Town were amongst a number of English clubs watching Motherwell beat Terry Butcher’s Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3-0 at Fir Park yesterday with 21-year-old striker Jamie Murphy believed to be the reason for their trip north of the border. Spurs, Stoke, Wolves, West Brom, Birmingham, Brighton and Watford were also represented as the SPL season got under way.
Glasgow-born Murphy, who netted the second Motherwell goal yesterday, was a schoolboy with Clyde before moving on to his current club, where he broke into the first team in 2007.
The 5ft 10in tall frontman has now made 80 starts and appeared 57 times from the bench, scoring 23 goals, 11 of them last season. Contracted to his current club until 2013, Murphy has won Scotland caps at U19 and U21 levels.
Motherwell boss Stuart McCall says it’s not a shock to him that English clubs sent scouts to watch his side in action: "It's no surprise because there's no games on.
"People say the downside of coming back too early is that you can't get boys on loan from English clubs. The downside for me is that teams have five or six games to watch our players.
"It was a good game to come and watch. We've got not only Jamie, three or four others too. You're talking Jamie Murphy, Chris Humphrey, big Hutchie [Shaun Hutchinson], whoever we are talking about, they would benefit from another year.
"I find it sometimes sad, it doesn't always happen, but some players leave the SPL to go down to England and sit on the bench. The boys are developing and it's a good place to play football.
"Obviously if a big bid comes along the club would have to look at it but speaking myself, I don't want to encourage anything.
"I think another year under their belts they will be better and the club will get more money for them."
Team-mate Stevie Hammell, who was also amongst yesterday’s scorers added: "It's inevitable he'll move on at some point. When I see some of the boys who get moves, Murph's in a different league from them. He's a terrific player.
"And he seems to take his game up another level every season. He won't let the scouts being there bother him and I would say that the grass isn't necessarily always greener when you go south at a young age. I left it until 24 before I went but whatever happens he has a very bright future."