When the team news for Newcastle United vs Wolverhampton Wanderers dropped and Jacob Murphy was named in the starting XI - it was seen as a surprise for most but not for listeners of The Everything is Black and White Podcast. Regular followers of our show will know that I'd pushed Murphy for the start having been impressed with him in his previous two substitute appearances. The reaction to my desire to see Murphy start was mixed - some praising him but feeling he's not a player to start, others shutting down the idea and in truth few agreeing with the proposal.
Our Newcastle United editor Aaron Stokes believed the idea to be so fanciful, he wagered a Nandos against it. He now knows my order is a sunset burger with chips and spicy rice.
Murphy came into the side for Miguel Almiron and for me, put in quite the shift. He started the game as I'd hoped - getting down the right and looking to put the ball into the box. It's his crossing ability that had persuaded me he was right for a start. Within the opening 10 minutes of the game, Murphy had already delivered three crosses into the Newcastle box. In the games leading up to Wolves, Murphy seemed to play without fear - and his intent was to get the ball into the box and deliver for the strikers, something Newcastle had struggled with but it was refreshing to see a winger do what a winger should do and get the ball into the danger area.
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The former Norwich man also wasn't afraid to shoot - having a shot blocked, and proving himself to be a nuisance with his speed as Nélson Semedo found out - the defender having to bring Murphy down with him running through on goal.
It wasn't just attacking-wise that Murphy impressed, he was back defending too. Helping out Kieran Trippier, and on more than one occasion was the man furthest back - often the last man in defence when Newcastle had a corner.
It was telling at one-nil that it was Allan Saint-Maximin who made way for Miguel Almiron, and not Murphy.
Eddie Howe made five changes for the game against Wolves - one enforced of course, with Joe Willock coming in for the suspended Joelinton, and alongside Murphy, Alexander Isak, Fabian Schar, and Saint-Maximin coming in. Schar was solid but it was the other four who were in a position in which they really needed to take their opportunity to impress, and it's hard to argue they didn't.
Willock was arguably man of the match, with Saint-Maximin looking like the flying Frenchman of old, Isak making a goalscoring return and causing chaos every time he got the ball, and then Murphy - direct and creative. If this was a challenge laid down to them by Howe, it was widely accepted.
Murphy in many ways embodies everything that underpins this Newcastle squad: hard work and commitment. It's fair to say that his days at Newcastle looked numbered under previous managers, following a few loan spells, a future at the club looked unlikely but Murphy knuckled down and has become a major part of Howe's squad. It's a journey that I'm a big fan of. When the club releases the group photograph after the team wins, Murphy is the first face I look out for. He just enjoys playing for the club he supported as a boy, so much.
He's the most used substitute but Howe was clear before the game with Wolves that Murphy isn't just a sub: "I think he's done very well off the bench this year but that's not to say that's his sole role. He's done well when he's come on in the last few games and that's not lost on me. He's pushing to start and there's no doubting his qualities."
Murphy showed his qualities and while some may have felt he came in to give others a rest, his performance will have given Howe a dilemma ahead of Nottingham Forest on Friday.
In time Newcastle United will be bringing in players that will spell the end for the likes of Murphy at the club but in the meantime, the winger is determined to prove his worth, and hasn't let Howe or the fans down yet. As the club builds and grows, players like Murphy with a never-say-die-attitude and commitment to hard work but also an understanding, as a boy-hood toon fan, of what it means to play for Newcastle, may just be the foundation needed for early success on this journey.
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