One to Watch – David McGoldrick

Name: David McGoldrick
Date of Birth: 29/11/1987
Previous clubs: Notts County, Southampton, Notts County (L), Bournemouth (L), Port Vale (L), Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday (L), Coventry City (L), Ipswich Town (L).
Apps (goals): 330 (84)

These appear to be difficult times for Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy, whose four-year tenure at Portman Road looks in serious jeopardy, with several the club`s fans believing the experienced boss should be relieved of his duties, as the Tractor Boys sit 17th in the league with just over a third of the season having played out.

Goals have been hard to come by for the side, as they joint bottom in the goalscoring charts alongside Wigan, but it doesn`t come as a huge surprise considering the fact that the club`s top scorer in the last two seasons, Daryl Murphy, left the club for Newcastle late in the summer, and was replaced by the uninspiring Leon Best.

McCarthy also had to do without the services of striker David McGoldrick for two months owing to an ankle injury, picked up at the beginning of August, with the Republic of Ireland international having netted on the opening day of the campaign, and arguably the man most likely to find the net for his side on a regular basis.

It`s been a frustrating few years for McGoldrick, who has missed considerable periods of the previous three seasons through injury since signing for the Suffolk club on a permanent basis from Championship rivals Nottingham Forest ahead of the 2013/2014 campaign, after impressing during a loan spell prior to the move.

The forward began his career with local side Notts County, making his debut as a 16-year-old in the then Division Two back in January 2004, and after featuring four times that season for the Magpies, he was snapped up by Premier League side Southampton, where he spent his first year at the club with the academy.

His debut for the first team would come in his second season at St. Mary`s, for the final 10 minutes of a League Cup first round defeat at Mansfield, before a short one-month loan spell back at the County Ground was later followed by his first league start for the Saints at the end of the 2005/2006 Championship campaign.

He would score 15 goals in all competitions for the South Coast club in five years, 14 of those coming in his final season, with his spell at Southampton also including loan moves to Bournemouth and Port Vale, before he returned to his hometown in June 2009, as Forest parted with £1million to bring him back to the Midlands.

His time at the City Ground wasn`t a particularly prolific one, as he scored nine goals in his first two seasons with the Reds, both of which ended in play-off semi-final defeats, and he would feature just 10 times for the club during the 2011/2012 season, alongside a four-game loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday in League One.

He returned to the third tier the following campaign, joining Coventry City for the first half of the season, and he enjoyed an extremely prolific few months with the Sky Blues, notching 17 goals in 25 appearances by Christmas, prompting Ipswich to snap him up on loan in January 2013 for the remainder of the season.

Four goals during his spell at Portman Road convinced McCarthy to sign him on a permanent deal that summer on a two-year contract, and he took no time endearing himself to the fans, as he topped the goal-scoring charts in his first year, netting 16 times in all competitions, despite missing the final three months through injury.

He would make his return from injury at the start of the following term, bagging the winner on the opening day of the 2014/2015 season, and his displays the previous year had attracted the attention of Premier League side Leicester City, who reportedly made an approach, only to be put off by the reported £8million price tag.

He soon after made his debut for the Republic of Ireland, as Martin O`Neill called him up to the squad for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Scotland and friendly match versus the USA in November 2014, and it was against the latter that he made his international bow, starting in the emphatic 4-1 friendly win at the Aviva Stadium.

Once again, he would miss the final few months of the season due to injury, but he would return to action for the play-off semi-final second-leg local derby against Norwich, which ended in a 3-1 loss at Carrow Road, and 4-2 on aggregate, the third time in as many years that McGoldrick had suffered defeat at the same stage.

Last season saw McGoldrick sidelined for four months, restricting him to 27 appearances in all competitions, and luck has been against him again this term, as he missed 14 league games due to an ankle problem, and if McCarthy is to ride out the storm that is brewing, he`ll need the striker to be fit and firing on all cylinders.