No Murray, no goals and no points

Eddie Howe clearly did not want to talk about Glenn Murray on Saturday. He was interviewed by Kris Temple of BBC Radio Solent after the Newcastle defeat and simply said, Murray was not in the 18-man squad, not that he was injured. That would seem to indicate that Murray's performance levels were not high enough to be considered, or that he had displeased the manager in some way during the week or for his performance in the previous match. He was certainly said to be later to arrive to the match than the majority of players on Saturday, but that could be because he knew he was not going to play any part in proceedings.

Glenn Murray's non-appearance in the squad was a big shock on Saturday.

I am hoping that it is just that Eddie did not want to play with the big man up front having witnessed what he did at Southampton and how he wanted to set his team up against Newcastle. Murray is an experienced Premier league striker, but he is new to the team and must play in the way Eddie wants him to if he is to lead the line. No player is bigger than the team and AFCb need everyone pulling in the same direction. Things clearly did not work at Southampton and Glenn Murray was removed at half time, but it was a surprise not to see him at least on the bench for such an important game against Newcastle Utd.

Taking Murray's goal potential out of the game was a big gamble. Marc Pugh and Matt Ritchie have been scoring goals along with Wilson, but with Callum Wilson out for the foreseeable future, and Pugh injured, that left the team without much goal potential. Josh King has not scored yet and Junior Stanislas has not played many games, which can also be said for  Harry Arter. Taking Murray out of the squad could well have given Newcastle a psychological boost, even if it was a decision to try and go with what worked best against Southampton.

I hope that the manager and the striker can solve their problems and the team pattern in the international break, as it is looking increasingly clear that Murray is AFCB's best hope for netting goals at the moment.