Kevin Kyle savouring his loan move to Wolves

Jan 31 2008 By Paul Berry, Birmingham Mail

KEVIN Kyle brought two-year-old son Max along to sample the formalities of completing his loan move from Coventry to Wolves.

It was difficult to judge who was the more excited.

Customary as it is for new signings to describe looking forward to a fresh start and how encouraged they are by their new surroundings, with 26-year-old Kyle such delight and motivation oozes out of every sentence.

In part that's a result of life at Coventry becoming as near as dammit unbearable, thanks to increasing heat from the terraces which began on his very first day as a Sky Blue almost 18 months ago.

And in part, too, because Kyle has been re-united with the manager who up until now has eked most out of his talents as a more than decent footballer.

It was under Mick McCarthy that Kyle scored 16 goals in one Championship season, helping Sunderland to the play-off and FA Cup semi-finals, and won the bulk of his nine Scottish caps.

Kyle is now hoping that for the next five months McCarthy will help ignite his career once again.

"I don't think I've had a smile on my face like this since the little man was born," he says, pointing to Max, who is happily dribbling a football around Wolves' training ground.

"It really is great to be working with Mick again because he got the best out of me at Sunderland and hopefully will do so again.

"I've never really got back to how I was in that season because of a hip injury, which ruled me out for 18 months, and a few niggles since.

"But I was always grateful Mick believed in me, he gave me an opportunity to go out and prove myself and I think I did that."

Such faith was perhaps in far shorter supply when Kyle opted for a fresh start by departing the North East for Coventry and found the Sky Blues faithful a tough nut to crack from day one.

"Did I get a fair crack of the whip from the Coventry fans? I don't think so," said Kyle, whose Wolves career began with a 45-minute run-out for the reserves last night.

"The first day I arrived I picked up the local paper and there was a poll in which 95 per cent of the fans were saying they didn't think it was a good signing.

"I got myself into a bit of bother back home with the authorities, which didn't help, and I had to do some community service but I came back this season and was doing okay again before another injury.

"But it does affect you, and I think it would in any walk of life.

"It was only the minority - I also had some great letters of support from fans who told me to ignore it all - but it's always the minority who make themselves heard.

"It got to the stage where I didn't really want my parents to come down and listen to what people were saying, which was a bit unfair because I always go out to do the very best that I can.

"Being sent off in my last game was the final straw.

"It's my own fault because I was that eager to do well I was chasing defenders all over the place and ended up with two silly bookings.

"I was booed off the park after getting the red card, and I don't mind saying I was crying in the changing room because I was devastated. It's a fresh start for me now, and I hope the Wolves fans will judge me not on what has happened before but on my performances."

Kyle admits he's in for tough times of a different nature at Molineux, namely breaking into the team given the now embarrassment of striking riches at McCarthy's disposal.

But his aerial threat and physical presence is something that certainly gives Wolves a different option, particularly from off the bench.

By this point young Max - whose godfather is Stephen Elliott - had seemingly grown increasingly weary of events of the day and had taken to dismantling parts of the Compton press room.

Just what Daddy will be hoping to do to tiring opposition defences.