Newcastle United news: ‘Modest’ Murphy turning into key player

I quickly got a sense of the modest type of man Jacob Murphy is before I had even asked him a question.

Minutes after the final whistle, where Newcastle had delivered their biggest away win of the season and with the 29-year-old scoring and providing a spectacular assist, he had already had time to check how his twin brother Josh had got on as part of the Portsmouth side who had beaten Coventry 4-1.

This humility was further reinforced when he resisted the urge to take a dig at Ipswich after I brought up his Norwich City connection (he graduated from their academy into the first team).

Despite being fully aware of the intensity of their rivalry having played in two East Anglian derbies, the softly spoken Murphy described his afternoon as a “great day personally and collectively”, adding: “It’s nice to come to the local area and put in a performance like we did.”

His mild mannered and incredibly polite nature makes those scenes during Newcastle’s win the previous weekend against Leicester even more surprising. After scoring the game’s opening goal, Murphy’s celebration appeared to be fuelled by anger. He scowled, pointed towards his ear, and repeatedly yelled “what” at some of his own supporters who had been critical of his earlier play.

It is fair to say Eddie Howe’s side have been inconsistent this season. However, I do not think Alan Shearer had Murphy’s name anywhere near the forefront of his mind earlier this month when he blasted the teams performance, and questioned the attitude of several players during their 4-2 defeat at Brentford, given the winger came on as a second-half substitute to set up both of his side’s goals.

In the space of a fortnight, Murphy has scored three goals and provided two assists in three Premier League appearances. He might not be as ‘sexy’ in a footballing sense as some of the more superstar names amongst the Newcastle squad, but when it comes to goal involvements this season, only Alexander Isak has provided more.