Exclusive: Josh Murphy worry emerges over what expert’s seen at Portsmouth
Josh Murphy has certainly delivered for Portsmouth this season and should survival at Fratton Park be secured, he will have been instrumental behind it.
Murphy carries a natural adeptness in the Championship which has helped take Pompey through games in which they have been up against it and turned the momentum back the way of John Mousinho’s side.
While brother Jacob has had a tremendous year with Newcastle United which has now culminated in a major trophy, it cannot be underestimated what Josh has done, the 30-year-old accumulating 16 goal contributions in the league this year – a Championship high for a summer signing.
Darke reveals Murphy worry for Portsmouth
When it became clear Murphy – man of the match for Oxford United at his local stadium of Wembley to secure their place alongside Portsmouth in the second tier – was set to leave the Kassam Stadium, Mousinho and Rich Hughes quickly acted.
A free transfer to Fratton meant his popularity sunk somewhat with the Oxford faithful, but Murphy joined former teammate Mousinho at Portsmouth and the head coach was immediately raving about him.
After a solid pre-season, Mousinho described the left-winger as “outstanding” and talked up the impact he could have this season.
It may have come across as unnecessary pressure, but after a brief injury lay-off, Murphy has been superb.
TV commentator and Blues fan Ian Darke, however, believes Pompey must prioritise adding further strings to their attacking bow and ensuring they stop “over-relying on Murphy” going forward.
“It’s becoming quite clear that they’re over-relying on Josh Murphy for attacking ideas,” Darke exclusively told Pompey News.
“They need to be able to find other pathways to goal, I would say. That’s something to think about – maybe not so much now – but certainly in the summer if there’s another Championship campaign to look forward to.
“We’re not out of the woods, and that’s definitely something to consider in the long term.”
Eisners should loosen pursestrings in summer
Assuming Portsmouth do not catastrophically find themselves dragged right back into a dogfight, they can begin to plan for life in the Championship again next season.
For that to be a success, they must move with the times and start increasing their budget, whether that’s with transfer fees or wages.
| Josh Murphy – Portsmouth 2024-25 | Total |
| Appearances | 34 |
| Goals | 6 |
| Assists | 10 |
| Yellow cards | 5 |
| Red cards | 0 |
If the Blues squad all performed with the astuteness of Murphy, there would be no issues whatsoever – but alongside the exciting youngsters new to the Championship (some new to England), there needs to be even further league pedigree at Mousinho‘s disposal.