I don't think he ever really had it. I thought he was pretty poor in his first spell for us under Keane and thought he looked better as a striker than on the wing but actually when Jewell played him on the left I quite liked him out there, he got more joy in the air against a full back which meant more players were ahead of him to pick the ball up and it pulled the opposition out of position, he didn't set the world alight but actually he played most like a LW out of anyone I've seen in recent years (bar Townsend) in that he kept to his position, he tracked back tried to get to the byline and put some decent crosses in.
King, I dont mean this to be a negative but I dont think Murphy has ever had that striker instinct. I think he is one of those front men who never has been, isnt currently and will never be a striker in the goal scoring sense. Think Heskey etc. None of them are 'goal scorers' but they do have a position and place in the team. He has good work rate, is our only target when it comes to pumping balls forward, which can not be easy and he constantly chases. Although Im not his biggest fan I do think we need him here currently as well but when I say he is average I think its more about his (and to be fair the teams) predictability. Its often the poor/ mis directed flick on. Murphy doesnt seem to be overly strong for a big guy and I wouldnt say he has one very strong attribute to his game. He has certainly improved under MM and his consistancy is admirable but I do wish there was something more there!
Mings did ok, no better than that, got caught out of position a couple of times on Saturday & was partly to blame for at least one if not both of the goals v Bpool. MM took him off for the last 15mins on Saturday, that tells its own story, how many times do we see MM take off a full back.? If you read the whole post, you will kinda see I did not rate him, "Did ok", well unlike at B/pool he was not at fault for any of the goals, not directly at least, so in the scheme of things and in comparison to at least half of the rest of the team on Saturday......it was ok, no more no less..
