Fergie should have bought Doyle

NEVER mind de lawd, it’s football that moves in mysterious ways, its wonders — and weirdness — to perform.

For your correspondent, the week began in the unlikely surroundings of the Maltese Embassy in Dublin where we gathered to wish bon voyage to Roddy Collins as he prepared for a new life in the Mediterranean.

His latest club Floriana, we noted, are sponsored by Robertson’s Jams and Marmalade, which sets up a number of important questions.

Is Roddy the man to get them out of a jam? How will he cope if they hit a sticky patch? And will he help them preserve their unbeaten record? (Sorry about that, I must have been jarred).

But if the Rodster’s move was a bit of a surprise, it was as nothing to the shock and astonishment which, at week’s end, greeted the news that Michael Owen was Old Trafford-bound.

Indeed, the scale of the reaction was such that the levels of amazement could hardly have been exceeded had United announced that they were intent on signing Michael Jackson. (Except that would be silly, of course — Real Madrid would be bound to get there first).

So, own goal or Owen goals? That is the question. And, while everyone has their opinion for or against, the truth is that only the evidence of the new season will reveal whether Alex Ferguson has pulled off a minor masterstroke or added an unnecessary burden to the wage bill.

Whichever way it pans out, it’s hard not to shake off the thought that the transfer casts Kevin Doyle’s move to Wolves in a rather less celebratory light.

In his prime, Owen might have been nigh-on untouchable in the ranks of modern English strikers but his prime seems a very long time ago now and, at 29, his move to Old Trafford feels more like a swansong, however glorious it might prove to be, than an exciting new chapter in a once great player’s career.

Yet, Ferguson clearly thinks the recruitment on a free of a striker many feel is washed-up still makes for better business than the relatively modest few millions which would have been required to bring Doyle to Old Trafford.

That’s not only Doyle’s and United’s loss but also Ireland’s because it could only be for the betterment of the country’s World Cup hopes to have one of our leading strikers playing at the highest level in England and Europe.

And there’s no doubt that Doyle could handle the step up, even if his final season at Reading did end with his own slump in form mirroring that of the club itself.

The qualities Doyle has brought into the international arena are proof enough that he has what it takes to perform in the upper echelons of the English game, even if his lack of superstar appeal — otherwise one of the more refreshing aspects of his personality — possibly militated against his being head-hunted by one of the big four.

The likes of Everton, however, would have seemed an ideal port of call for Doyle but, instead of challenging the Premier League’s glass ceiling, the concern must be that he will now spend a goodly portion of next season desperately trying to keep his — and Wolves’ head — above water, a striker operating as a first line of defence rather than as the goal-grabbing spearhead of the attack.

So, to the extent that he seems to be almost back where he started when Reading went up, you can understand why there are those who have decried Doyle’s move to Molineux, even if Dunphy’s “massive blunder” take is characteristically excessive.

In truth, there are reasons to welcome the development too and not least because it is, a step up for a still developing player for whom another year in the Championship would not have done his career any favours.

Wolves are also a much bigger club than Reading, even if their glory days belong to the distant past, and it comes as no surprise to learn that Doyle, no boy in the bubble, was hugely impressed by the reminders of football legends Billy Wright and Stan Cullis on his first visit to Molineaux.

From the Doog on down, the Wexford boy is following in some celebrated footsteps here and, as the club’s biggest signing, is set to be feted accordingly if he can deliver.

But it’s the influence of a living, breathing figure at Wolves which ought to prove the most significant on Doyle’s continued progress.

The player has made no secret of the fact that he was impressed by manager Mick McCarthy and what he had to say to him when they sat down for a couple of hours to discuss the move.

In his new boss, the former Cork City striker will find a bright, straight-talking, down-to-earth gaffer with whom an intelligent, hard working sort like Doyle should be able to forge a mutually productive relationship.

And, it won’t do any harm to Ireland’s cause either that, as a former national skipper and manager, McCarthy would naturally be well disposed to Doyle continuing to make strides in his international career.

As with Owen at Old Trafford, only the unfolding week to week reality of the season itself will tell us whether Wolverhampton Wanderers will be as good for Doyle as he will undoubtedly be for them.

And even if the sense of a missed opportunity still persists, Doyle need only look as far as his Irish striker partner Robbie Keane to be reminded that, after all, the dream move can sometimes turn into a bit of a nightmare.