Might be worth pointing out that Curbs apologised to Murphy in his book so a lot of what he said at the time can now be taken with a pinch of salt.
Agree with Muttley's comments re his missus, can't believe that people are advocating the abuse she and her child were subjected to on Saturday. Even if she did say anything about us (evidence of which I'm yet to see), she had a four year old with her for Christ's sake! Only a tiny minority though so probably time to move on.........
Bottom line with Murphy is that he is a luxury player, very few sides can carry him and he was never good enough for a regular place in a top club side - as his experience at Spurs demonstrated.
Its noticeable at Fulham that they have a shocking away record with him in the side - but are pretty strong at home.
He is too weak to play in a two-man central midfield so you have to play him as an attacking midfielder with two sitters in behind him as we did with Kish and Smertin and play with only one striker, you can't play Murphy wide (although Liverpool often did) because he has no pace and can't track back very well.
That's fine at home where you are normally on top but away from home it causes big problems because you can't really hit teams on the break so easily as you will only have one up and Murphy was not a fast-breaking player who got in behind (like Keane at Forest in the early 90's).
What's more, Murphy was an awful player to have around when a game got physical and you had to really dig in, he would just go missing and wait for others to bring him in the game whereas the top players - like a certain Scott Parker - gets better the tougher it gets and turns the game in his teams direction as a result.
Not sure if the OP is one of them but we had three blokes in front of us at Fulham and every time Murphy got abuse they looked at each other shaking their heads like nodding dogs.
They clearly looked bemused as to why he was getting so much stick so I assumed they were not regulars who did not know their history.
Murphy played his heart out hoping for an England recall, he didn't get it so he gave up. That's how I saw it.
That's how I remember it - I'm sure at some point on leaving he trotted out a line about how he wasn't in the England reckoning because Charlton were a 'small club' and going to Spurs would change that. You live and you learn eh!
I very rarely boo ex players but I did Murphy. However I would rather have boo-ed his wife. YEs she did deserve it. It was her who slagged us off publicly in her newspaper articles. She deserved all she got. I don't mind players moving on, it happens in football - but when you do show some respect.
Murphy was immense at the beginning of the 05/06 season, just watch his assists and goals in that period.
He was very good but there are a couple of things to bear in mind about that golden start....
1] We played a lot of the weaker sides in our early games, beating Sunderland, Wigan, Boro, Birmingham, Pompey and WBA - once we played the bigger sides we started losing.
2] Murphy played in that role behind Bent and - at places like Boro in the 3-0 win he was sensational - but the other sides worked it out soon enough and simply put Murphy under so much pressure when he was on the ball that the supply chain to Bent broke down.
Teams basically worked out that with Bent up front by himself and with Rommedahl and Thomas on the wings that Murphy was the only supply route forward and once they cut him out then we would struggle and they were right.
If Murphy had been more athletic and physically stronger you could have played him in a midfield two and played Benty up front with a target man and had two 'out' options rather than just one, but this was never really possible.
3] Once that golden run was broken Curbs left it as long as he could but the 2-5 home loss to Man City and the 3-0 loss at Wigan forced his hand and once Murphy was sent off against Arsenal on Boxing Day he was out of the side and the die was effectively cast.
Didnt he sign about midnight the last night of the transfer window as well. Ensuring we didnt get anyone else in to replace him (i think). We had played a home game that night and i remember throwing something at the telly as we watched sky sports news with his smug face smiling from his motor as he rolled up at the Spurs ground.
I very rarely boo ex players but I did Murphy. However I would rather have boo-ed his wife. YEs she did deserve it. It was her who slagged us off publicly in her newspaper articles. She deserved all she got. I don't mind players moving on, it happens in football - but when you do show some respect.
Sorry you do not call women and children what they were called. Behave yourself. If you had brains you could have made up a song about film premieres or something like that which could have been funny.
Didnt he sign about midnight the last night of the transfer window as well. Ensuring we didnt get anyone else in to replace him (i think). We had played a home game that night and i remember throwing something at the telly as we watched sky sports news with his smug face smiling from his motor as he rolled up at the Spurs ground.
Hmmm, he was not quite so smug when they sat his backside on the bench and in the stands for most of the 18 months he was there!
In all his time at Spuds he only started 7 league games - and got nowhere near the England squad and I doubt they were paying him that much more than we were.
Some selective memory here. Regardless of what you think about booing him or abusing his wife, or his slating the club the club or Curbs comments about film premieres, he was a good player for us and proved hard to replace.
I remember one paper saying, "Murphy is in everybody's England squad except Sven's". Too bad he decided to go and play in Tottenham's reserves instead of being a part of something but to suggest he wasn't a key player at the time is just lying to yourself to make a point.
Maybe some of us were too busy booing someone else to notice.
Doesn't Murphy play in a midfield 2 at Fulham? I remember he didn't seem to be able to for us but seems he can for Fulham.
From when I have seen them they play one up front and have a three man centre midfield with Murphy as the playmaker and Dempsey as the most advanced 'box' player.
Their policy of one man up front seems to be why Johnson and Zamora are so keen to get away, because they don't get enough games.
Sorry Vincenzo but that's nonsense, yes he was a decent player for us and yes it was a blow when he left, however if when a player leaves they should have some dignity, keep their mouth (and the mouth's of any family persons) shut. I booed on Saturday and I would boo him if I saw him in the street.
Decent enough player who wanted to play at a bigger club with more chance of getting in the England set up It didn't work out for him at spurs and worse case scenario is that he ends up at a similar sized club as to what he left to gamble at spurs No player is perfect but on his day and there were a few for a spell he was unplayable, hence everyone but Sven thought him good enough for the england squad in that time and as said above that kicked the granny out of him cos that would have been a reward for how well he was playing Spurs are a bigger club even when they finish below us, just like we're abigger club than millwall whatever league position they are Its when the good players leave when we're doing well that us fans get the hump , if we' d been relegated and he left we would all have accepted it I'm sure curbs's comments about film premieres were sarcastically said tongue in cheek but I don't know what his apology was in the book
Murphy has played at the top level all his career so fairplay to him , just a shame he left acrimoniously in the first place to go to spurs when I think he turned spurs down to join us !!!
I'm not disagreeing with you Colt, he behaved like a nob and should expect to be booed. I'm just saying all this 'he wasn't any good anyway' is rubbish.
I heard a story from the training ground, when he first started at the club, a girl at the training ground told him that he had a nice watch, to which he replied that it cost more than her house.
Doesn't Murphy play in a midfield 2 at Fulham? I remember he didn't seem to be able to for us but seems he can for Fulham.
From when I have seen them they play one up front and have a three man centre midfield with Murphy as the playmaker and Dempsey as the most advanced 'box' player.
Their policy of one man up front seems to be why Johnson and Zamora are so keen to get away, because they don't get enough games.
Since Murphy has been at Fulham they have mostly played 4-4-2, him and Bullard were great together.
I don't think people are having a pop at his playing ability, at his best he was very good - although not in PDC or Scotty Parker class - but he could and often was shut out of games and that is what caused problems because the team was built around him.
The essential problem with Murphy, and the reason Liverpool let him go and why he never made it with Spuds, was that he lacked the pace and acceleration to go past people.
As a result, once you closed his space down he really struggled because he could not take you on one on one like a Fabregas or Suarez can do which meant he could be made ineffective if the opposition got tight enough on him.
I'm not disagreeing with you Colt, he behaved like a nob and should expect to be booed. I'm just saying all this 'he wasn't any good anyway' is rubbish.
Apologies then, I read your op as it was wrong to boo him.
I heard a story from the training ground, when he first started at the club, a girl at the training ground told him that he had a nice watch, to which he replied that it cost more than her house.
Sums the man up.
Hope she replied that she lived in London and not Merseyside!
Remember when there was talk about Murphy getting a recall into the England squad becuase of how well he was playing for us at the time? Eriksson came to The Valley to watch him (can't remember who we played), and Murphy froze under the pressure. He was awful that day, and it was bye-bye England for him.
Didnt he sign about midnight the last night of the transfer window as well. Ensuring we didnt get anyone else in to replace him (i think). We had played a home game that night and i remember throwing something at the telly as we watched sky sports news with his smug face smiling from his motor as he rolled up at the Spurs ground.
If I recall correctly, we had played a game that night and in the post-match interview Curbs basically said that Murphy was still a Charlton player and wasn't going anywhere, pretty much at the same time as the scouse git was having his medical at Spurs. Don't think Curbs was happy about it when he found out either!
Murphy played his heart out hoping for an England recall, he didn't get it so he gave up. That's how I saw it.
Pretty much how I see it. He was playing very, very well and deserved to be linked with a recall but when it didn't happen maybe he realised that it's virtually impossible to get picked for England if you play for a club like ours. Dont forget he'd come from LFC hence probably he'd walk back into the squad given his form. Rude awakening + atress wife=toys out the pram + move to bigger club.
More of an irrelevance to me but there's no excuse for abusing his wife and child.
Comments
Agree with Muttley's comments re his missus, can't believe that people are advocating the abuse she and her child were subjected to on Saturday. Even if she did say anything about us (evidence of which I'm yet to see), she had a four year old with her for Christ's sake! Only a tiny minority though so probably time to move on.........
Its noticeable at Fulham that they have a shocking away record with him in the side - but are pretty strong at home.
He is too weak to play in a two-man central midfield so you have to play him as an attacking midfielder with two sitters in behind him as we did with Kish and Smertin and play with only one striker, you can't play Murphy wide (although Liverpool often did) because he has no pace and can't track back very well.
That's fine at home where you are normally on top but away from home it causes big problems because you can't really hit teams on the break so easily as you will only have one up and Murphy was not a fast-breaking player who got in behind (like Keane at Forest in the early 90's).
What's more, Murphy was an awful player to have around when a game got physical and you had to really dig in, he would just go missing and wait for others to bring him in the game whereas the top players - like a certain Scott Parker - gets better the tougher it gets and turns the game in his teams direction as a result.
I wouldn't recognise her at all, surprised 4 pissed up young blokes did to be honest.
They clearly looked bemused as to why he was getting so much stick so I assumed they were not regulars who did not know their history.
1] We played a lot of the weaker sides in our early games, beating Sunderland, Wigan, Boro, Birmingham, Pompey and WBA - once we played the bigger sides we started losing.
2] Murphy played in that role behind Bent and - at places like Boro in the 3-0 win he was sensational - but the other sides worked it out soon enough and simply put Murphy under so much pressure when he was on the ball that the supply chain to Bent broke down.
Teams basically worked out that with Bent up front by himself and with Rommedahl and Thomas on the wings that Murphy was the only supply route forward and once they cut him out then we would struggle and they were right.
If Murphy had been more athletic and physically stronger you could have played him in a midfield two and played Benty up front with a target man and had two 'out' options rather than just one, but this was never really possible.
3] Once that golden run was broken Curbs left it as long as he could but the 2-5 home loss to Man City and the 3-0 loss at Wigan forced his hand and once Murphy was sent off against Arsenal on Boxing Day he was out of the side and the die was effectively cast.
In all his time at Spuds he only started 7 league games - and got nowhere near the England squad and I doubt they were paying him that much more than we were.
She's as unpopular as Karen Brady
She goes to more premiers than Rhianna
She's Murphy's wife Joanna!
I remember one paper saying, "Murphy is in everybody's England squad except Sven's". Too bad he decided to go and play in Tottenham's reserves instead of being a part of something but to suggest he wasn't a key player at the time is just lying to yourself to make a point.
Maybe some of us were too busy booing someone else to notice.
Their policy of one man up front seems to be why Johnson and Zamora are so keen to get away, because they don't get enough games.
It didn't work out for him at spurs and worse case scenario is that he ends up at a similar sized club as to what he left to gamble at spurs
No player is perfect but on his day and there were a few for a spell he was unplayable, hence everyone but Sven thought him good enough for the england squad in that time and as said above that kicked the granny out of him cos that would have been a reward for how well he was playing
Spurs are a bigger club even when they finish below us, just like we're abigger club than millwall whatever league position they are
Its when the good players leave when we're doing well that us fans get the hump , if we' d been relegated and he left we would all have accepted it
I'm sure curbs's comments about film premieres were sarcastically said tongue in cheek but I don't know what his apology was in the book
Murphy has played at the top level all his career so fairplay to him , just a shame he left acrimoniously in the first place to go to spurs when I think he turned spurs down to join us !!!
Sums the man up.
The essential problem with Murphy, and the reason Liverpool let him go and why he never made it with Spuds, was that he lacked the pace and acceleration to go past people.
As a result, once you closed his space down he really struggled because he could not take you on one on one like a Fabregas or Suarez can do which meant he could be made ineffective if the opposition got tight enough on him.
Looks like she has 3 tits, 2 well-developed ones and a stunted one...
More of an irrelevance to me but there's no excuse for abusing his wife and child.