The situation arose due to the fragile state of Milan Mandaric, who has become increasingly depressed in the last few months over the state of the club. After devoting his life to Pompey in the past few years, the Serbo-Croat has considered leaving on many occasions - even to the extent that a firm offer was made for Pompey last week, but was turned down.
With Mandaric the new full time boss at Fratton Park, Murphy was demoted to looking after the stadium affairs but became increasingly frustrated at the promises made by Mandaric to councilors - without ever going through with them - as well as the clubs indecision on a site for the new ground. So far Pompey have three sites in mind but no firm plan and a lack of direction.
The lack of a solid business plan is what grated at Murphy the most - a successful business man, he built his success on a strong work ethic and a firm sense of where he's going. A skill that Mandaric also possesses' but has found it hard to implement due to the continuing divisions behind the scenes at Fratton Park.
With the stadium plans floundering, the final straw for Murphy came on Saturday after the frustrating 4-4 draw - a scoreline that speaks volumes for the current state of affairs at Fratton Park. A heated meeting occurred in the boardroom at the club with Mandaric once again expressing his desire to sell the Blues - his emotions understandably getting the better of him after his expensive team failed to secure three points.
Fratton Faithful understands that Brady and Murphy clashed - Brady telling Mandaric to stay and to add more retail units onto Fratton Goods yard so that the Chairman could make some money. Murphy said this was completely hypothetical as the council would not allow more units - especially as the club still haven't reached any sort of decision on the new stadium.
It came to the point where Murphy told Milan that he should sell the club, stating the fact that Mandaric's interest has waned and the club is lacking any sort of direction. Not an opinion that proved popular with Mandaric who asked Murphy to leave.
After the departure of Barrie Pierpoint, this is another example of how the club is festering under its own internal politics and currently there is a lack of momentum flowing through the chairman's veins due to the fact he is distraught at the current situation at Pompey. A man used to instant success seems to have met his match on the South Coast...