Barry-Murphy’s excited by chance of Pogba reunion
THE revelation Paul Pogba is in line for a United return against Rochdale takes Brian Barry-Murphy back eight years to Tameside Stadium.
Five days before an 18-year-old Pogba cameoed in his professional debut at Leeds, he had to navigate a Manchester Senior Cup tie against Rochdale at Curzon Ashton.
“I thought he was the best player I ever played against,” Barry-Murphy, now manager of Rochdale, reminisces.
“He was just on another planet. I remember there was a lot of talk that he wasn’t going to play for their firstteam and they were going to move him, but it was common knowledge up here about who he was and what he was doing.
“And when I saw him, it was like ‘oh my god’! He was the only midfield player of that kind who could do what he could do. I never saw anything like it.”
The cup draw, a viral team goal at Southend and the demise of rivals Bury have granted Rochdale overdue exposure over the last month. The League One club has monthly costs of around £350,000.
Barry-Murphy, 41, joined Dale as a player in 2010 and took over as caretaker manager in March before he was given the role permanently a month later. He presided over six wins from 11 to comfortably keep Dale in the third tier and, naturally, fans coined ‘BBM’s at the wheel’.
Some managers can go decades without ever managing a game at United. “Surreal really,” Barry-Murphy utters. “Kind of almost a feeling of guilt when you put it like that! I know our previous manager (Keith Hill) was a huge Man United supporter and always wanted to do it. But it’s something that we’ve kind of stumbled across. It’s hugely exciting for the whole town and myself included.”
He is saddened by Bury’s collapse, saying: “I played for Bury when I was a player and I think it’s incredibly sad for this area, in particular, that that club’s gone into the situation it has, because you lose that local derby element.
“And for people who wouldn’t have witnessed it, when it comes to a derby between those clubs it was almost like our City-United, in terms of the intensity and the feeling and atmosphere on the streets.
“So to lose that is a huge loss to English football.
“But Rochdale’s been run the way it has for a long period of time and it’s been done in a sustainable manner, so it’s something to be very, very proud of. I think it’s a great reward for everybody associated with the club and supporters who have to see other clubs signing players and think, ‘why can’t we sign those players?’ There’s always a reason, we have to live within our means.”
Barry-Murphy admits it was a ‘killer’ Daniel Adshead, who had reputedly interested Bayern Munich and the Manchester clubs, was sold to Norwich in the summer but Dale have another potential gem in the 16-year-old Luke Matheson.
Matheson beat Adshead’s record to become the club’s youngest-ever player at 15 years and 336 days against Bury on his first day in Year 11 and last month attained glowing marks in his GCSEs.
Matheson joked he would have to finish his homework in time for the evening kick-off tonight.
“I have known him from a very young age so I have always been aware of him. I have never acknowledged his age, so I always view him in terms of ability in relation to the squad,” said Barry-Murphy.
“He can do things in our team that we don’t have. Other players have got great qualities but he does something different, his speed and his natural ability is something you would associate with a player of Man United or that calibre.
“We are very privileged to have him in our ranks.”