Doyle: Michael Paul (Micky)

2009-2010 (Leeds Player Details)(Player Details)

Central Midfield

Born: Dublin: 08-07-1981

Debut v Exeter City (h): 08-08-2009

5’10” 11st 2lb (2009)

Doyle began his career as a trainee at Celtic and signed professional forms for them in August 1998. He and fellow Celtic teamate, and future Leeds United loanee, Liam Miller had a season, 2001-02, on loan in the Danish Premier League side AGF Aarhus and there Doyle played twenty-two League games and scored four goals. However, when he returned to Celtic he was unable to get into the first team and he left having never played a game in top flight for them. His workrate and tough-tackling style impressed Gary McAllister, after he had been recommended by his Assistant Eric Black and, after trials, he brought Doyle to Coventry City on a free transfer on 4th July 2003. The tenacious central midfielder made his Coventry debut on 13th August 2003 in a 2-0 home win against Peterborough United in the League Cup. On 23rd August 2003 he found the net for the first time for Coventry when he scored at Ipswich Town in a 1-1 draw in the League. He soon established himself as a first team regular and by the end of the season Doyle had scored five times in thirty-eight starts and two more games off the bench in the League and won the club’s ‘Young Player of the Year’ award. Through various managerial changes Doyle still held his place and 2004-05 saw him score twice in accumulating forty-four more League appearances, including one game from the bench. He continued playing regularly and had periods as Captain of the side and showed his loyalty to the club by signing a long term contract in the summer of 2007. It was not until after the end of the 2008-09 season, with Chris Coleman as Manager that his position in the team was under threat. The Manager signed Sammy Clingan from Norwich City in the close season and informed Doyle that he would not be getting as many games in the first team as he had been accustomed to. So, with two years still to run on his contract, Doyle looked for first team football elsewhere. His record at Coventry showed he had scored nineteen goals in two hundred and forty-seven League games, of which six were as a substitute, while in the Cups he had scored once in eighteen starts in the F.A. Cup and once in eleven starts and two games from the bench in the League Cup. On 6th August 2009 he joined Leeds United on a season long loan and made his first team debut for Leeds in the first game of the season win against Exeter City and soon established himself as a regular. He helped Leeds to promotion from League One in 2009-10, as an almost ever-present, but surprisingly he was not signed on a permanent basis by Leeds at the end of his loan period and he returned to Coventry City. He re-established himself in the first-team, but after scoring twenty goals in two hundred and sixty-five League games, of which nine were as a substitute, scoring once in nineteen starts in the F.A. Cup, once in thirteen League Cup games, of which two were from the bench, on 25th January 2011 he joined former boss Micky Adams on a free transfer at Bramall Lane as the Blades fought a battle against relegation from the CCCL. The fight was unsuccessful but Doyle became a regular and had made almost forty appearances by the end of November 2011. He represented the Republic of Ireland on one occasion in 2006 and before that he made eight appearances for the Under-Twenty-one team and also played one game for the ‘B’ team in 2007.