DAVID McGoldrick is more than happy to lead Barnsley’s shallow group of strikers through the final 16 games of the season in just over two months.
The 38-year-old has started the Reds’ last six games and looks likely to continue playing regularly as, since the sale of top-scorer Davis Keillor-Dunn earlier this month, he and 33-year-old new signing Tom Bradshaw are the only senior strikers. He told the Chronicle: “You ask me if I want one striker or five, I just want me. Conor (Hourihane, head coach) might want five and rotate it.
“We have Faz (20-year-old Leo Farrell) who is a young boy I really like.
“He might be involved. But me and Bradders have to share the load. He’s a top professional who looks after himself very, very well. He got his first goal the other week and I am sure he will chip in with a fair amount as well.”
Keillor-Dunn was sold to Wrexham on deadline day. McGoldrick said: “It’s a big loss to the club but, as a person, he deserved it. He’s done his hard yards and needed the step up to the Championship. Wrexham are in the top six of the Championship so DKD could be a Premier League player next year.
“He’s great lad, he never caused one bit of bother even when the transfer speculation was going off. He kept his head down and sometimes you have to let people move on. We brought Bradders in who I played against a lot of times in the Championship. He’s a great lad around the place. He can do more running for me which helps as well.”
McGoldrick scored a fine strike from the edge of the box in the 2-1 loss at Huddersfield on Saturday, having received a pass from captain Luca Connell. He said: “I know Luca’s game and knew he would reverse it into me.
“He went to make a run past me and I heard a Scouse voice say ‘back heel, back heel, lad’. I knew the defender thought that’s what I would do so I gave a little shimmy and that’s the area I like to shoot from. A lot of people have messaged me that it was like a goal I scored for Notts County against Bradford last year. As soon as I hit it I knew it was in. It was a nice goal but we didn’t win and it didn’t mean anything.”
Barnsley then conceded two goals and have one of the worst defensive records in England. McGoldrick said: “We do everything – meetings with the back four, back six, individual meetings, defensive work in training, set pieces every time. I can’t put my finger on it.
“This is why I don’t want to be a coach or a manager. I am already bald, I don’t know what would happen if I was the manager. I think I would lose my moustache and goatee. I am not a robot and don’t want to give robot answers. I don’t know why we are conceding these goals.
“It’s not through a lack of hard work, planning and prep.”
McGoldrick scored twice in August then did not net for 16 league games until January when he started a run of seven goals in nine. That means he has 12 for the season in all competitions.
The striker – who has made 666 career club appearances and scored 192 goals – is out of contract in the summer.
“We have 16 games left. I am going to put myself in the best position I can.
“Before the New Year, there was a spell for four or five weeks when I wasn’t myself. I hadn’t checked out but I was just going through the motions.
“I was going through Twitter, I have a little fake burner account, and I saw a Barnsley fan saying my legs had gone.
“People might take that in a negative way but I took that as ‘my legs haven’t gone but maybe it looks like that.’
“I changed my mindset straight away and that built into the game against Blackpool when Davo was sick. I just smiled to myself and said: ‘here I come.’
“Now I feel every time I go on the pitch I am going to score.
“I don’t know what the future will hold at Barnsley or for myself. I am not a spring chicken any more, I know that time comes to everyone.
“But I know I will retire from football, it won’t retire me.”
