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

[Glen Little's Nose]

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?

[Alan Partridge]

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?

Because he isn't bad either at any of the above.

[Row Z Royal]

He thumps, prods, touches and nods the ball into the net on a regular basis.

[RG30]

The funny thing is we've had a little obsession recently with the need for a "target man" yet for me Doyle is very well capable of winning balls in the air and doing his fair share of work.

Had you asked at the start of the season who was more important out of Kitson and Doyle, I would have said Kitson but Doyle has stepped up to the level and has been the outstanding star this season.

[Skin]

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

Errr.. 7 goals in the Premiership?

[Glen Little's Nose]

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?

[When Hicks went up...]

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?

I would disagree with the first four for starters. And since when were 'tricks' useful for anything but showing to your mates on Pro Evo.

[Reading Abbey]

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?

Compare to AJ and look at his transfer fee and expect a similar fugure IF we lost him in the future.

[bedfordroyal]

he is has more skill than Kits,works harder than Kitss has more passion than Kits and is IRISH.

Go raibh maith agat

[bassavage]

he is has more skill than Kits,works harder than Kitss has more passion than Kits and is IRISH.

Go raibh maith agat

Kitson has only played 45 minutes of Prem football so very hard to say.

[Thomas L'Heureux]

he is has more skill than Kits,works harder than Kitss has more passion than Kits and is IRISH.

Go raibh maith agat

Doyle doesn't have more skill than Kitson.

He has more ability at beating a man one on one but Kitson's far more skillful than he gets credit for.

[earley_royals]

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?

1. He is deceptively quick. Zat Knight is no slouch and Doyle outpaced him a couple of times yesterday.

2. He is good in the air and wins a lot of flick ons.

3. His hold up play is very good and he has the ability to back into players and hold them off.

4. His first touch is generally immaculate and this contributes to his hold up play. Unlike Shane Long the ball goes into Doyle and sticks.

Also, he works as hard in a game as I've seen any Reading striker work for as long as I've been watching Reading.

[bedfordroyal]

thank you earley royal you beat me to it,Doyler will be a legend and i have heard from cork friends that Shane can be better than doyler,Kits is a good long ball player but i would pick doyler over kits always,i may be biased but he is a good all round footballer.

[ROWY]

very simple really to understand his success ... as implied earlier he is not an exceptional footballer from a technical perspective and will not top the table because he is better than everybody else (Henry, Rooney etc), don't get me wrong he is good enough for this level but what he does well is ...

anticipates what might happen (forster never did this, was a ball to feet player and as far as he is concerned if it doesn't reach him, not his problem) Doyle will make 50 runs in a match anticipating what may happen, he may get on the end of it twice and score 1 in 4 of those times ... never lets his head drop just keeps doing it working on the percentages.

he's got an eye for goal, not afraid to shoot and has a high level of confidence in his own ability

these are the two key features in doyles game that result in him being one of the top scorers

[Millsy]

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?

Ok so he may not be flash but he seems to have football in his veins.

He does simple things very well.

An excellent article about him was posted here not long ago where Doyle revealed how I think after his brother died as a kid he'd spend hours in the garden practising shooting at an old disused car (or something like that). So he's put in hours of hardcore practice in tough conditions - a real contrast to our kids who play well at school and have the luxury of being taken up by pro coaches and trained to play a certain way with shiny new balls etc...

And the fact that his brother who passed away gives him an unquenchable inner calm and belief that he has something on his side - whether or not he actually does.

Doyle's something else.

[FiNeRaIn]

Think this is a fishing trip. Doyle is class and thats why he has 7 prem goals in 14 games. Best striker I've seen watching reading, potentially the next robbie keane if not better.

[2.8 lita injection]

This must be a fishing trip.

Kevin Doyles first touch is his biggest asset.

I am in awe of his first touch. the way he controls hopeful through balls or his first touch wins a foul.

The bloke is class.

[roland*]

very simple really to understand his success ... as implied earlier he is not an exceptional footballer from a technical perspective and will not top the table because he is better than everybody else (Henry, Rooney etc), don't get me wrong he is good enough for this level but what he does well is ...

anticipates what might happen (forster never did this, was a ball to feet player and as far as he is concerned if it doesn't reach him, not his problem) Doyle will make 50 runs in a match anticipating what may happen, he may get on the end of it twice and score 1 in 4 of those times ... never lets his head drop just keeps doing it working on the percentages.

he's got an eye for goal, not afraid to shoot and has a high level of confidence in his own ability

these are the two key features in doyles game that result in him being one of the top scorers

Agreed. Word. For. Word.

[jonboy]

He is deceptively strong - very strong infact. Last season I don't think the referees gave him half the free kicks/pentalties that is strong play warranted. This is probably because someone his size is not expected to win and hold the ball the way he does especially when the defenders were so much bigger than him.

Doyle is a class above Kitson - if you couldn't see that last season I'm not sure what games some of you have been watching.

He does anticipate well as suggested, I thought Doyle and Seol linked up very well with the flick ons to one another in the last game something as again suggested Forster was never any good at and thats why he played for Reading and not a Prem team.

[papereyes]

Had you asked at the start of the season who was more important out of Kitson and Doyle, I would have said Kitson but Doyle has stepped up to the level and has been the outstanding star this season.

I think Kitson has hardly had a chance to show how capable or not he is ...

Otherwise, I think ROWY's pretty correct. That said, Doyle is fast and his goals have come from a variety of sources.

vs Villa - header
vs Manchester United, Fulham - penalties
vs Spurs - good run onto a flick on
vs Charlton - instinctive dinked finish
vs Portsmouth - didn't see - bundled home?
vs Sheff United - good finish from close-ish range, after sprinting onto through ball