"I know what I bring" - Jacob Murphy's message to Newcastle fans misses the point

Jacob Murphy has answered criticism of his Newcastle performances, defending his contribution after scoring in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Fulham.

His left-footed strike put us ahead with ten minutes remaining at Craven Cottage, only for Rodrigo Muniz to equalise shortly afterwards. It was a moment of real quality in another frustrating afternoon, but Murphy felt his contribution went beyond the goal.

Murphy explains his role and responds to criticism

Explaining his role in the side, Murphy told reporters:

"[To] add value whenever I can. I had a specific role today which I thought I carried out very well, which helped give solidity to the team and give us good structure.

"Another day I walk away with two assists and a goal.

"I think for some people, my playing style might not be for them, but I know what I bring and it's effective, believe me."

He deserves credit for Saturday. The goal was outstanding and he created opportunities that could have given us more to show for the afternoon. But playing well doesn't mean the criticism that came before it was unjustified.

The fans deserve better

Cupping his ears towards our travelling supporters and shouting "WHAT?" after scoring was completely unnecessary.

Those are some of the most loyal Newcastle fans we have. They spend their money and give up their weekends to follow this team, and they are entitled to expect better performances without being goaded when a player finally produces something.

"I know what I bring." Unfortunately, Jacob, we also know what you bring.

He's a severely limited winger who we should have upgraded on years ago. Without the financial restrictions we've had to work around, there's no doubt we would have moved beyond relying on him as a regular starter long before now.

Saturday took Murphy to 26 goals in 276 competitive appearances for Newcastle since joining in 2017. It was his first goal of this season. Hardly a scoring record that puts him above criticism.

Nobody needs to pretend he's never contributed. He has had good spells, and Saturday was a good performance. But supporters wanting a more consistent, higher-quality option on the right isn't some outrageous personal insult.

To be fair, the celebration felt out of character for him, which made it all the more disappointing.