Speaking exclusively with BOYLE Sports , former Republic of Ireland striker Kevin Doyle has given his thoughts on the performance of Noel Hunt with Reading so far and whether he could manage Ireland someday and the return of Chris Wilder to Sheffield United.
The former League 1 promotion winner with Wolves also gave his thoughts on Cardiff and Bradford this season with both battling it out for promotion despite playing in different divisions last season and Doyle compares the parallels between Luton Town and his previous situation with Wolves.
Doyle also reflects on his playing career, coming up against MK Dons, Ian Holloway and the potential in a Bristol Derby.
Noel Hunt
Noel Hunt
“Like Sheffield Wednesday, they were in a tough situation, unable to sign players, having to sell players, and experiencing a change of manager. Noel Hunt came in when there were question marks over the training ground and their stadium, and he just settled the ship.
Noel's brilliant, he's extremely enthusiastic and knows football inside out. It's a tough job. He's a young manager, a young man who took on the job with the youth team or the Under-21s, stepped up, and did a great job. Now he'd be looking to get promoted.
With new owners, the pressure would be on him. They have new owners and expectations, and again, it's a fabulous club. Reading's training facilities are second to none now, what they've built and own.
Their stadium and all the question marks over the future of the club look like they've been sorted and solved, thank God. Hopefully, Noel will get the chance to benefit from that because he did the dirty work and kept them up when it was really tough last season. Hopefully, he'll get a chance to achieve some success from that.
Could Hunt Manage Ireland
Yeah, why not? You never know. He’s doing a good job. Having said that, he's very early in his career, and he wouldn't want to take an international job this early. He needs to learn his trade and get success, but he has the tools, the energy, and the enthusiasm. So, yeah, I'm pleased for Noel, and I hope it goes well for him.
Chris Wilder
“Strange” Wilder Return
Ruben Selles has been to a lot of places lately. Now Chris Wilder is back. It's a great story. It's drama, and it creates a lot of talking points.
You want all these things happening because it's like a soap opera, which makes football so interesting. Chris Wilder has been excellent for Sheffield United. You've had a good season, and in the playoffs, these things happen, but to get sacked from it seemed very harsh.
Obviously, they realised that pretty quickly and have got him back in, but it could be too late. They've had a pre-season and a new manager come in, with a change of style and a change of players. That magic or momentum might be gone.
Cardiff City
Momentum Is Key For Cardiff
For Cardiff, it’s about confidence and momentum. When you get down there, it's so hard to turn it around and get back. But listen, on paper, they should walk it. They really should.
Financially, they should walk it, their budget, everything. But it's just not easy with players in Cardiff as well now going to League One games and tougher away games, it won't be nice stadiums like some of the grounds that you'd be in the Championship.
All of a sudden, it gets a bit tougher, and you're going to places you might not have been in a good few years, and it's not as flash and nice, and it can be very difficult.
I know my old club Wolves did it, got relegated to League One, Premier League, Championship to League One, all in the space of a couple of years, and they managed to come back and turn it around and come back but it wasn't easy. Football changes very quickly, and it's just getting that positivity back in a club, winning games.
Dropping to League One, what a disaster. But if they're top of League One after Christmas, they're winning games, fans are happy, they can see light at the end of the tunnel, and that's all you can hope for.
Bradford City
Bradford City
Graham Alexander is a very good manager. Bradford City is a big club, well-supported, and like many others in their position, they feel they should be in a higher division.
They haven't had significant success in a long time. I remember Benito Carbone playing for Bradford in the Premier League when I was young, but that was a long time ago.
“They have the size, the support base, and all the attributes to be competing at a higher level. Starting the season well is crucial. As I've said before, if you start well in the Championship or League One, it's very hard to lose that momentum. Teams that are at the top in the first month or two often stay there.
Luton Town
Luton Must “Steady The Ship”
It's exactly what happened to Wolves. Wolves were in the Premier League for a couple of seasons, this was about 10 years ago, and then all of a sudden they were in the Championship. Things weren't going well in the Championship; they were mid-table or just outside the playoffs, which was seen as a disaster.
They changed managers, and it became an even bigger disaster. It just snowballed, and the same thing is happening to Luton. All of a sudden, you're down two divisions before you've even gotten over being relegated from the Premier League, you're in League One.
I remember how awful it was at Wolves, how bad everyone felt, and how low everyone's confidence was, the club, fans, staff, players, everyone, try to get going again.
The same thing has happened at Luton. Wolves are a bigger club than Luton, I suppose, and probably worse off, but Luton was a great story when they were in the Premier League. Everyone wanted them to do well.
They're back to where they have been historically over the years. It's really difficult to see them. Based on how they started, they're not in a great position. It's hard to see them.
They can do it, but it's just so difficult to turn it around. They don't want to avoid another relegation. They'll keep playing the way they are. As I said, when you're in the top two or three in those leagues, you seem to stay there.
There's always one team that seems to make a run and actually ends up in the playoffs, sneaking into the playoffs at the end from further back. So, listen, they hope to just steady the ship and try to get themselves into the playoffs and somehow get back up.
League 2
Playing MK Dons
I definitely played against them in pre-season friendlies a long time ago and haven't been to see them since. I always found the atmosphere at MK Dons a bit strange, to be honest. Even in pre-season games, despite being a Premier League club playing MK Dons, there was a big crowd there, and it just felt a bit odd.
They've just bounced around in their league for a long time. just felt there was a strange atmosphere there.
Ian Holloway
I don't really know him, but we always had tough games against his team. I remember when Blackpool were doing well under him, and you just can't help but like him, can you?
He doesn't look like he's aged since 15 years ago, when I would have come up against him. I just think he's great. I think he's a great manager because of his longevity, his positivity when you hear him being interviewed, and his entertainment value.
So you'd like to see him do well, to be honest with you. I'd like Ian Holloway back more in the limelight.
Bristol City vs Bristol Rovers
I’ve played against Bristol City plenty of times. I haven't played against Bristol Rovers, to my knowledge, and I'm sure it must be a big derby for them. You want derbies, don't you? It fuels football. There was a Rome derby over the weekend. I saw a little bit of that with Evan Ferguson.
For the two Bristol clubs, I'm sure it's bigger for their fans to be playing against each other and have bragging rights. It's good for the league if the two of them are in the same division. Hopefully, they do get up and create a bit of a stir in Bristol.
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