Former Blues striker David McGoldrick has revealed he was “open to staying” at Town last summer but incoming boss Paul Hurst “said no”.
The 31-year-old subsequently went on trial to Sheffield United and won a contract and, having remained fit throughout the campaign, has netted 12 goals for the Blades to help the South Yorkshiremen to second in the Championship.
McGoldrick, then the club’s highest-paid player, departed Portman Road in May last year after no new contract was offered at the end of another injury hit season, however, he says he was still open to extending his time with the club but was denied the opportunity by Hurst, whose short ill-fated reign began in June.
"I was open to staying there but the new manager came in and said no,” McGoldrick said at a press conference while with his former Town boss Mick McCarthy’s Republic of Ireland squad yesterday.
"That was in June, so I started to look around. I got seven goals last year and you can’t go knocking down the doors of clubs saying, ‘Sign me, Sign me!’
"There were teams saying, ‘Yeah, we like him’, but nothing was happening. I was training on my own, thinking, ‘Is this where I am at?’
"There are players I played with that aren’t playing now and they had successful Championship and Premier League careers. It’s hard out there at the minute.
"No one really wanted to give me a chance, so I worked on my fitness and improved myself. I got the buzz back just from being . . . not wanted!
"It was a kick up the arse, this was where I was at. I wasn’t a golden player at a team like Ipswich any more. I had to go and prove myself.”
Hurst has previously denied having had any say in McGoldrick’s Town departure: "McGoldrick was never on any list that I had. He wasn’t even on a budget sheet, which made me laugh considering he’d been the highest paid player at the football club. It was as though you wouldn’t know that, so that one always brought a smile to my face.”
McGoldrick, who has won six Ireland caps, is back in the squad for the first time since May 2017 but has no complaints about his absence for the last two years.
"It was pretty straightforward, my form at Ipswich over the last two years, I had a lot of injuries and wasn’t the player I was when I first came into the squad,” he admitted.
The former Nottingham Forest and Southampton man outlined some of the freakish injuries which hampered him during his five and a half years at Portman Road.
"I did a back-heel in training, tore my hamstring and was out for four months,” he recalled. "I jumped up in the air to control the ball and tore my groin and was out for three months.
"I landed on my knee, studs went and popped my knee when I landed on it. I was out for six weeks. You can’t do anything about that.”
He added: "I was playing with injuries when I shouldn’t because I couldn’t get fit. Arising from a loss of form, your confidence goes. I was the main man at Ipswich and they were always banking on me being out there.”
Having left the Blues, McGoldrick found himself in limbo in the summer and spent time training with Forest’s U23s - their coach Chris Cohen is an old friend - before receiving the call from the Blades.
"Every day you are waiting for the agent to tell you something,” he said. "As soon as he told me about Sheffield United, I was straight up the M1.
"I’ve got kids and a family, I’ve got bills to pay. I wanted to secure a contract for them. I’ve done that, but I want to keep going.”
He added: "I don’t think you realise it until you’re in that sort of situation. I maybe got a bit too comfortable at Ipswich, although I loved my time there.
"We were mid-table and there were no big expectations to win every game, like there is at Sheffield United at the moment.
"I didn’t want to stop playing football. I wanted to be back doing it every day and scoring goals.”