‘Murts’ wears his heart on his sleeve and is as honest as they come. He won’t let anyone down
STEVE SIDWELL moves mischievously from the football field to the golf course to find a chink in the armour of Graeme Murty, a man whom he recognised for four-and-a-half years at Reading as the most organised, committed and meticulous leader of men that a dressing room could wish for.
‘A great captain, a very proud man and a leader on and off the pitch,’ says the former Chelsea and Aston Villa midfielder of the Rangers caretaker manager. ‘He’s someone who was always willing to help others.
‘Day-to-day, he was extremely structured in what he was doing. That was all mapped out on a Monday — and he was committed to it 100 per cent. He loved his golf and, I admit, he could hit a good ball.
‘When on a golf course, though, it doesn’t always go to plan. So when he had an off day out there, it could get personal. I’m sure during his golfing holidays he’s left his mark on a few courses!’
Luckily for those playing at nearby Loch Lomond on Thursday while Murty was out walking with his family, the only thing being thrown around were formation ideas — entirely around the interim manager’s head as he admitted to struggling with the concept of relaxing on his day off.
Sidwell could quite imagine his former team-mate’s state of mind. For in the role of Reading captain, Murty was a stranger to switching off. You only had to switch on the local radio for evidence. His idea of preparing for a morning’s training was to get up with an hour or several to spare to help co-host The Andrew Peach Breakfast Show on BBC Radio Berkshire and talk football.
Murty spoke about Reading regularly on the show, proving a master at connecting with the club’s fan base in a manner that must be just about extinct in modern topflight football now. He and wife Karen kept their regular spot on the show, even the day after relegation back to the Championship in 2008, to discuss their disappointment and chat with supporters.
So the 42-year-old, who played over 300 games for the club and captained them into the Premier League for the first time in their history, wasn’t simply a contributor to the cause of communicating with his public.
‘Reading was a family club,’ said Sidwell. ‘The main focal point in the town was the club when I was there because we were doing so well. And what Murts became was a great link between the club, the players and the fans. They appreciated that.
‘He took a lot of responsibility to make that happen, as well. He always had time for everyone, as you may already have noticed at Rangers with the way he’s dealt with things like his media duties. He was always an honest person and, if you’re getting that from a manager now, then you’re not going far wrong.’
Sidwell and Murty went to Reading from different backgrounds. Murty was a then-Reading record £700,000 recruit from York City in 1998. Five years later, Sidwell — an FA Youth Cup winner with Arsenal and England Under-21 international — moved from the north London giants.
In 2005/06 they were part of the ‘106 Club’ squad that ran through the Championship to that recordbreaking points total, losing only twice in their marathon 46-game season under Steve Coppell.
That season climaxed in comedy as Murty scored a late penalty — only the second goal in his first eight years with the club — to secure a win on the final day of the season over QPR. Off he went in celebration making a beeline for Kingsley Royal, Reading’s lion mascot, bundling him to the ground before both were engulfed by every Premier Leaguebound team-mate.
The bulk of those players went on to finish eighth in the top flight, just outside the European places at the first attempt. That effort earned Sidwell a move to Chelsea and he has no doubt how influential Murty was behind every player’s success story from their Reading days.
‘The easiest way of summing Murts up would be: “Hard but fair”,’ says the 34-year-old. ‘He was committed and honest, and it didn’t matter what happened in a game — he’d shake your hand and it go to the next one.
‘He was a full-back who wore his heart on his sleeve. Whether it was a charging run down the right-hand side or into a tackle, he was all for that. He was a vital part of what Reading achieved and will go down as having legend status.
‘The beauty of the promotion with 106 points and finishing so high in the Premier League was that it wasn’t at all down to one individual. It was a team effort. Not just from players but management, the whole squad played its part.
‘There’s no one person singled out but obviously, Murts being captain, he was the driving force behind it. Such a vital cog. He was very vocal. That’s where he came into his own. There was always a time and a place where there was a need to raise his voice — or leave it for another day. He was very clever in how he wanted
to express what he thought to people. He had different tactics of doing it but the message got across.’
When Reading failed to bounce straight back to the Premier League in 2009, it marked the end of an era and injury-hit Murty, following a short loan spell at Charlton, was one of the veterans to depart.
Following just nine games with Southampton, he got into coaching at St Mary’s then on to Norwich City. When David Weir and Mark Warburton were part of his Rangers interview process for the Under-20 squad last summer, Murty could never have envisaged filling in for them eight months later.
Yet, right now, Murty has been entrusted with the task of seeing Rangers through a spell in limbo, potentially until an end-of-season permanent appointment is made. In the meantime, he has the target of a runners-up spot in the league and Scottish Cup progress to aim for in one of the biggest pressure jobs in British football.
From Sidwell’s experience of watching Murty operate, Rangers have shrewdly promoted a man well capable of excelling in that environment, even if this is quite a deep end in which to start a managerial career.
‘No one is sure how long he will be in charge for and as a character he will play himself down, as anyone would do,’ adds Sidwell. ‘Secretly, he will be as nervous, anxious — as anyone would be. But he will be sure that he can do the business. ‘Obviously he’ll make mistakes but he is the sort of person who can learn from them. ‘He’s at a huge club where an opportunity has presented itself and he won’t let anyone down.’