Once a Red...

[Paul]

A long, but interesting article that confirms The Murph's passion for us was genuine and clarifies his (what now appear to be) misrepresented opinions published shortly after he left. He was a real favourite of mine as a player and I wish him the very best (for 36 league games a year).

 

From the IOS:

 

Danny Murphy: 'Game should be promoting English players and managers'

An Anfield exile explains why life at The Valley appealed more than the Lane. Jason Burt hears about the loving and leaving of Liverpool

26 September 2004

 

 

It takes a rare courage to write yourself out of the script at a club the size of Liverpool, especially when it's your love, but that's what Danny Murphy did over the summer. Maybe it's because he is married to an actress - the former Hollyoaks star Joanna Taylor - that the England midfielder knows that walk-on parts offer only a limited appeal.

 

Indeed at the end of last season, following the departure of Gérard Houllier, he told Liverpool's chief executive, Rick Parry, that he had no desire to pick up his money and sit on the bench if he wasn't going to be in the new manager's plans "whoever he was". Murphy explains: "I did it for the best part of five, six months last season, and I went up the wall. I would rather go. You can have someone who's 20 or 21 who plays 15 to 20 games a season, but I wanted to play every week. I didn't want to be on the fringes."

 

Which is exactly where the 27-year-old found himself once Rafael Benitez arrived at Anfield. "The conversation I had with him was honest, fair and frank," Murphy recalls. "He said to me, 'I've had a couple of bids, I've accepted them. Because even though I know what you've done for the club and your capabilities, I'm looking to bring some players in and they're going to play'. To me that was it really."

 

Murphy adds: "As far as I'm concerned I would have played for Liverpool until the day I stopped playing. That was my goal. I've never had arguments about money, contracts, whatever. But I just gave it my best shot. I had seven years there and it came to a time when I was surplus to requirements and I had to take it like a man and move on."

 

It is said without rancour but with regrets, even if he is able to list an impressive array of trophies, finals, nine international caps and lots of happy Anfield memories from his 249 appearances, 178 in the League. But regrets there are and, when asked to elaborate, he is passionate. In doing so, Murphy returns to a theme he touched upon in choosing to join Charlton Athletic in August, for £2.5m on a four-year deal, rather than Tottenham Hotspur.

 

It is a desire to play for a British manager. It is not being a Little Englander, it is about an appreciation of playing in England. And it is an argument he extends to players as well as coaches. "A lot of managers are coming in now and thinking that a nucleus of English players is not that important," he says. "I don't particularly believe that's the right view. You can have a successful team without it, of course you can, but it is more difficult. The fans of the club, like Liverpool, do need to have some heroes who they know are one of their own, like Robbie Fowler or Steven Gerrard. Stevie's still there, Carra's [Jamie Carragher] still there."

 

But only those two. Arsenal have got away with it, he says, simply because in Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Sol Campbell they have "three of the best players in the world". "But they are the exception," Murphy says. The best two players for Chelsea, he states, are Frank Lampard and John Terry.

 

He highlights Liverpool's defeat last week by Manchester United, a team who preserved their core - and a side he had a knack of scoring against. "I wasn't even a Scouser, but I was local [Murphy was born in Chester and grew up a Liverpool fan] and I know what it means to play United. I would never disrespect the players who are there [at Liverpool] because they are good players, at a big club, and they've taken their opportunities. But I think that if you go to another team, especially from another country, it's difficult to gauge the enormity of what it means to lose to Man United. Those lads won't know what it means to the fans every day at work. They will be upset because they have personal pride, but they don't know what it means, like I know what it means.

 

"The manager doesn't know what it means like I know what it means. I'm sure he'd agree with that. He might say, like Gérard used to say, 'I've been a Liverpool fan and I know what the club means'. Of course they do, of course they care. They are winners. Benitez is a winner. He proved that at Valencia. His track record is fantastic and I'm sure he'll do a good job. But he's not got that upbringing that I've got. He couldn't tell me how Liverpool and United have got on every season for the past 15 seasons the way I could. He couldn't tell me that he's cried, like I did, when Liverpool lost the League [in 1989] to Michael Thomas's goal in the last minute [for Arsenal]. That's the difference, and when you lose too many of them [English players] it has an effect."

 

It has also had an effect on Murphy. Physically and emotionally, the frustrations of the past 12 months have taken their toll. "I'm a football person, I can't switch off. Some players can, I can't," he says. "And last year I was uptight a lot of the time and it got to a point where it was affecting the people around me. I wasn't myself. Because I wasn't playing and I'd got used to playing, to being happy in my football."

 

Travelling with the team was the worst thing. "Doing that, all over Europe and then sitting on the bench was mentally exhausting. It gets to the point where you are not happy going home every day. It's not a nice way for me to live." Nor is commuting up and down from the North-west, and Murphy will be relieved when the home he has bought near Chipstead, in Surrey, is complete. At present he is staying with a relative of his wife. Already, however, he feels more "relaxed", even if eyebrows were raised in some quarters when he chose The Valley over White Hart Lane.

 

Murphy himself is clear in his reasoning. He has found that nucleus, that core, he craves. "I've definitely felt a togetherness that I haven't experienced in a long time," he says of Charlton. It was something he was conscious of when he played against the Addicks. Little things - like communicating more easily with his team-mates and the camaraderie of golf days and go-karting, easier to organise at Charlton - have also made a difference.

 

And then there's the manager, Alan Curbishley. "I haven't worked for an English manager for a long time," Murphy says (not since 1999, when he was loaned back to his first club, Dario Gradi's Crewe Alexandra). "And I wanted that clearness of what he wanted from me, what was my role, and I know the gaffer has been in the Premiership for a long time and so he knows me."

 

Spurs, he says, are in transition. It would be like starting all over again. At Charlton, Murphy believes, he will be given the "platform" to perform. "That's what I needed, I needed someone to have that confidence in me," he says. "I don't think Jacques Santini [the Tottenham head coach] knew a lot about me."

 

And so when he played badly, as he freely admits he, and the rest of the Charlton team, did against Southampton recently, he had the opportunity to remedy it immediately. Curbishley had that confidence in him. Next up was Birmingham City, and Murphy was man of the match back in his favoured central-midfield role, following up with a midweek goal in the Carling Cup against Grimsby Town.

 

"Charlton is a good place for me to take a commanding role," he explains, and Murphy is starting to do so. It's that role which allows him to answer the inevitable accusation that he has taken a step down. "Everyone gets tarred with that brush when you move from Liverpool," he says. "I'm not naïve enough to think it's not a move down. Of course it is. What I have to make sure is that from an individual point of view it doesn't make me think I'm less of a player." And by proving that he can help take a "progressive" Charlton to "the next level". Maybe not a top-five finish, yet, but the possibility of "nicking" a European place. He relishes the challenge.

 

"At Charlton I'm looked on as one of the senior players who's expected to rise above it when others are having a bad game. It's part of the reason I came and why the gaffer wanted me here. I've been in Liverpool teams that have struggled and I've never hidden. I try and keep going, make things happen. As time goes by and I settle here I will develop. They haven't seen the best of me yet, far from it."

 

Next month he will return to Liverpool for a Premiership match. "I think I'll get a decent reception," he says. He should. One disappointment is that his best friend, Gerrard, will be missing, having broken a metatarsal bone in his foot - the same injury that ruled Murphy out of the 2002 World Cup. "It's a shame, we'd always joked about 'what if one of us moved and we played against each other'," Murphy says. "But it will be good to see everyone. I want Liverpool to progress, but I'm a Charlton player and we want the points. There's nothing in me that's bitter towards the club. I will still be a Liverpool fan." But a Charlton player. And all the happier for that.

 

Biography

 

Daniel Murphy

 

Born: 18 March 1977 in Chester.

 

Family: Married long-term girfriend, actress Joanna Taylor, in Barbados in July.

 

Clubs: Crewe: 1993-97, 1998-99 (loan); League debut at 16, 150 appearances, 28 goals. Liverpool: 1998-2004; 249, 44. Charlton: 2004-present; 7, 1.

 

Honours: England: 9 caps, 1 goal (in 4-0 friendly win against Paraguay, April 2002). Called into 2002 World Cup squad but forced to withdraw through injury. Also capped at Youth and U-21 level. Club: 2001: European SuperCup, Uefa Cup, FA Cup, Charity Shield; 2003 League Cup (all with Liverpool).

 

Lucky ground: Old Trafford: Scored winner for Liverpool there three times in four years, made England debut there.

[Brownie]

Yeah I read that earlier and was delighted with what he said. He's always been a very articulate and refreshing talker when it comes to football and today's article was no different.

 

It was extremely frustrating though to see that Sky have twisted today's comments and made it into a 'murphy criticises liverpool signings' article.

 

Suppose I should expect nothing else.

[Vincent Vega]

I do like the way that Danny is obviously pissed off that he's been sold by his dream club, but I do think that there's a certain amount of bitterness in his comments as he was sold by a Spanish manager who obviously didn't rate him. Danny is a good lad who I always liked, but it was patently obvious to us all that he would never be involved in a team who wanted to be championship challengers. Personally I'd rather have 11 non Englishmen in our team (like the team that defeated Everton in the 86 cup final) than 6 or 7 Engilsh players who are never going to be up to it.

[BatChainPuller]

. Personally I'd rather have 11 non Englishmen in our team (like the team that defeated Everton in the 86 cup final) than 6 or 7 Engilsh players who are never going to be up to it.

 

Agree with all that - couldn't fault spud's effort during some real low periods for the club. His commitment (rather than ability) took him to the fringe of the England team (not that means too much). I always felt he was a midfield jack-of-all -trades and master of none tho.

The lack of camaraderie was just a symptom of the mess the club had descended into I believe. Maybe -and its only a maybe - GH wasn't keen on camaraderie, preferring to divide and rule. I've certainly worked for meglomaniac bosses who hated the idea of staff being together, and did their best to play people off - everyone was too busy in-fighting to look at how shit the boss was. All the evidence so far shows Rafa knows the value of camaraderie.

Living within the Arse and Tottenham catchment area in N. London, an 'english' core to the team would be fairly meaningless cos frankly there ain't that many English (in the sense Danny means I suspect) around here - and on the whole its the better for that - I would rather drown in my own vomit than live in some of those good-old-english areas in S. London.

People round here fuckin love the Arse -obviously never losing helps ! - and it is something which unites people - Turks,Greeks, Asians, Jamaicans,and yes the 'English' too - they've all got that fucking gooners shirt on. They may not have been Arse born-and-(in)bred but I fuckin bet they know the clubs history inside-out.

Good luck to you Danny (sincerely) but that 'English' stuff is bollox - the world has changed, I'm glad to say.

[ritchie]

If Murphy hadn't been so inconsistent in a Liverpool shirt maybe he'd have a right to feel hard done by.

 

The fact he went to Charlton says it all, none of the big clubs would have been interested in him because he's not a top player and never will be. He might talk well off the pitch but too often in a red shirt he never did his talking on the pitch and that's where it counts.

 

I'd rather have a united squad of mixed internationals with a good team-spirit than have half a team of English players who keep themselves to themselves and try and pick the team. Bat makes an interesting point about Arsenal fans but more to the point the players there have a great team spirit and camaradrie and there's only 2 Englishman there. Do you think Arsenal fans could care less?

[Guest Rich F]

Always liked Danny (well, most of the time) and really wished he could have added / cut out the things he needed to become top class. He did fall short, but I felt he became a scapegoat for a section of the fans and that would have a detrimental effect on him. Can't say I feel to much sympathy for him over sitting on the bench 'not being a nice way to live'. Yeah, it must have been fucking awful Danny.

 

I do think he has a point over the 'foreigner' thing though. Overseas players like Sami can become part of the club's fabric and have an obvious affinity for the place and the fans, but other imports in the modern era can have no apparent affect for the club and fail to strike up any rapport with the fans whatsoever. I for one will regret the day there isn't just one 'Carra' in the team.

 

I think it's a slight red herring to use the 86 team as an example of a team of foreigners - many of them were from the home nations and had a sound knowledge of the club and its history. Imagine watching a team with 11 El Hadj Dioufs, rather than 11 Ian Rush's - and I think that's the distinction he's making. That said, Xabi Alonso may never truly appreciate what it means to beat the blue shite, but neither will he give the ball away in key positions almost every single game. And I'm pretty sure he'll turn out to be a 'Sami' rather than a 'Diouf'. Farewell Danny. Don't look back in anger.

[Guest Heskeys heart?]

Yeah Dan I sincerely hope you continue to thrive at Charlton whilst experiencing that feeling of togetherness and strong camaraderie with that snidey little cunts like Jeffers!

[MLB]

If Murphy hadn't been so inconsistent in a Liverpool shirt maybe he'd have a right to feel hard done by.

 

The fact he went to Charlton says it all, none of the big clubs would have been interested in him because he's not a top player and never will be. He might talk well off the pitch but too often in a red shirt he never did his talking on the pitch and that's where it counts.

 

I'd rather have a united squad of mixed internationals with a good team-spirit than have half a team of English players who keep themselves to themselves and try and pick the team. Bat makes an interesting point about Arsenal fans but more to the point the players there have a great team spirit and camaradrie and there's only 2 Englishman there. Do you think Arsenal fans could care less?

 

 

Got to agree with that. Murphy was far too inconsistent, and if the rumours about the "cliques" at the club are true then it's probably a good thing he went.

[Kev Saunderson]

Sour grapes to me. Do you hear ex Arsenal players talking about the foreigners at their club???

 

From what you have seen so far this season (and I know its ealry doors), who would you rather have in your team...Alonso or Murphy?

[dave u]

Think some are being a bit harsh on Danny. Not once did he say that the club were wrong to sell him. Not once did he say he should have been in the team every week. He said he wanted to be playing every week, not that he deserved to be.

 

I for one respect his decision to move on because he wanted to play rather than sit on his arse collecting his money and being a bit part player.

 

His comments about foreign players are valid too. We know that there are the likes of Sami, Didi, Riise etc. But there are also others who should nto have been allowed anywhere near the club.

 

Overall it was an excellent interview and it's just a shame that much was made of the foreigner comments.

[ritchie]

Think some are being a bit harsh on Danny. Not once did he say that the club were wrong to sell him. Not once did he say he should have been in the team every week. He said he wanted to be playing every week, not that he deserved to be.

 

I for one respect his decision to move on because he wanted to play rather than sit on his arse collecting his money and being a bit part player.

 

His comments about foreign players are valid too. We know that there are the likes of Sami, Didi, Riise etc. But there are also others who should nto have been allowed anywhere near the club.

 

Overall it was an excellent interview and it's just a shame that much was made of the foreigner comments.

 

Fair point but it's not the first time he's come out with this since he left. It smacks of xenephobia to me, and the rumours say he had nothing to do with the foreign players at Anfield. If he's that xenephobic maybe he should have gone down the road to play for Millwall.

 

He's already got stick off the Charlton fans for his performances.

[Paul]

Think some are being a bit harsh on Danny. Not once did he say that the club were wrong to sell him. Not once did he say he should have been in the team every week. He said he wanted to be playing every week, not that he deserved to be.

 

I for one respect his decision to move on because he wanted to play rather than sit on his arse collecting his money and being a bit part player.

 

His comments about foreign players are valid too. We know that there are the likes of Sami, Didi, Riise etc. But there are also others who should nto have been allowed anywhere near the club.

 

Overall it was an excellent interview and it's just a shame that much was made of the foreigner comments.

Spot on. After reading some of the replies to this thread, I'm wondering if they actually read the article. I see no sign whatsoever of sour grapes; just a Red who wanted to play for Liverpool but realised his time was up.

[dave u]

Spot on. After reading some of the replies to this thread, I'm wondering if they actually read the article. I see no sign whatsoever of sour grapes; just a Red who wanted to play for Liverpool but realised his time was up.

 

 

I never reported this at the time, but on the day Danny was told he was leaving, he actually told someone I know that he understood why the club were letting him go, and that if they got Wright-Phillips in to replace him (which he thought was likely) then they've done a great bit of business.

 

There was not a bit of animosity on his part, he left on pretty good terms and shook the hands of all the players before he left. Not the actions of a bitter, xenophobic unfriendly chap.

 

I don't think Danny is especially xenophonic, he just finds it easier to communicate with people he has more in common with. I'm sure there were some foreign players he liked, and some he didn't. Nothing wrong with that, it's just life.

 

I saw nothing at all in that interview to criticise Murphy over, but plenty to congratulate him for.

[Brownie]

As I said at the top of this thread, it was a fantastic article and a joy to read. Danny has always been very honest and articulate in the way he discusses football.

 

After being the club's player of the season just 12 months before being let go, you would expect some players to be well more critical, but Danny put his opinion across excellently.

 

I found it very insightful and wish him all the success in the world.

 

Danny Murphy = leg-end.

[Guest glen buck]

This is good stuff.

The link I saw was on raotl and it was to the Sunday Mirror, and I have to say it did make him look just a touch bitter.

Needless to say it bore no relation to that version, which is a really good interview and I can't really see why anyone would wish to find fault with it, even if they disagree with him.

Needless to say the slant SSNews put on it was bollox too.

I should have known better than to think bad of him cos of what's said in the Sunday Mirror and SSNews.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But I still think bad of him for giving the ball away 50 times in every match though.;)

Much better for Charlton tonight Danny, well done.

:)

[Rushian]

the funny thing is the interview came out the day that there was an article revealing all the lads in the squad had been go-karting. Perhaps it was Danny's driving that put them off ...