The Rouge speaks on Murray exit

By The Rouge
March 26 2004

The Rouge gives his views on Scott Murray's shock departure back up the M4 to Bristol City and if Reading have made the right decision in selling the Scotsman.

As a fan of Reading Football Club I am absolutely gutted. I loved Scott Murray as a player at Bristol City and he has shown his ability in a Reading shirt, albeit not quite as consistently as hoped. Early on in the season he was on fire and as recently as Forest away we have seen examples of what he can do. His last start in a Reading shirt saw him cut inside and supply a pinpoint pass for Owusu to calmly trap and pass into the net.

I am not going to pretend that he was a roaring success as a Reading player but I did see him as potentially one of our best players, someone who could recapture early season form and someone would love a big pitch like the millennium stadium if we ever got there. He possessed that x-factor that the team needs and could have been the flying winger/inside right we need.

So why has he gone??

Well firstly I would like to say that I believe fans should back their manager and their team at all times, until perhaps years of patience has been shown. Coppell will be judged on his ability to build a team over many more months that he has currently been given. Secondly, as fans we do not possess his football managerial skills and are not privy to everything Coppell sees at the club. Having said all that, the sense behind his departure takes some seeing.

Coppell’s comments about Murray’s departure do dismiss some theories. He mentioned that he was fully committed at Reading and that he did not ask to leave, so any inferences that he ‘wasn’t dedicated enough’ or ‘put in a transfer request’ have to be thrown in the dustbin. The offer was seen as ‘too good’ to turn down but I find it hard to believe that the reason the fee was ‘undisclosed’ was to save Bristol City’s face. You have to acknowledge the slight possibility that Bristol City paid more than they sold him for but the most likely outcome is that Reading sold him for less than they paid for him 8 months ago.

Looking at the bigger picture, Coppell does have lack of players that he can sell for sizeable fees.

- We have not been overly blessed with first team standard youth players and we cannot ‘do a Crewe’ and sell some of our starlets for huge amounts of cash.
- Newman, Salako, Williams, Brown, Goater and Morgan are all valued by the club, but none would demand a sizeable transfer fee at this time of their career.
- Looking at our squad, you would probably say that Sidwell, Murty, Forster, Shorey and Murray were probably the five players who would definitely attract offers from clubs if made available for purchase, with perhaps Kitson and Harper demanding smaller fees.

I think part of the problem is that Reading have not been receiving many offers for their players. I am sure clubs have enquired about Forster and Sidwell but I don’t think you can say with any confidence that other players have definitely attracted serious offers. Therefore each firm offer has to be carefully considered.

Looking at that list players that could be sold for a fee, you can understand why Murray is the one to go if money has to be brought in before we can buy. As football fans, we have been in the lucky position of having a chairman who has continually spent money on players, the stadium and the academy without the money having to be raised by the sale of players. Many other clubs would have sold Forster, Shorey, Murty and Sidwell by now and this article would be about survival in division one or getting out of division two.

If you agree with most of the above then either Coppell did not see him as a first team player (and therefore an expensive squad player) or considered selling Murray a better proposition than selling other key players.

This latter of these suggests that we may have finally reached the point where money must be generated before it can be spent. It has been threatened many times but Madejski has continually got his chequebook out to sign ‘one more player’. The fact is, as a club we have signed players on big fees and failed to recoup the money for them. As an asset, we made a huge loss on Butler, Jamie ‘Bargain’ Cureton came for £250,000 and left for nothing despite him being (in my opinion) just as good a player the day he left as when he arrived. We lost money on Rougier and Igoe… - anyway, you get my point…

Scott Murray told Bristol City’s website that "He (Coppell) made it clear I wouldn't be getting much first team football if I stayed so I took the hint!" Of course Coppell may have said this to try and get Scott to make the hurried transfer, as he wanted the money from his fee, or this could have been an entirely honest statement about Coppell’s opinion of Scott as a player. If the latter is true, then I just have to say I simply disagree with this as a footballing decision. I saw enough in Scott Murray at Bristol City, in his pre-season debut at Brentford and in his appearances for Reading (particularly Derby away) to convince me that he could have been a big player for the Royals. I still believe that but will obviously not have the opportunity to be proved right or wrong. He was Pardew’s ‘Ronaldo’ and I am sure a greying eyebrow has been raised somewhere in East London.

I have agreed with nearly all of Coppell’s transfer judgements. From what I have seen I am firmly behind the acquisitions of Ingimarsson, Kitson, Owusu, Morgan and Brooker, whilst I totally agree with letting Henderson and Mackie go. Perhaps I would have kept Tyson and gone without the nominal fee he went for, but it was not a decision that affected my blood pressure. I just think in this case I disagree with the manager’s decision, but unless I become manager of RFC (start the campaign now! – although bear in mind I am on three months notice..) I understand that I will not always agree with every decision. So as a fan, the only thing left to do is back your manager, support those players who are selected and wish Scott Murray every success back at Ashton Gate. He was and is a good player, he worked hard, he gave 100% and will be sorely missed.