Doyle delivers touch of class for McCarthy

Forget Djibril Cisse’s harsh red card — it was the performance of super sub Kevin Doyle that transformed this game, and allowed Wolves to record their first win in 10 games and move out of the relegation zone.

The Wexford man was introduced at half-time for Richard Stearman, with Wolves struggling to make the most of their numerical advantage after Cisse’s red card in the 34th minute for over-reacting to a foul by Roger Johnson.

Once Doyle entered the fray, however, Wolves were transformed, and Mick McCarthy was delighted to see a change of fortune for a player who has had a ‘tough time’, according to the manager.

In the past year, Doyle has suffered a knee ligament injury and been sent off while on duty for Ireland, had a loss of form and lost his place in the starting line-up, as McCarthy has chosen to play Steven Fletcher as a lone striker.

At Loftus Road, Fletcher struggled on his own up front for 45 minutes until Doyle was added to the mix.

Within a minute of the second-half starting, Doyle set up Matt Jarvis to equalise Bobby Zamora’s opening goal for QPR, and then scored the winning goal with a touch of class in the 71st minute, taking a pass in his path, turning and shooting past Paddy Kenny in one sublime movement.

“It was lovely to see him play well,” said McCarthy.

“We gave him a license to roam and he looked like the top player that he is. He was excellent. He was powerful, strong, skilful and a goal threat. He was all of those things again.

“I was listening to one of the tennis players, I think it was [Rafael] Nadal, talking about how they can find these shots when it is most necessary and up their game. They know that the class is always there but sometimes they are just below par.

“It is the same for good footballers like Kevin. He always has it in him, but he has had a tough time and it has just not been happening for him. But he was fabulous today and class is always there.

“When I needed a good substitute, I had one on the bench and Doyle proved to be that one. It is not always easy to overrun 10 men and Doyle was a big part of that.”

McCarthy had some sympathy for Cisse, who reacted to a sliding tackle from Roger Johnson by grabbing the Wolves captain’s shoulders and then neck.

“That would not have been a sending off when I played, and Roger’s tackle would not have been a booking. But you can’t grab anybody by the face — it is not allowed any more.”

Mark Hughes accepted referee Mark Clattenburg had no alternative but called for a more pragmatic approach.

“You would like to think you could use common sense but referees aren’t allowed to unfortunately. They do it by the letter of the law,” said the QPR manager.

Cisse, who was making his home debut after signing from Lazio last week, has twice suffered broken legs and Hughes believed the over-reaction was born from those memories.

“Given the circumstances and Djibril’s injury history you can understand his reaction. Referees don’t factor that in unfortunately.”

Cisse, helped Zamora score in his first game for the club. The former Fulham striker shot home in the 16th minute, but after Cisse’s departure, the away side took control and scored the two goals they needed to win, just as Norwich did a month ago after Joey Barton was sent off for retaliation, much like Cisse.

Barton’s controversial tweeting continues to be a source of irritation and fascination, and Hughes is already beginning to become exasperated at having to talk about it constantly. “Sometimes issues become more focussed in some individual’s minds when things aren’t going well and they become an irritation,” he said cryptically.

He is more concerned at getting QPR away from the relegation zone as soon as possible.

“I am encouraged with what the players are producing. We have good players who will enable us to win games.”