MATT DOHERTY IS jogging from the far left corner of the Molineux pitch in the direction of the dugouts.
As he nears the touchline Manchester City’s John Stones has just finished interviews with some of the club’s media after scoring a 95th minute winner against Wolves just over 40 minutes earlier.
Stones is holding a phone and talking through the goal while being recorded on another phone. He then takes a selfie and smiles before continuing his duties.
Doherty watched the drama of the VAR intervention confirming City’s winner unfold from the substitutes bench.
Just like the three previous games – Brentford, Liverpool and Aston Villa – the 32-year-old was unused.
In between that was an international window with the Republic of Ireland where he was deemed surplus to requirements. After starting Heimir Hallgrímsson’s first game in charge against England in September, he was dropped a few days later for the visit of Greece before being left out of the squad earlier this month for the trips to Helsinki and Athens.
This is a tough time for Doherty, only a few months shy of his 33rd birthday, and the last thing he probably wants, or expects, is to be asked for a chat.
“I don’t normally do interviews because I tell the truth too much. I didn’t plan to do one, I would have said no but only I heard the Irish accent,” he says.
And so, he suggests sitting in the home dugout again. The sweat is pumping from his forehead and temples after going through a 30-minute running session with other subs.
“That’s disgusting. Well, I’m doing it every week, so I’m probably used to it. You just have to do it.”
That sets the tone for a straight up chat over the next 15 minutes.
Doherty was the only recognised defender on the bench for Wolves and despite trying to hold on for a point he was not introduced.
Gary O’Neil has switched to a back five with wing backs and the performances of Nelson Semedo on the right and Rayan Ait-Nouri on the left stood out.
“I thought we were so good. You just always feel with the big teams, you feel like it’s coming don’t you? Even then, [Phil] Foden out on corner. You know he will put it right on the thing, can we get through this? And we weren’t able to do it.
“Nelson was unbelievable today, the amount of one v ones he had. I just have to be patient. I’m a patient guy, I have to wait, whether it’s on the left or right or wherever. I just have to bide my time and when I’m needed to be ready.”
Is this the sort of reflection that comes with experience?
“If I was younger I’d probably be playing!” Doherty says straight away. “No, a bit of experience, I dunno. The older you get, things just don’t, it’s not that they don’t hurt as much, you just take things on the chin a bit better.
“You don’t accept it either, but you just think ‘ok, this is what it is at the moment’, instead of throwing the toys out of the pram straightaway like if you were a bit younger. Football changes so fast.”
That is an obvious place to start with the Ireland situation. Hallgrímsson explained at his squad unveiling ahead of the Nations League double header against Finland and Greece earlier this month that he spoke to Doherty to explain his reasons for not including him.
Part of the thinking was that he didn’t want to bring the defender over to sit on the bench and had to look at options for next year’s World Cup qualifiers.
“That is exactly what he said to me. I just haven’t been playing that much so I don’t really have an argument with things at the moment,” Doherty says.
“But obviously I should be in the squad, even if I’m not playing or not going to play I should still obviously be in there. But yeah, I’m patient. I wasn’t happy, but I got to spend time with my kids. I do expect to be in the next squad.”
Doherty did start the first game under Hallgrímsson against England, although that was at a time when the manager admitted assistants John O’Shea and Paddy McCarthy had greater influence.
He was dropped for the game against Greece, centre back Andrew Omobamidele preferred at right full despite Seamus Coleman being forced to withdraw due to injury.
That selection and the manner of how it was handled led to Doherty and Hallgrímsson having a discussion about disrespect.
Doherty’s part in Greece’s second goal, after he came on as a late substitute, was also highlighted by RTÉ’s Stephen Kelly while The 42 reported how England’s first goal was also a bone of contention.
“No. We never spoke about it. Didn’t bring it up in conversation, never brought up in camp. Unless my memory is completely gone which I don’t think it is,” Doherty says.
“We spoke about a few things. He thought, it looked like in his eyes that he thought I felt disrespected in the last camp. I said to him ‘yeah, I felt disrespected in the last camp’ because in the second game [Greece] he was playing a centre back at right back ahead of me. And that’s not possible. So, we spoke about it and we’re fine so I should see them in November.
“It would have to take a lot to hurt my feelings. I’ve got thick skin and that. At the end of the day, if he doesn’t want to pick me it’s his decision. I’ve played zero minutes in the last four games. What could I say to that?”
Doherty admits the feeling of disrespect about not starting against Greece stems more from only realising when it was confirmed before kick-off.
“Just looked at the team sheet and see it like that. That’s why I felt like that (disrespected) but just looking at it, like, I was the only right back left after Seamus had left. If you’re not going to go with the logical decision then I feel like you should have said it to me.
“It was his first squad, so I guess he didn’t really know any of the players. I know the season had started and I’m not sure if he’d been over to watch anyone at that point but I guess he was using it as like a scouting mission to see how everybody is, how people react to certain things, how people react to not playing or whatever.
“I guess he was just eying everybody up and then I wasn’t in the last camp so I don’t know if it was him then taking more charge. And we won a game [against Finland] so that’s the most important thing.
“Maybe he (Hallgrímsson) was just looking at me. I need rhythm, you know. Games are what get me to my best. Me coming on for a few minutes here and there, that’s not great for me.
“For me to be at my best, everybody can say the same but I’m just thinking of my body, my style of play. I need to be playing all of the time, ye know, and that’s why it was disappointing for me because I’d started the season here, then we went into the camp and I needed that just to keep going.
“That’s beneficial for me, it’s beneficial for me coming back to club and then hopefully beneficial for country if I continue to stay and play, ye know, for obviously the next camps because you want me to be playing at my best and I haven’t been able to do that for a while with Ireland.”
Being away from the international team meant Doherty got to travel back to London to see his partner and two children, aged five and seven. He splits his time between Wolverhampton and the English capital.
Two of his sisters live there, too, and a few days off meant he got to spend the kind of time with his kids that he wouldn’t usually be afforded. A trip to the science museum was the highlight.
“Just being with them was so good, ye know,” he says. “I never experienced it before. It felt like it went fast but of course you start to think [about the future] especially that I’m 32 now, like. Nearly 33. Jesus. I feel like a young 32. I haven’t played a huge amount in the last couple of years. Obviously I had that six month holiday in Spain.”
That last line was delivered with a smile, Doherty reflecting on six months with Atletico Madrid from January 2023 after his Tottenham Hotspur contract was terminated by mutual consent at the end of that transfer window.
Diego Simeone spoke to him twice during that time – the week he signed and the week he left – and he managed just 16 minutes of action in La Liga with 17 games as a substitute.
His partner and kids remained in England and once it became clear that he was not forcing Argentina international Nahuel Molina out of the team the focus changed.
“I loved it, to a point. Once you realise you’re probably not going to play. I spoke to loads of players, and they were literally saying to me that I’m better off just enjoying the experience. Normally with new players he (Simeone) doesn’t speak to them for the first six months. But I was only there for six months!
“He (Simeone) pulled me in with a translator the week I left saying sorry that I didn’t get more time but that I carried myself well, kept training and was professional. Stuff like that. What an unbelievable experience, I just couldn’t say no to that when it came up.”
There should be more chances to get minutes at Wolves but Doherty also knows the onus is on him. “I’ve got to try and do something to try and get back in the team.”
As he says, he expects a return to the Ireland squad for the games with Finland and England in November, even if the beginning of the relationship with Hallgrímsson has gotten off to a rocky start.
“Carry yourself however you want, everybody is different and that. I’ll do this interview now and it’s no problem.”
