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Luke Murphy knows all about the pressure which will be heaped upon Leeds United’s shoulders to maintain their push for Premier League football.
Snapped up as a 23-year-old by Brian McDermott at Elland Road in 2013, the midfielder made more than 100 appearances for the club over the next five years, scoring on his debut in a 2-1 win against Brighton.
The latter end of Murphy’s career at Leeds was spent on loan at Burton Albion, meaning he missed out on the steady evolution of a squad overseen by a continually spinning managerial chair.
Thomas Christiansen, Paul Heckingbottom and now renowned coach Marcelo Bielsa helped re-shape a team with genuine promotion ambition, which comes along with a weight of expectancy placed on few other clubs at this level.
Murphy recalled swapping the rather more tranquil surroundings of Crewe Alexandra for West Yorkshire proved an eye-opening experience.
“I was buzzing as Leeds is a massive club,” he said of signing a three-year deal. “I knew it prior to joining, but it was only once I went there and spent time at the place, I realised just how big they were.
“It took me by surprise at first as I reckon you could go anywhere in the world and there would be Leeds fans.
“I was really happy to sign and have nothing but respect for them.”
Murphy featured consistently for the first 18 months of his Leeds career but fell out of favour after the arrival of Garry Monk.
“It is very clichéd, but very up and down,” he said of his time at the club. “I have some great memories there, met some amazing people and enjoyed playing my football there.
“With that said, there were some downs with the high expectations that are on a club like Leeds.
“Overall, though, I had a great time.”
Murphy was an integral part of the Burton Albion side that survived in 2017 but also spent another season with the Brewers, which ended rather differently as Wanderers’ victory against Nottingham Forest on the final day condemned Nigel Clough’s side to relegation.
His exit from Leeds was a rather protracted affair, but the 29-year-old feels it was the right time to part ways – the club at that time starting to bring imported players and moving to a more continental style.
“Absolutely,” he agreed. “The season prior to leaving, I went out on loan twice and with one year left on my contract, they were looking in other directions and looking to bring in people from abroad.
“We ended on good terms and it was fine as I had the chance to come to another big club in Bolton.”
Murphy has found it difficult to nail down a place in the Wanderers team this season – spending four months out of the reckoning before a recall in January for the FA Cup victory against Walsall.
He has since featured more regularly under Parkinson and is desperate to help the survival effort.
“We put 110 per cent in every day on the training pitch and matches - you cannot fault people’s work rate and effort in that sense,” he said.
“But the most important thing is points which we are struggling to find currently, but we will turn this around, I am sure of that.
“I have seen it all before and we just need to stick together, be as one and I am sure the results are just around the corner.”
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Snapped up as a 23-year-old by Brian McDermott at Elland Road in 2013, the midfielder made more than 100 appearances for the club over the next five years, scoring on his debut in a 2-1 win against Brighton.
The latter end of Murphy’s career at Leeds was spent on loan at Burton Albion, meaning he missed out on the steady evolution of a squad overseen by a continually spinning managerial chair.
Thomas Christiansen, Paul Heckingbottom and now renowned coach Marcelo Bielsa helped re-shape a team with genuine promotion ambition, which comes along with a weight of expectancy placed on few other clubs at this level.
Murphy recalled swapping the rather more tranquil surroundings of Crewe Alexandra for West Yorkshire proved an eye-opening experience.
“I was buzzing as Leeds is a massive club,” he said of signing a three-year deal. “I knew it prior to joining, but it was only once I went there and spent time at the place, I realised just how big they were.
“It took me by surprise at first as I reckon you could go anywhere in the world and there would be Leeds fans.
“I was really happy to sign and have nothing but respect for them.”
Murphy featured consistently for the first 18 months of his Leeds career but fell out of favour after the arrival of Garry Monk.
“It is very clichéd, but very up and down,” he said of his time at the club. “I have some great memories there, met some amazing people and enjoyed playing my football there.
“With that said, there were some downs with the high expectations that are on a club like Leeds.
“Overall, though, I had a great time.”
Murphy was an integral part of the Burton Albion side that survived in 2017 but also spent another season with the Brewers, which ended rather differently as Wanderers’ victory against Nottingham Forest on the final day condemned Nigel Clough’s side to relegation.
His exit from Leeds was a rather protracted affair, but the 29-year-old feels it was the right time to part ways – the club at that time starting to bring imported players and moving to a more continental style.
“Absolutely,” he agreed. “The season prior to leaving, I went out on loan twice and with one year left on my contract, they were looking in other directions and looking to bring in people from abroad.
“We ended on good terms and it was fine as I had the chance to come to another big club in Bolton.”
Murphy has found it difficult to nail down a place in the Wanderers team this season – spending four months out of the reckoning before a recall in January for the FA Cup victory against Walsall.
He has since featured more regularly under Parkinson and is desperate to help the survival effort.
“We put 110 per cent in every day on the training pitch and matches - you cannot fault people’s work rate and effort in that sense,” he said.
“But the most important thing is points which we are struggling to find currently, but we will turn this around, I am sure of that.
“I have seen it all before and we just need to stick together, be as one and I am sure the results are just around the corner.”
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