6 thoughts on “RIP Mike Doyle – a true Manchester football legend

  1. A sad day indeed…he was in the first Stoke team I remember 500 odd games for City first though.No mean feat that especially when you think about how dissloyal many of todays players are.R.I.P Mike Doyle :'(

  2. A very nice tribute from the dark side there Frank. I just wish we had more like him. You’ve had Gary Neville recently and much as the fella gets on me tits he is exactly what the fans want and I respect that a lot. Doyle was the same for us. No messing about, he called a spade a spade and he never hid his emotions. The world is at a loss with his passing.

    On a more general point – if i was a talent spotter for any big club I would set a quota of a couple of local lads (literally in the city) that have a real passion for the club. I’d place extra emphasis on bringing them on as what they may lack in skill they’d make up for with dogged determination and that can really get the fans going.

  3. Wonderful comment Bob and cannot agree more. Doyle was for City what Red Nev was for United in the last few years and let’s hope that there’s more of it. Passion is what’s sadly missing from today’s game, love to see more of it!

  4. Exactly Frank – passion is everything. I don’t know why the marketing men can’t see the long term worth in it. Look at Barca – the local connection is a major part of the reason why they are so strong. The foreign players don’t want to let the fans down. With your history you probably have more loyalty than us but you only have to look at the obvious examples of Rooney and Tevez to see how things are changing. There is no way Doyle or Neville would drag their clubs through the mud like that, no way.

    Extra emphasis should be placed on bringing the local lads through. Manchester can produce them.

  5. Frank, thanks for the generous and warm-hearted tribute to Mike Doyle. Took me right back to the good old days when our fine City had the best two footballing sides in England, days which I think may be imminent once more.
    Of the City team of that era Corrigan, Pardoe, Doyle, Booth, Oakes, Lee, Summerbee, and Neil Young were all born in Manchester or within 30-odd miles of the City and I’m sure the United team was similarly composed. Mancunians have always had what the late Tony Wilson described as ‘an excess of civic pride’ and it would be great to think that some of this might rub off on the blow-in footballers who come to live there. But, given that the modern day footballer is pretty divorced from reality, I think it unlikely.
    We do have foreign players who seem to have adapted well – Kompany, Zabaleta, Silva, DeJong in particular. I’m sure you can name United players who have, too. We just need more of them.

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