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McGoldrick: I Was Open to Staying at Town But Hurst Said No
Tuesday, 19th Mar 2019 10:09

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.”


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tags added 10:12 - Mar 19
Nice one mr hurst!!!
6

Blue_Moses added 10:12 - Mar 19
Another thing to add to the CV, Mr Hurst
6

howdonblue added 10:13 - Mar 19
Good luck didzy
Wish you had stayed last season
9

oioihardy added 10:23 - Mar 19
If I'm honest I don't blame hurst for this. I don't really blame anyone for this. We all thought his last two years would be the end for him at town. He just couldn't get fit. And for a club to have a player like him on I reckon near 20k a week. It would make sense to spend that wage on one bright talent or two. Unfortunately that investment didn't work out in the squad. But I don't blame hurst or the club for this one.
28

Mingochutney added 10:24 - Mar 19
Hind sight is a wonderful thing but this time last year I'm sure there was a hell of a lot of fans who were glad to see the back of this injury plagued high earner who looked a shadow the player he once was. I don't blame Hurst for this one
17

Ryorry added 10:25 - Mar 19
Very honest of Didz, and well done to him for his self-awareness, getting himself motivated and fit again. All the best to him.

As for Hurst - so he's now been proved a liar on top of everything else. Words fail me (and that's a bit of a furst ;) )
4

Saxonblue74 added 10:28 - Mar 19
And there you have it, anyone out there still want to defend him and what might have been? Training on his own.....why??!! Poses a question for me regarding Bart's situation. Perhaps he was isolated by Hurst but nodody came in for him? It'll all come out one day Hurst!
2

Churchman added 10:30 - Mar 19
Just about the best player to play for this club in the past 10 - 15 years for me. I enjoyed watching him play. Shame about all the injuries. I wish we'd kept him, given his injury record is better this season. Hindsight is a wonderful thing though and regardless of Hurst's ineptitude it felt like the right decision at the time to free up wages for a younger, fitter player or two.
11

Suffolkboy added 10:34 - Mar 19
I haven't read this yet apart from the comments: but it'll fit with a theory I held that Hurst and Doig couldn't ,or didn't want to cope with greater football intellects and experience and thus sought ways of demotivating and moving people on !
The pair were totally out of their depth and very short on vision!
COYB
5

warkyisgod added 10:34 - Mar 19
To be fair i'm sure he would have gone anyway the club couldn't afford to keep paying someone who was only playing a quarter of the season, personally think he had run his time with us did great to begin with but injuries and possibly being to comfortable in the squad he wasn't the player we signed but fair do's to him he's fought back and got himself a new club, think this shows what Ipswich over the years has become and what he has said "no big expectations to win every game" that comes from management so players become comfortable in just getting by, we now have a manager that wants to win every game just like us fans if don't but we've had a good go no one can be upset but to go into games with no expectations of winning is shocking
10

DoseOfReality added 10:41 - Mar 19
"We were mid-table and there were no big expectations to win every game, like there is at Sheffield United at the moment." ...

Says it all !! .. Overpaid and underachieved. Further evidence of how badly the club has been run in recent years.

Senior players coasting, management coasting and fans getting frustrated.

Good player in his day but he's right really lost his way at Town and was able to freeload.
28

cornishnick added 10:44 - Mar 19
Hindsight's a wonderful thing. Had he stayed, his goals might have made all the difference but who'd a thought he would stay fit all season?
11

clint_eastwood added 10:46 - Mar 19
...don't care what you lot think..........I DO NOT LIKE PAUL HURST.
2

Nazemariner added 10:49 - Mar 19
Anyone who knows anything about football was a fan of Didsy, and would of loved to see him in a town shirt this season, but lets be real here. McGoldricks was in and out through injuries, and his 15k a week or thereabouts was a lot of money to put towards new player wages. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but i imagine most would of let him go at that time.
7

Razor added 10:52 - Mar 19
Notice that he said this whilst in the company of Mcarthy if I am not mistaken-----coincidence or what?

Leave our club alone,you were a highly paid (possibly highest) player and in all honesty I understand Hursts position with your then track record and what he was trying to do at the time.

As a fan I am happier than I have ever been for ages after our recent past performances and I do NOT want skeletons from the past trying to rock the boat.
10

tractorboybig added 10:56 - Mar 19
most overrated player EVER to play for Ipswich
-15

BaddowBlue1 added 11:00 - Mar 19
I think that Marcus had already made up his mind to let McG go as he needed the money to fund the Bart deal. On his day McG was a great player for us and served us well but spent too long on the injury table. Now whether that was because his family being based in the midlands, which cannot be easy for anyone, so the slightest knock and the chance to get more time at home and train up there, Who knows but being closer to home and speaking to a Sheff U fan recently he has hardly been injured but is used sparingly by the manager. Good luck to McG, we move on.
8

TrueBlueLikeKevinBru added 11:03 - Mar 19
Never felt it would be a risk giving him a year contract with an option! insures the club & with Mcgoldrick quality he produces more times than not. Futhermore, with Waghorn leaving their was certainly the money to keep him. Missed a trick and I believe he`d be a player now Lambert would love at his disposal.
3

Bluearmy_81 added 11:11 - Mar 19
"I think that Marcus had already made up his mind to let McG go as he needed the money to fund the Bart deal.."

Except he didn't 'need the money's did he?! You talk as though Evans is not one of the richest owners in the Championship. Evans has chosen to starve town of funds and our current plight is the end result. Please don't let it go on in league one without a whimper of protest or we will never get out.
1

TrumptonBlue added 11:19 - Mar 19
"We were mid-table and there were no big expectations to win every game..." really doesn't say much for the mindset at the club at the time.
12

management added 11:21 - Mar 19
Suggest a bit of reading between the lines here, Mcgoldrick informed by Hurst, services no longer required, Hurst previously had stated that Mcgoldrick was not on the balance sheet ie wages, therefore does not take a genius as to speculate where the final decision came from, Hurst was the fall guy to pass this information on. If Mcgoldrick was wanted by the powers that be at the club they had a considerable period of time to renew Mcgoldrick's contract prior to Hurst's arrival.

Hurst was not a success but this was not one decision he should be fallible for, granted plenty of others spring to mind.
10

OwainG1992 added 11:28 - Mar 19
It was the right time for a fresh start for Didz. That being said had it been Lambert coming in the past summer who knows what would have happened. Best we all love on and look to next season.
3

britbiker added 11:33 - Mar 19
Lets not kid ourselves. Even if we had given him another year, he would not have been motivated to get fit. He said it himself. Having no club made him really work on his fitness. Being paid by Ipswich should be a minimum requirement for any pro to be as fit as possible (obvious injuries asside). Releasing him saved us money and probably saved his career. Wish he could have been as passionate whilst with us as he is a brilliant player when fit and on form.
11

Tractastic added 11:37 - Mar 19
The Evans and Hurst partnership has clearly been one of the most disastrous in our history and this is just an example of ineptitude from top to bottom over the summer.
I like Didzy, a very talented creative footballer who makes things happen and i hope he gets a chance to play Premier League football with Sheffield Utd.
Meanwhile if we can keep some of our talented youngsters and Judge , with Lambert at the helm i will remain positive about next season wherever we are !
2

SouperJim added 11:37 - Mar 19
If you actually read the article, had we given him another contract we would have got "comfort zone" McGoldrick who wasn't really fit and didn't feel we had much to play for. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I'm not sure Dids would have saved us. He'd had his time with us, move on.
13


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