Bohs' Murphy admits to uncertain future
Credit:
Bohemians goalkeeper Brian Murphy has admitted that the uncertainty surrounding the club's finances continues to have an unsettling effect on the club's players. Speaking to Extratime.ie after Friday night's victory over bottom-of-the-table Drogheda United, last season's player of the year admitted that he remains unsure about what the future will hold for himself and many of the League's biggest names after the current season ends.
Murphy said: "You can never say you're happy because of the way this league is. It could end tomorrow, you just don't know. You just can't get too settled. Maybe this time last year I would have said I was settled, because everything was rosy and everything was going good. On the pitch everything is good, we've had a couple of blips, but generally it's going well. Off the pitch you just don't know whether it's going to be in this country you're going to have to continue your career. I'm not the only one in that boat, I think there's a lot of players like that. I'm happy back in Ireland, but I couldn't say I'm settled at the club because no-one knows what's going to happen at the end of the year."
With Bohs currently under pressure to reduce their outgoings, manager Pat Fenlon has hinted that the club may be forced to let players go in the coming months in order to cut the wage bill. As one of Bohs' standout performers over the past two seasons and one of the club's biggest earners, Murphy has unsurprisingly been talked about as one player who could move on. However, the Waterford-native maintains that he is merely concentrating on what is happening on the pitch.
"I haven't heard anything about me having to leave. I know there's a lot of clubs similar to ourselves who may have to cut their wage bills, but the players haven't been told anything in terms of anyone having to leave. I think Pat [Fenlon] said something in the paper, but I don't know how true that is. We can't really worry about that. If players have to go, they have to go. But players are under contract, so nobody has to leave. It's up to Pat and the board in terms of who they want to go. If anything we probably need to strengthen a little bit, but the finances probably won't be there so we just have to keep going. We've a lot of injuries at the minute so we need to get those players back and they'll be like new signings for us."
Murphy joined Bohemians in 2007 after spending the previous six years playing in the UK. Murphy was originally taken over to England by Manchester City in 2000. However, despite spending three seasons at Maine Road he failed to secure a starting slot and, following largely unsuccessful loan spells with Oldham Athletic and Peterborough United during the 2002/03 season, he moved to Swansea City in the summer of 2003. Murphy made a series of first team starts in his first season with the Welsh side, however, he spent the following two campaigns as second choice 'keeper.
Having spent so much time on the bench during those years in England, Murphy has always maintained since returning that he would only return across the water to the right club, a stance he continues to hold. "I'm not just going to go back over for the sake of it," said Murphy. "It would depend what the offers were. It would have to be a decent move for me and the family. I'm settled living here and I'm enjoying my life outside of football and training as well, but the pay cuts at the start of the year took a lot out of the players. We've worked hard and we've a bunch of lads here that will just get on with it regardless of the situation. We need to try and do that before the end of the season."
He added: "A move to the Premiership is probably a bit of an unrealistic one, but it would have to be a decent Championship or even League One side. I've always said that, but then when you see the way this league is going you just don't know. It may have to be something in League One or even further abroad in Australia or America. If I could play the next ten years at Bohs I think I'd be happy, but we just don't know what's going to happen, whether it's going to stay full-time or part-time. It's out of the players' hands. We just have to concentrate on the playing side of things and fingers crossed things will sort themselves out."
Murphy was a virtual ever-present as Bohs marched to a League and Cup double last season, and the stopper remains hopeful that, despite the off-field problems, the club will be able to win even more silverware this year. He said: "It's a pity that things off the pitch have gone so wrong because things have been getting better and better on it. It might be a funny thing to say, but it may not have done us any harm losing a couple of games [to Derry City and Shamrock Rovers]. It needs a tight league this year which would maybe help get people back in to the games. That way we'll get more money in and we can keep things going in the right direction. It would be nice to win the league by 20 points but people won't come to the games and that means less money for the club. Not having the TV cameras here would help also, as they keep people away. Every time we've played this season we've nearly been on TV and that has hit the crowds."
Bohemians currently lie three points behind Cork City at the top of the Premier Division, but the Gyspies have a chance to peg back the Leesiders when they visit Turners Cross on Friday night. Bohs had looked set to fall further behind in the title race last weekend, before an injury time winner from youngster Mark Hughes sealed a precious one nil victory over Drogheda.
According to Murphy: "I thought the performance was excellent. We dominated from start to finish and our passing was very good, but we just weren't able to get the ball in the back of the net. We probably didn't work the 'keeper enough, but a game is over 90 minutes and injury time and we managed to get the goal and get back to winning ways which is all we wanted. We had so much possession that it was going to be one of those games where we just nicked a goal. At half time we knew it was going to be tough as they were sitting back and we eventually broke them down. It was just good to get back to winning ways against Drogheda. Hopefully we can take that into Cork this Friday because it's another big game for us."
Murphy said: "You can never say you're happy because of the way this league is. It could end tomorrow, you just don't know. You just can't get too settled. Maybe this time last year I would have said I was settled, because everything was rosy and everything was going good. On the pitch everything is good, we've had a couple of blips, but generally it's going well. Off the pitch you just don't know whether it's going to be in this country you're going to have to continue your career. I'm not the only one in that boat, I think there's a lot of players like that. I'm happy back in Ireland, but I couldn't say I'm settled at the club because no-one knows what's going to happen at the end of the year."
With Bohs currently under pressure to reduce their outgoings, manager Pat Fenlon has hinted that the club may be forced to let players go in the coming months in order to cut the wage bill. As one of Bohs' standout performers over the past two seasons and one of the club's biggest earners, Murphy has unsurprisingly been talked about as one player who could move on. However, the Waterford-native maintains that he is merely concentrating on what is happening on the pitch.
"I haven't heard anything about me having to leave. I know there's a lot of clubs similar to ourselves who may have to cut their wage bills, but the players haven't been told anything in terms of anyone having to leave. I think Pat [Fenlon] said something in the paper, but I don't know how true that is. We can't really worry about that. If players have to go, they have to go. But players are under contract, so nobody has to leave. It's up to Pat and the board in terms of who they want to go. If anything we probably need to strengthen a little bit, but the finances probably won't be there so we just have to keep going. We've a lot of injuries at the minute so we need to get those players back and they'll be like new signings for us."
Murphy joined Bohemians in 2007 after spending the previous six years playing in the UK. Murphy was originally taken over to England by Manchester City in 2000. However, despite spending three seasons at Maine Road he failed to secure a starting slot and, following largely unsuccessful loan spells with Oldham Athletic and Peterborough United during the 2002/03 season, he moved to Swansea City in the summer of 2003. Murphy made a series of first team starts in his first season with the Welsh side, however, he spent the following two campaigns as second choice 'keeper.
Having spent so much time on the bench during those years in England, Murphy has always maintained since returning that he would only return across the water to the right club, a stance he continues to hold. "I'm not just going to go back over for the sake of it," said Murphy. "It would depend what the offers were. It would have to be a decent move for me and the family. I'm settled living here and I'm enjoying my life outside of football and training as well, but the pay cuts at the start of the year took a lot out of the players. We've worked hard and we've a bunch of lads here that will just get on with it regardless of the situation. We need to try and do that before the end of the season."
He added: "A move to the Premiership is probably a bit of an unrealistic one, but it would have to be a decent Championship or even League One side. I've always said that, but then when you see the way this league is going you just don't know. It may have to be something in League One or even further abroad in Australia or America. If I could play the next ten years at Bohs I think I'd be happy, but we just don't know what's going to happen, whether it's going to stay full-time or part-time. It's out of the players' hands. We just have to concentrate on the playing side of things and fingers crossed things will sort themselves out."
Murphy was a virtual ever-present as Bohs marched to a League and Cup double last season, and the stopper remains hopeful that, despite the off-field problems, the club will be able to win even more silverware this year. He said: "It's a pity that things off the pitch have gone so wrong because things have been getting better and better on it. It might be a funny thing to say, but it may not have done us any harm losing a couple of games [to Derry City and Shamrock Rovers]. It needs a tight league this year which would maybe help get people back in to the games. That way we'll get more money in and we can keep things going in the right direction. It would be nice to win the league by 20 points but people won't come to the games and that means less money for the club. Not having the TV cameras here would help also, as they keep people away. Every time we've played this season we've nearly been on TV and that has hit the crowds."
Bohemians currently lie three points behind Cork City at the top of the Premier Division, but the Gyspies have a chance to peg back the Leesiders when they visit Turners Cross on Friday night. Bohs had looked set to fall further behind in the title race last weekend, before an injury time winner from youngster Mark Hughes sealed a precious one nil victory over Drogheda.
According to Murphy: "I thought the performance was excellent. We dominated from start to finish and our passing was very good, but we just weren't able to get the ball in the back of the net. We probably didn't work the 'keeper enough, but a game is over 90 minutes and injury time and we managed to get the goal and get back to winning ways which is all we wanted. We had so much possession that it was going to be one of those games where we just nicked a goal. At half time we knew it was going to be tough as they were sitting back and we eventually broke them down. It was just good to get back to winning ways against Drogheda. Hopefully we can take that into Cork this Friday because it's another big game for us."
