Doyle’s scars will heal quickly, but will United’s?
His swollen lip will heal within a few days thanks to the soothing balm of three points against the Premier League leaders, which will only re-enforce the depth of belief at Molineux that Mick McCarthy’s side can escape relegation.
Alex Ferguson can only hope the mental scars of failing to enter the Old Trafford record books will vanish just as fast in his pursuit of a 19th Premier League title.
Of all the places possible for United’s unbeaten Premier League run to grind to a halt, the home of the league’s bottom club would not have been high among the favourites, and the manner in which Ferguson’s team surrendered their attempt to set a record of 30 games without having their colours lowered will generate much gnashing of teeth for the Scot — especially with Manchester City the next visitors to Old Trafford on Saturday lunchtime.
Doyle and his team-mates prevented United from opening up a seven-point gap at the head of the table, placed the destiny of the title back in the melting pot and stopped United from eclipsing the treble-winning team of 1999.
For many, given the relatively poor level of performances during their run, the real surprise is that United have lasted this long without a defeat and Ferguson knows now that how his side respond, rather than the record books, will decide whether his team wrestle back the Premier League trophy.
Ferguson will rightly point to the fact that going the entire season undefeated was always an unrealistic proposition, and Darren Fletcher insists the focus on winning the league will not be affected, adding that the loss of the unbeaten record could even prove a blessing in disguise. “The unbeaten record has gone and people will stop talking about that now,” he said.
“We could have remained unbeaten the whole season and not won the league. What would have been the point in that? Our focus is to win the league.
“We have lost three points and we will have to bounce back and show our character.”
For Ferguson, United could not have a better game in which to “recover” from the disappointment at Wolves than facing the noisy neighbours and it is not hard to see his reasoning. United will have to raise themselves to far greater levels than this against the noisy neighbours if their grip at the head of proceedings is not to be further loosened, but they will have to do so without Rio Ferdinand, which will create further concerns.
Ferdinand will be missing for a couple of weeks with the calf injury he sustained in the warm-up and Roberto Mancini will be licking his lips when he sees the DVD of the Wolves goals, which capitalised on the absence of the 32-year-old England defender.
The defensive axis of Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic has been the bedrock of United’s challenge all season. Without him United are nowhere near as dependable defensively after Nani had given them the cushion of a third minute lead.
George Elokobi exploited the frailties with one header from Matt Jarvis’ cross and the left-back will be arguing with Doyle for several days over the disputed winning goal, which was the result of Nenad Milijas’ perfectly delivered free-kick into the near post.
“TV have given me the goal, so that's enough for me. George is saying it was his, but it hit me,’’ Doyle argued. “That’s all I know. I felt it hit me and then saw it hit the net so I don't know exactly who it hit or in what order but I'm claiming it.”
Elokobi still feels he was denied the winning goal against Chelsea earlier in the season when it was credited as an own goal, so he is “determined to keep hold of this one”. McCarthy could not care less who the goal is finally credited to though.
That is one mystery to be solved which is not too pressing. For Doyle, the more important issue is for Wolves to find a solution to the fact they can beat United, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool in a season and still be stuck at the bottom of the table.
Wolves owner Steve Morgan believes the manner of the success against the league leaders shows his side have what it take to haul themselves clear of relegation trouble, but Doyle knows there is little merit in taking big scalps if they keep letting themselves down against lower ranked opponents.
“I would prefer to be winning against teams around us in the table rather than having to keep pulling out all the stops against the top teams,” he concluded.
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