Daryl Murphy grateful for Mick McCarthy’s help

Flashback to the eve of Ireland against England in Suttgart at Euro ‘88: In those more easy-going days, when the media shared hotels with the players, an Irish journalist was passing by a partially opened room door when — just before it abruptly slammed shut —he caught a tantalising glimpse of a player, swathed in bandages, being furiously worked on by physio Mick Byrne.

This turned out to be Mick McCarthy, who duly took his place in the Neckarstadion the following day to help Ireland make history by winning 1-0 in their debut appearance at the finals of the European Championships.

Only later would McCarthy reveal how perilously close he had come to missing the match because of paralysing muscle spasms.

Flash forward to the run-up to Ireland’s second appearance at the European Championships, at France 2016 and, as the Championship season in England is drawing to a close, Ipswich striker Daryl Murphy finds himself struggling with a persistent calf problem which, for a time, seems set to threaten his chances of being in contention for a place in France.

However, Murphy’s manager at Ipswich, the self-same Mick McCarthy, understood precisely how high the stakes were — not least because, as Murphy admits, at age 33, this could be his last chance to go to a major tournament — and, once it was clear that Ipswich would not be in contention for promotion, he encouraged his striker to take all the rest and treatment he needed to maximise his chances of recovery.

Now that he has been able to join up with Irish squad ahead of Friday’s friendly against the Netherlands, Murphy has no hesitation in admitting how fortunate he is to have a gaffer who, in these very special circumstances, was prepared to put country before club.

“Definitely,” he says, “because I don’t think there are many managers who would have said that to me. Basically, the conversation was, ‘when do you think you will be back?’ I said, ‘I could be back within a week’. But he said, ‘Look, we can’t get into the play offs, you need to get your match fitness right [for the Euros], so what is the point really?’”

Recalling his own experience all those years ago with Ireland, McCarthy also informed Murphy “he’d had it bad, alright” going into Euro ’88. “He said he was very lucky. He did say he had calf problems before so he knows what I needed to do to get it right and how it can sneak up on you when you least expect it. From that point of view, you are obviously listening, because he knows what you are talking about. In the back of his mind, he knew an extra few weeks with the physio would help.”

And, happily, the manager’s decision seems to have done the trick.

“It’s fully healed now, touch wood,” says Murphy. “I’m not expecting anything to happen to it. I’ve had two tough enough days [in training] and worked it hard and there’s been no reaction whatsoever, so I just need to make sure I do the right things and make sure I give myself every chance.”

Murphy also notes that he owes McCarthy for a lot more than just his current fitness levels.He just believed in me from the start,” he reflects.

“He signed me from Waterford all those years ago, brought me over, gave me a chance. He started me in Premier League games, and had confidence in me. It showed again when he came in at Ipswich: The first thing he said to me was, ‘you’re going to be my main striker, you’re not going to be a left midfielder again’ and that gives you a boost in itself. And he was true to his word. I played and had the best season of my career (in 2014/15) so it’s down to him really.”

And while Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane might have had their differences in the past, to put it rather mildly, it seems they have always seen eye to eye about Daryl Murphy.

“The two of them have always been good to me,” he says. “They always believed in me. When Roy came in at Sunderland, he was always saying ‘if you work hard and get on with it, you will do okay’. Mick is the same. If you do well for him he will play you. It is as simple as that.” Over the course of this Euros qualifying campaign, Murphy also won the trust of Martin O’Neill, the only conspicuous blot on the striker’s copybook being his failure to, thus far, open his goals account for Ireland.

“Any goal for Ireland would be great,” he smiles. “But I cannot allow that affect me. If I play, and do all the things that I am able to — hold the ball up, get players involved, flick-ons — then the chances, and the goals will come. It is just a case of getting that one. It does not seem to want to go in for me for whatever reason but, if the chance comes my way, hopefully I can take it.”