Arrival of the January transfer After signing with Bristol City from St Patrick’s Athletic, Adam Murphy, the Republic of Ireland Under-21 international, is still “a while away” from playing any kind of role for the team.
Murphy, an 18-year-old midfielder, was the first player signed by City during the winter transfer window. The 18-year-old had been on the verge of joining the Robins at Ashton Gate during the summer, but the deal fell through.
Due to the League of Ireland closing in November, Murphy has been playing in what is essentially a pre-season and has yet to appear for even the Under-21 squad, let alone the first-team setting.
However, the new Irish domestic league began two weeks ago. This week, Sam Curtis, a former St Pats teammate who travelled to England to join with Sheffield United, played for the Blades U21 team as they defeated Swansea City 5-1.
Since Murphy has had hamstring problems for the past two years at St Pats, the Robins seem to be taking extra precautions before he plays in a matchday environment, most likely against the U21s. Manning did not provide too much more information on Murphy’s condition.
In the end, he was hired as a long-term project, so there’s no need to act quickly, as that could be harmful to his progress down the road.
“He’s not too far away,” stated Manning. “I haven’t talked to him too much lately, but I know he works really hard in the gym and he’s another one. It’s making sure his target is returning to training and participating before the season ends, but the most important thing is preparing for preseason.”
“We appreciate him as a football player and a character, but I knew before he came in that he had problems. However, there are instances when it’s necessary to react to and base decisions on what is presented to you in addition to having timeframes in mind.
“We have to make sure he keeps pushing because he’s working hard and the staff is working hard on him.”
Josh Stokes was another January addition with an eye towards the future that played with the first team this week. The 19-year-old forward was purchased by City from Aldershot Town for approximately £250,000 at the beginning of the season. He was then loaned back to the National League team for the remainder of the campaign.
Like Seb Palmer-Houlden, who returned to training from his loan spell at Newport County last week, Stokes was at the High Performance Centre on Monday as the squad assessed and processed Saturday’s loss to Sheffield Wednesday before starting preparations for Saturday. The Shots do not have a midweek game.
After that, on Tuesday, he participated in training, which was captured on camera for this week’s Robins Uncut. Manning was impressed by his work ethic, and it is hoped that the adolescent will be able to attend more sessions at Failand before making a more frequent return to the club during preseason.
“He had excellent training,” Manning remarked. “On Monday, he worked on his technical skills with all of us and recovered as he had obviously played on Saturday. On Tuesday, he attended the session, blended right in, displayed some excellent traits, and gave a great first impression.
We had a conversation with him, and while we’re incredibly happy with him, we’ll attempt to get him in when programmes allow us to continuing trying to integrate him.
“You have to keep chipping away at it. When someone like Seb returns to the pitch in the preseason with his teeth clenched and in excellent physical form, it’s crucial to push your way onto the team. His goal return in the National League at his age is fantastic. Make sure he gets some rest in the summer.
