Boro should have moved for Cats striker Murphy (From The Northern Echo)

Boro should have moved for Cats striker Murphy

11:12am Tuesday 9th February 2010 in

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DARYL MURPHY’S comments in the aftermath of his goalscoring debut for Ipswich have caused a stir on Wearside and have highlighted to me why he was happy to depart.

In a post-match interview at Portman Road on Saturday, his cheeky claims that Steve Bruce ‘now might think I’m a striker’ have sparked a reaction from Sunderland fans.

While Bruce is certainly not the flavour of the month at the Stadium of Light at the moment, it’s safe to say the Black Cats boss is still ahead of Murphy in the popularity stakes – albeit only just.

Personally I don’t think Murphy is a player capable of holding down a Premier League first team place. But full of confidence he is more than capable of being a useful option from the bench or as back-up, but confidence is something he has sadly been lacking for almost two years.

But when a striker who relies on goals to build confidence is repeatedly played out of position – primarily on the left wing - what chance does he have of playing to his best at a club where he hasn’t felt wanted.

That is why it came as no surprise to me to see Murphy score on his Ipswich debut against Middlesbrough, poking in a cross from David Healy after just 22 seconds.

And while the level of his performance faded as the second half wore on, the Ipswich supporters were instantly impressed by a player with the ability to hold things up, turn, run at pace and occasionally score.

Murphy’s relaxed and satisfied demeanour in the Portman Road press room afterwards was a marked improvement to the attitude he used to show towards the press in the North-East, when raising a smile was just as difficult as answering questions.

The 25-year-old has a loan deal with Ipswich until the end of the season, when he is better off staying there or moving to another Championship club than heading back to the Premier League. The statistics prove it, which is why Middlesbrough have missed a trick.

Boro would have been mocked on Wearside if they had signed him, but given his record in the Football League he would not have been a gamble like Lee Miller or Chris Killen.

It is two years ago today that Murphy last scored for Sunderland, when he found the net in the 2-0 win over Wigan at the Stadium of Light. That season he grabbed two more goals in the Premier League.

He didn’t score at all in the Premier League last season, while his only other goal in the top-flight arrived just months after Mick McCarthy plucked him from Irish League side Waterford in the summer of 2005.

But while he might have struggled to make an impact in the Premier League, compare those seasons to his only full campaign in the Championship and it is easy to see why Roy Keane has gone for him again.

In Keane’s first season in charge, Murphy struck ten goals – including two in the final day win at Luton – as Sunderland won the Championship in 2007.

You see, it’s not that Murphy isn’t a striker, it’s just that he isn’t a Premier League striker. Murphy has the potential to be one of the best in the Championship, he just needs to be given the backing and support to push him there.

It could be Keane who does that, although from a North-East perspective I can’t help but feel Gordon Strachan should have opted for him instead.