Hibs manager Terry Butcher has confirmed that Sheffield United player Jamie Murphy was very much on his radar, but the recent upturn in his form means that there is no chance of him joining the Easter Road club during the January transfer window.
Speaking at the weekly press conference ahead of tonight’s game against Aberdeen, Butcher said: “Jamie Murphy has scored three in four games. He will not be joining us. I’ve spoken to Nigel [Clough] and he will not be joining us.
“I was very interested in Jamie. I know him very well and he would have done very well for us. But he’s doing very well for Sheffield United and fair play to him. He’s one of the guys we’ve talked about who has now done well for his team! It’s frustrating. You could say it’s good judgement to have been interested in him, thank you very much. But I could say ‘Oh no, Lionel Messi has scored again’ – we certainly weren’t after him.”
Butcher also confirmed that he has spoken to a number of players regarding their future at Easter Road but insists that these conversations were private and so far no-one has been released. He continued: “What I will say is I’ve spoken to several players at the club about moving on. Those conversations will remain private until something does happen. But players are players, they want to play. And I can understand their frustration if they’re training during the week and not playing at the weekend.”
“It’s very amicable, it’s part of football life. These guys continue training with us, all training together. There are certain things you can do as a manager, if you want to be nasty, but there’s nothing like that here. If you are honest to players and players are honest with you, things will work out. It’s just a natural progression, the evolution of any football club. Players move on, players change. Managers change, too. But that’s a different story.
“I’m not saying that players leaving this football club are bad players. Certainly not. But I’ve got my opinion on how we should play, it’s a formula that has worked pretty well so far, and I will stick to it. You will make tweaks here and there.”
Speculation surrounds Kevin Thomson, Rowan Vine, Tom Taiwo and Tim Clancy who has been linked with a move to Derry City.
When asked whether any new faces would depend on players leaving, he responded: “I don’t have to let players go in order to bring people in, not at all, and no-one has been released. Not as yet.”
Photo by John Preece
http://www.photoboxgallery.com/jlp-photography
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
