Leeds have signed Coventry City midfield player Micky Doyle on a season-long loan.
Doyle is a 28-year-old Republic of Ireland international, who has spent the last six seasons at Coventry. Though he played over thirty games for the sky blues last season, the arrival of Sammy Clingan and Michael McIndoe means that is unlikely to feature quite so regularly this time round, so he has dropped down to League One in search of first team football.
Simon Grayson was sounding pretty pleased on the official site, and confirmed that Doyle will go straight into the squad for the opening game of the season. "He's a player I've been looking at for a long time. He brings us quality, aggression in middle of park, and experience as well. He's tough and likes a tackle. He can pass the ball left-footed and pops up with goals now and again. I also hope his experience of games in the Championship will help the likes of Jonny and Killa."
With Doyle being a left sided player it looks like he has been signed as a replacement for Delph, though he will obviously bring us a lot more experience. When Delph left at the start of the week, Ken Bates suggested that Grayson would be allowed to sign another midfielder, but most Leeds fans would have been hoping for someone a little bit more high profile.
So the obvious question to ask is whether Doyle is any good. After a quick look at a couple of Coventry message boards, the consensus seems to be that he is hardworking and has been a good servant to his club over the years. While some Coventry fans are sorry to see him go, most think he is a bit limited at Championship level, but will probably do OK in League One.
So there we have it. At best this looks like a stop-gap for one season only, and that if we do get promotion the search will then be on for a better long-term replacement.