English FA Cup Fifth round: Andrew Fifieldtalks to Reading striker Kevin Doyle about the challenge of facing the club he adored through childhood.
There is no better place for dreamers than Old Trafford and when Kevin Doyle trots out at Manchester United's temple of swoons this afternoon - though a late decision will be made on his fitness - he will allow his imagination free rein.
Before fantasising of FA Cup glory, his mind will flit back to his childhood home back in Wexford, to the bedroom walls plastered with posters of his United heroes: Roy Keane, Mark Hughes, Andy Cole and, most of all, Eric Cantona. "He was my favourite," Doyle said. "I liked the other guys but he was special - inspiring."
Cantona might appear an unlikely role model for the perpetually unassuming Doyle. The former Cork City forward gives the impression that success will never go to his head, although an obligatory fashionable haircut is a rare concession to his celebrity status. But the very idea of Doyle, collar upturned, attempting a Gallic pout or fevered gesticulation is laughable.
"I suppose I'm not really anything like him as a personality but I loved the way he played the game," he says.
"He was always exciting when he played - you didn't know what flicks he would do, what goals he would score. Any player like that makes the game interesting to watch."
Cantona sustained the legend of United's revered number sevens - the shirt worn by George Best and Bryan Robson before him and David Beckham afterwards. Now another temperamental genius, Cristiano Ronaldo, is in possession of English football's most famous jersey.
The Portuguese winger has used the opprobrium heaped on his gelled head by resentful England supporters as his fuel this season, almost single-handedly transforming United into genuine Premiership title challengers. Already the memories of his infamous altercation with Wayne Rooney at the World Cup in Gelsenkirchen have faded to nothing.
Doyle has witnessed Ronaldo's brilliance at uncomfortably close quarters. He scored United's equaliser at the Madejski Stadium in September and another two in the club's 3-2 victory at Old Trafford three months later. Those performances alone are enough to convince Doyle that Ronaldo is worthy of official recognition.
" RONALDO WILL DEFINITELYget my vote for player of the year," he says. "He plays on the wing and yet he's still one of the top scorers in the league so I think he deserves it.
"There's been a lot of pressure on him this season too because he gets stick everywhere he goes so to play that well is impressive. The times he has played us, I think he's put our skipper Graham Murty out with a hamstring injury just chasing him.
"He's been United's best player both times against us, but it doesn't matter who they are playing against. He is always creating and scoring and I think he'll run away with the player-of-the-year award, and deservedly so."
The odds of United completing a clean sweep of the end-of-season awards will shorten dramatically if Alex Ferguson can reclaim the Premiership title after a four-year gap, although he may have an unlikely rival in his quest to be named manager of the year.
Steve Coppell - yet another iconic United number seven - has worked a minor miracle in leading Reading, previously a blue-and-white blur orbiting London's sporting citadels, to previously unscaled heights. To put their precocious progress into perspective, the Royals are already assured of their highest league finish, while victory today would also mark their best ever FA Cup run.
All this has been achieved on a virtual shoestring, Coppell having assiduously plundered the English lower leagues and, of course, the League of Ireland. Doyle represents his greatest find, but Shane Long is beginning to blossom, while there are high hopes for Alan Bennett, the defender plucked from Cork City last month.
"IF WE STAY IN THEtop half, he's definitely the manager of the year," Doyle says. "No one fancied us to be where we are now, probably not even ourselves. It is frightening, really, considering the money we've spent and it's a great achievement.
"Steve is very good at getting a lot of players playing well together, even when they're from very different backgrounds. When someone gets injured there's always another player who comes in and takes their place seamlessly. He just has the knack of picking the right players."
Coppell is an unlikely romantic. He steadfastly refuses to revel in Reading's unexpected success and has already vowed to rip the guts out of his first-choice team for the trip north today, claiming that the financial imperatives of a top-half Premiership finish are too urgent to ignore. But the manager has given Reading - and Doyle, in particular - licence to dream again, and a victory at Old Trafford this afternoon would represent the ultimate football fantasy.
"I can't imagine how it would feel to score at Old Trafford," Doyle says with a smile. "But there's 6,000 Reading fans going to the game and we want to give them something to shout about."
