Murphy so keen to follow Kiely

JOE MURPHY is the first to admit that, after a meteoric rise, his career has been stuck in neutral for far too long.

However, he need look no further than Dean Kiely for inspiration in how to turn things around at both club and international level.

It was at Tranmere Rovers where the Dubliner first caught our attention eight years ago. He was just 18 when he started in goal against Leicester City in the Worthington Cup final defeat at Wembley.

West Brom was his next port of call two years later. His first duty for the Baggies was to save a penalty from Michael Owen at Anfield but his stint in Birmingham turned sour and spells at Walsall and Sunderland followed before he took the plunge down the ladder to Scunthorpe.

Taking a step back worked well. He was voted onto the League One team of the year in his first season and United surprised everyone, including themselves, by earning promotion to the Championship. Unfortunately, they went straight back down this season.

“I knew I needed to go somewhere to play consistently and I went to Scunthorpe last year just to play football. It was a bit of a shock that we actually got promoted.

“It is a small club but we had some good players and managed to do well. I was happy with that but disappointed we got relegated this year. I’ve played 105, 110 games now and that’s what I wanted, to be playing consistently. Now I need another challenge.”

With another year left on his contract, Murphy’s hopes of earning a move depend on his chairman who, he says, is asking a “ridiculous” amount of money — something in the region of £750,000 to £1m.

Brian Laws, who brought him to Scunthorpe, is a paid-up fan but plans to sign the Irishman again, this time for Sheffield Wednesday, have been put on the backburner with the manager’s own future at Hillsborough up for some debate.

Murphy knows only too well he needs to stay in the Championship at least if he is to earn a regular spot in an Ireland set-up which has seen eight goalkeepers revolve in and out of contention in the last 12 months.

He has been involved in his fair share of squads down the years but remains stuck on the one cap earned back in September of 2003 against Turkey when he managed 14 minutes as a substitute for Nick Colgan.

That bow came under Brian Kerr’s watch but, despite assurances from goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly that he was in Steve Staunton’s plans, he never featured during the former Liverpool defender’s time in charge.

That absence has merely made the heart grow fonder and Murphy would dearly love to be called in for a second cameo appearance tonight against Colombia.

“It would be nice to get involved. I’m stuck on that one cap so it would be nice just to get on the pitch. If that happened, I would be happy.”

First choice tonight is Kiely who earned his first cap in almost six years last Saturday having previously called time on his international career out of sheer frustration at being Shay Given’s perennial emergency stand-in.

Like Murphy, Kiely took the risky decision to drop down a few notches on the ladder by joining Luton Town on loan two seasons back but he was rewarded with a move to West Brom who will be playing in the Premier League next season.

“He has had a great season,” said Murphy. He made a great move to West Brom. They are always a club who are in and around the Premier League I’m sure he will have a great season again next year.”