MICHAEL DOYLE insists ambitious Queen’s Park can follow in the footsteps of Alloa by establishing themselves as Championship regulars.
The former Falkirk, Morton and St Johnstone ace this week became the Spiders’ latest high-profile capture as boss Ray McKinnon tools up for a League Two title-charge.
Doyle, 28, joins Scotland cap Cammy Bell, Peter Grant, Lee Kilday, Ross MacLean, Craig Slater and Bob McHugh in a squad packed with impressive pedigree.
And Doyle is adamant the Queen’s Park project mirrors his time at Alloa, where he won successive promotions under Paul Hartley before cementing their place in one of the most competitive Championships in history.
He said: “I’ve done this journey before with Alloa – we started at League Two and made our way to the Championship, then survived in a Championship with Hearts, Rangers and Hibs in the league.
“It was a four-year process where we got promoted twice then had a couple of great years.
“Having been through it before, I get the same sort of feeling at Queen’s Park.
“You need a whole changing room to achieve that and the manager is bringing in a spine of players that he knows can make that a reality.
“You just need to look at the standard of player he has signed. Every player he has brought in could be playing in the Championship and I’m excited to see what he’s got up his sleeve next.
“I don’t think winning League Two is the final ambition for Queen’s Park. They want to go a lot higher than that – and that’s the vision the manager put across to me.”
Doyle was a free agent after suffering a double disappointment at the end of his one-year stint at Falkirk.
Not only did the Bairns lose out on promotion by a point to Raith Rovers when the divisions were called, but that failure to go up proved to be the difference between him earning a new deal at the Falkirk Stadium and being cut loose.
Doyle continued: “The way things ended was painful – both for the club and my own time at Falkirk.
The coronavirus effectively cost me the chance of another year at Falkirk. If we had gone up then I’d still be there, and we firmly believed that we could have gone on to win that league.
FORTUNATE
“I’d rather things had finished on the pitch but sometimes things are taken out of your control.”
Indeed, Doyle has a sharp sense of perspective and recognises that he is one of the lucky ones amid a swathe of players searching for new clubs.
He added: “I feel fortunate to have found another club, especially at a club where it really feels like there is a project and direction.
“I know there are plenty of other boys who haven’t got fixed up yet and are looking for other jobs – that’s the other side of it.”
