Doyle defiant as Wolves grit teeth to scavenge point

Terry Connor, the man placed in charge of Wolves until the end of the season, inevitably received much of the praise for a second-half comeback that earned them a crucial point.

But Kevin Doyle, the Republic of Ireland international who was a key figure in this unexpected revival, was still thinking of Mick McCarthy, the recently axed Wolves boss.

Results eventually cost McCarthy his job, as they always do.

Few survive a run showing just one win in 13 matches and a 5-1 home defeat against Midlands rivals West Brom, but Doyle said: “While it’s for the club first and foremost, I’m sure Mick will be happy with this result.

“When he left he spoke to us and said he was desperate for us to stay up. The last week has been tough for everybody because we all got on very well with Mick.”

Several managers turned down the job or were discounted by the club, leaving Connor as last man standing.

But Doyle and his team-mates are not complaining.

“We wanted that to happen,” he said. “Terry has been the manager for the last two weeks as he’s been taking training and dictating to us what we’ve been doing. It’s been a transition, but at least it’s been a smooth one. We’re delighted he’s got the job.”

Those sentiments were reinforced by the response of Doyle and the rest of the Wolves team after the final whistle.

All of them hugged Connor as they headed down the tunnel and Doyle said: “We did it because everyone was so happy to get something from the game.

“That’s because a lot of really nice people work for this club. As players we need to keep this team in the Premier League because it keeps everybody happy. They can all go home to their family and friends and say they support a Premier League club. We’ve a lot of responsibility on our shoulders and all we’ve done with this is give ourselves a chance.

“The management have done the rounds, but it’s nice they appointed from within. That gives all the other staff at Wolves a massive lift.

“It would have been very difficult to get someone new in to get us across the line, but everybody knows Terry and we are 100% behind him. Terry will be his own man.”

Doyle’s contribution to Connor’s survival mission is certain to be crucial. They trailed to goals from Papiss Cisse and Jonas Gutierrez in the first 18 minutes.

It is tempting to say Connor’s half-time team talk turned the tide, but he simply told them to continue playing with the attitude they showed after going behind.

Doyle said: “It’s surprising how positive we were at half-time. You would have expected us to be as low but it wasn’t like that.

“In our general play we’d done well and we’d kept them down, so we kept the same shape and the same team and got our goals. It was all down to patience, really.

“We expected to keep it tight from the first minute — it didn’t really work out that way! At least we then kept our shape and didn’t capitulate when we could have done.

“We just kept going and we’re delighted to get a point. We have felt the pressure as players and I’m sure the fans have as well, so it’s nice to get it out of our system.”

Matt Jarvis started the fightback with a deflected goal and Doyle scrambled in the equaliser. “That’s two goals in three and I feel my form is coming back,” said the striker.

“I’m improving and I’ll need that kind of form between now and the rest of the season and for the European Championships. It’s a good time to start playing well.”

Alan Pardew, the Newcastle manager, was sanguine about this setback to their top four ambitions.

He said: “I’m not angry. I just felt that on the balance of play we didn’t deserve to win.

“Wolves were up for it. I’m sure that was a bit for the old manager — you’re going to have that loyalty to him — and a bit for the new manager as well. He changed the style and they did things a little bit quicker. Fair play, they put in a great performance.”