Newcastle United haven't had the best of times when dipping into the loan market to send their youngster out to gain experience.
Recently, Newcastle loaned up-and-coming defender Alex Murphy to League One's Bolton Wanderers but just a couple of days after his arrival, the manager who brought him to the club was sacked.
Fortunately, after sitting out the first couple of games, Murphy was brought on as a substitute for 30 minutes against Huddersfield Town before making his first start a few days later as Bolton took on Reading.
Hopefully, that start will be the first of many for Murphy, and by the time he returns to Newcastle, we can put a tally mark in the 'successful loans' column.
Now, the 20-year-old has told the Shields Gazette what was said to him before he joined Bolton.
“When I left they told me you have to go to Bolton and be the best player on the pitch every time, If I want to play in the Premier League, I have to show that I’m able to play at this level. I've been in and around it for about a year and a half now. I've been on the bench loads of times, but obviously, I've only made the two appearances, which is kind of low for how many times I've been on the bench.
“I'm just trying to push every day and obviously training with players at Newcastle and players here is obviously going to help me for my experience. Obviously, the aim is to go back there and play as much as I can. That's my ultimate goal. But I think this is a massive step for me and it's a massive learning curve.
“I have joined a really great squad, there is a lot of quality in it. So, I know it won’t be a case of just stepping into the team straight away, and that adds to the appeal. I didn’t want to go somewhere where it was all handed to me.I want to push my way into the team and show that I have quality, and I should be starting here. There is pressure but that’s a good thing for me.”
Murphy has a whopping 11 minutes of Premier League football to his name after coming off the bench in games against Chelsea with three minutes to go and eight minutes against Sheffield United.
However, he has been on the bench for many games which is a good indicator that Eddie Howe has big plans for the Irishman.
A good spell at Bolton could prove to the first-team coaches that he's ready to play a bigger role next season.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
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1 |
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23 | 35 | 56 |
2 |
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24 | 27 | 50 |
3 |
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24 | 13 | 47 |
4 |
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24 | 16 | 43 |
5 |
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24 | 13 | 41 |
6 |
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24 | 13 | 41 |
7 |
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24 | 13 | 40 |
8 |
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24 | -3 | 37 |
9 |
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24 | 4 | 36 |
10 |
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24 | -3 | 34 |
11 |
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24 | 0 | 31 |
12 |
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24 | -2 | 30 |
13 |
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24 | -6 | 29 |
14 |
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24 | 11 | 27 |
15 |
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24 | -17 | 27 |
16 |
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23 | -5 | 26 |
17 |
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24 | -18 | 19 |
18 |
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24 | -28 | 17 |
19 |
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24 | -27 | 16 |
20 |
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24 | -36 | 9 |