Sheffield United are back on the television this evening and we should all be watching.
As the Premier League tiptoes to its conclusion behind closed doors, it feels like every opportunity should be taken to marvel at the impressive Blades.
In any other season, Chris Wilder would be manager of the year. The way he’s revitalised his hometown club with smart, tactical innovations such as overlapping centre-halves has been wonderful to behold. And in Ireland, there are plenty of reasons for the Blades to be everyone’s second favourite side.
There’s a green hue to the revolution at Bramall Lane. John Egan’s recent transformation into a goal-scoring machine has been welcome, but it’s his solidity at the heart of their defence that strengthens his case for being the outstanding Irish player in English football this season.
It is telling that since he returned from suspension, United have won three games and drawn the other.
Enda Stevens has been a model of consistency at wing-back, his mistake against Newcastle notwithstanding, David McGoldrick, though, is arguably the most popular of Wilder’s Irish trio, something acknowledged by the manager after the striker broke his Premier League duck against Chelsea.
The attitude he brings, his work ethic, to be fans’ favourite at this football club, you’ve got to tick a lot of boxes,’ Wilder said.
‘The way that he’s come through this period without scoring and still been right up there in people’s thoughts, how they respect him and what we all think about him, shows what he’s all about.’
McGoldrick had found the net in the FA Cup before last weekend, but hadn’t scored in the Premier League, VAR chalking off his effort against Spurs earlier in the season for a razor-thin infringement. And his joyous interview after being named man of the match last Saturday showed how much it meant.
This means the world. I made my debut when I was 16 and still in school. Everyone’s dream is to play in the Premier League. Two years ago, I got released from Ipswich Town, didn’t know where I was going to be. I got a trial at Sheffield United, then promotion and Player of the Year and now here I am, living my dream,’ said a beaming McGoldrick.
The joyfulness of that post-match interview should have been the defining image of last weekend. By Monday morning, though, the narrative had changed when it emerged that the striker was subjected to racist abuse from a vile element on social media. But the opinion of an anonymous lowlife should have no part in this story.
As McGoldrick admitted on Sky, he has wondering if he had a future in football after being released by Ipswich. He had also been cast into the international wilderness and wasn’t selected by Martin O’Neill for any Ireland squad in 2018, following a row before a World Cup qualifier in Moldova.
Eventually, Sheffield United offered him a trial. And once he proved his fitness, Wilder found a pivotal role for his intelligence and awareness in his impressive side. That chapter is in keeping with the story of McGoldrick’s career. He has taken a long and winding road to the top of the sport.
Having grown up in a deprived area of Nottingham, he has credited his adoptive mother for keeping him on the straight and narrow when contemporaries went down the wrong path. Making his debut for Notts County as a 16-year-old, his potential was soon spotted by Southampton’s renowned scouting system.
McGoldrick had Leon Best and Dexter Blackstock as team-mates in Southampton Youths but his five years at St Mary’s were characterised by loan spells, including a return to Notts County while also spending time at Port Vale and Bournemouth.
Nottingham Forest brought McGoldrick home, paying £1million for him in 2009.
Again, his four years at the City Ground saw him a loan ranger, with the last spell resulting in a permanent move to Portman Road. He thrived under Mick McCarthy, who encouraged him to trace the Irish roots of his biological father’s family, something that became more urgent when Gordon Strachan tried to get McGoldrick to play for Scotland.
He made his Ireland debut in a November 2014 friendly against the USA, setting up two goals, but despite now being one of the most popular figures among Irish fans, his international career was also a slow-burner. He missed out on Martin O’Neill’s squad for Euro 2016 and spent the final year of O’Neill’s tenure in the wilderness after exchanging words with the Derry man when he didn’t make the bench for a World Cup qualifier against Moldova.
However, McCarthy’s second coming was a boost. Both McCarthy and his assistant Terry Connor knew what the striker could bring to the team, with his touch and range of passing. They knew that McGoldrick offered an option up front that no other striker did.
His emergence as an international-class centre-forward was a rare success story of McCarthy’s truncated reign. He was Ireland’s outstanding player last year, his contribution capped off with that vital goal against Switzerland.
If it took McCarthy’s faith, and his rebirth at Bramall Lane, to rekindle his Ireland career, there are signs that he will remain a key player under Stephen Kenny as he plans for the autumn play-off against Slovakia, The new manager was effusive in his praise of McGoldrick last week.
David’s international career has come late, but he’s really in the peak of his career now,’ Kenny told FAI TV. ‘He’s the focal point in a team competing for a Champions League place. People say he’s not a prolific scorer, but he got 15 goals when Sheffield United were promoted and he’s a creator of goals.’
And Kenny believes that McGoldrick’s ability will help develop younger, raw talent such as Aaron Connolly, Adam Idah, Michael Obefemi and Troy Parrott.
‘We’ve got a lot of good young strikers coming through, and he’ll complement them, with his attributes; his technical ability, his tactical awareness, and vision. He can have a big impact on their careers. So, David is very important to us.’
And he remains very important to Sheffield United as they look to complete the fairytale and bring European football to Bramall Lane for the first time.
