Eddie Howe 'delighted' with player Newcastle United fans have been quick to criticise this season

Newcastle United fans are never shy in voicing their opinions when the team is underperforming and sometimes that anger can be directed at just one player.

Passions run high in football, and for the most part, when fans are digging into a player, they're not criticising the actual person, merely the job they're doing and that fact couldn't be more true for us when we talk about Jacob Murphy.

It feels, sometimes, that we are pretty relentless with our criticism of the winger but the truth is, it hurts us every time we do it because we absolutely love Murphy. He lights up the club videos with his funny faces and quick wit, but when he gets on the pitch and gives the ball away with his first touch, we turn on him straight away.

Saturday's game against Leicester was a prime example of the bipolar nature of Murphy's talents. He gave the ball away needlessly a couple of times in the opening minutes and missed two golden opportunities to score. We were ready to write him off again, but then he popped up with two goals.

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Two goals and two assists in two games for Jacob Murphy

It was a similar story against Brentford. Absolutely awful for large parts of the game and picked up two assists. That's now two goals and two assists in the last two games.

The stats make him look like the answer to all our prayers but the reality is we still desperately need a new, more consistent right-winger.

However, Eddie Howe has been singing Murphy's praises to the media which always fills us with dread like he's warming us up to the fact that Murphy is going to continue to be the man going forward.

Eddie Howe says Jacob Murphy has come on 'leaps and bounds'

After the game on Saturday, Howe spoke about how much Murphy has improved since he came to the club as reported by The Athletic.

“I’m really pleased because every attacking player needs to feel they are contributing with assists and goals.

“He got two assists last week, but ultimately nothing substitutes scoring. For him to score two today after missing a couple of chances shows his mental resilience and qualities.

“He’s come on leaps and bounds since I’ve been here. Delighted for him today. He’s such a well-liked character.”

We aren't disagreeing with Howe when he talks of Murphy's progress and we can never fault his endeavour, but with the best will in the World, he's not the man who's going to carry us back to the Champions League. Whether it's in January or the summer, we still need a top-quality right-winger. We can keep Murphy as back-up and for content purposes.