he was as good or better than Kitson - Lita isn't a patch on him. I caught up most of his goals last season on you tube and he scored about 5 or 6 headed goals so I think he's great in the air.

Kevin Doyle I salute you - just hope no-one comes in for him anytime soon...

[Mr Angry]

There are so many qualities that Doyle ALREADY has (God knows how good he will be in 3 or 4 years time!) but one I like especially is the way he plays on the back line, looking across to ensure he stays on-side; he has had a number of runs on goal this season as a direct result of that skill.

Fozzie and Curo (to name but 2) would have been offside almost every time in comparison.

[Greenwich Royal]

He’s rubbish, not a very good player. I am not going to stick up an advert, am I? He’s hopeless.

Shhhhhhhhhhhh... keep it down lads!!! I don't think Sir Steve wants anyone making any noise about Doyler.

[xtreme rebel]

14th in the latest ACTIM stats for the season

http://www.premierleague.com/fapl.rac?c ... ctimTop100

Sure to rise further after his performance and goal against Fulham

[Archie's penalty]

14th is great but strange what stats can do - actim have shevchenko as 16th and he's been awful!!!

[Forbury Lion]

so what is it that puts him amongst the top scorers in the Premiership?

Errr.. 7 goals in the Premiership?

Ok, Ok, but am I missing something that makes him such a special player?

Not missing anything, He isn't special, just effective and that's what makes him special... er which he isn't.

Clear?

[Coppell's Right Footed 11]

14th is great but strange what stats can do - actim have shevchenko as 16th and he's been awful!!!

But has he?, the lad hasnt scored that many goals but im sure its no coincidence that Drogba is in the form of his life next to him. Think you will find Shevchenko does more than you think

[LumpWarden]

Does anyone else think that Doyle's fantastic value for money as top premiership goalscorer at the following prices;

Betfair - 100:1
Betdaq - 90:1

We've got a run of another 5 games where you'd say results (and goals) are definately achievable - if KD bangs a couple more in he could easily take the lead, meaning that these prices will rapidly shorten

[higher]

The PFA Young Player of the Year is awarded at the end of every English football season, by the members of the Professional Footballers' Association, the players union. All professional footballers, regardless of nationality, under the age of 23 playing in the English leagues are eligible for the award. The award is the most prestigious honour available specifically to young footballers given in England. The award was first given in 1974.

1974 Kevin Beattie Ipswich Town
1975 Mervyn Day West Ham United
1976 Peter Barnes Manchester City
1977 Andy Gray Aston Villa
1978 Tony Woodcock Nottingham Forest
1979 Cyrille Regis West Bromwich Albion
1980 Glenn Hoddle Tottenham Hotspur
1981 Gary Shaw Aston Villa
1982 Steve Moran Southampton
1983 Ian Rush Liverpool
1984 Paul Walsh Luton Town
1985 Mark Hughes Manchester United
1986 Tony Cottee West Ham United
1987 Tony Adams Arsenal
1988 Paul Gascoigne Newcastle United
1989 Paul Merson Arsenal
1990 Matthew Le Tissier Southampton
1991 Lee Sharpe Manchester United
1992 Ryan Giggs Manchester United
1993 Ryan Giggs Manchester United
1994 Andy Cole Newcastle United
1995 Robbie Fowler Liverpool
1996 Robbie Fowler Liverpool
1997 David Beckham Manchester United
1998 Michael Owen Liverpool
1999 Nicolas Anelka Arsenal
2000 Harry Kewell Leeds United
2001 Steven Gerrard Liverpool
2002 Craig Bellamy Newcastle United
2003 Jermaine Jenas Newcastle United
2004 Scott Parker Chelsea
2005 Wayne Rooney Manchester United
2006 Wayne Rooney Manchester United
2007 KEVIN KEVIN DOYLE Reading

[doylefan]

Agree with above posts!

Doyle took the championship by storm and is continuing to do so in the Premiership as well!! to be on level amount of goals as rooney and above the likes of Johnson and Henry - brilliant!!! 7 goals out for 14 games!! he's on a run and long let it continue!!!!

he is def an all-rounder. unlike some players (not reading ones i might like to add) his goals arent all the same and in a way thats what makes him more difficult to play against - the oposition never know what he's going to do next!!

[G Force 1871]

Agree with all the posts on here saluting Doyle as a great player.

One area where he is lacking, IMO is his touch when given a ball to run on to. There have been a couple of times this season where his touch has let him down when a better first touch would have seen him through on goal with a real chance of scoring.

The best example of this was from Huntys through ball against Charlton last week.

It's a harsh criticism but a fair one in my opinion and he's still young and I'm sure he'll improve on this for a while.

[AbovetheI]

so what is it that puts him amongst the top scorers in the Premiership?

Errr.. 7 goals in the Premiership?

Ok, Ok, but am I missing something that makes him such a special player?

Was Van Nistelhorse a special player? He still managed 30 goals in a season.

[M4 Junction 11]

Must be Player of the Month for November. Voting:
1. Doyle 36.5%
2. Seol 14.3%
3. Hunt 10.9%

[Royal Ranger]

He'd have 10 by now if Convey and Little hadn't got injured.

[Boston Royal]

He isn't the quickest

Okay in the air

Pretty strong

First touch is average

No great tricks

so what is it that puts him amongst the top scorers in the Premiership?

SHUT YOUR NEGATIVE NOSE RIGHT UP

That's a quite inappropriate response. GLN was asking a question (Why is KD good?) rather than saying he's poor. I think it's an interesting question. Many strikers have one easily visible quality (Quinn - heading; Forster - pace; Cureton - poaching/finishing) but Doyle's qualities are more subtle, such as awareness and positioning when running onto through balls.

The one quality I like the most (which a few have mentioned) is that he just wants to play football. He was born to play football, and loves doing it. He'll run his socks off every game, chase lost causes, track back and defend, and knuckle down in training to get even better. His attitude is first rate.