Notts County Veteran McGoldrick: ‘I want to play every minute’

Notts County forward David McGoldrick, who has scored six goals this season, expresses his deep appreciation for his long career in football, stating that he approaches each match with the same fresh outlook as a new player. The 36-year-old former Republic of Ireland international has appeared 13 times for the Magpies in League Two during the current season, though he has started only three of their last eight fixtures in the fourth tier. Notts manager Stuart Maynard indicated that the club has been carefully handling the physical demands placed on the experienced forward, who previously played for Derby, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United, Ipswich, and Southampton. “He said the word manage, but it’s hard. I want to play all the time,” McGoldrick told BBC Radio Nottingham. “I’m 36, but in my mind I’m still a young man.” The enduring enthusiasm for the sport shown by the Nottingham-born player, after two decades as a professional, has not gone unnoticed by Magpies head coach Maynard. “We have to hold Didzy [McGoldrick] back,” Maynard said. “The enthusiasm he has is still like when he probably made his professional league debut.”He wants to train every minute of every training session and he wants to play every minute of every game. “Yes we have to manage his minutes, and we have to mange him – when he starts feeling stuff we have to make sure that it doesn’t end up becoming a long-term injury.”” Consequently, McGoldrick, who began his professional career with his hometown club in 2004 before moving to Southampton, has seen limited playing time in recent weeks for this reason. Nevertheless, he has maintained his crucial role for Notts, notably scoring a late equalizer after entering as a substitute against Chesterfield, then starting against Barrow and netting another late leveling goal in October. Maynard believes McGoldrick’s mindset and strong desire to be involved in all aspects of the game positively influence Notts’ younger players. While the striker confirms he is always prepared to offer guidance to his teammates – ranging from top scorer Alassana Jatta to those progressing from the club’s academy – his primary focus remains on playing. “I do a bit of mentoring and keep talking to the young lads here and there and give them a telling off sometimes, but that is the dad in me because I have kids of my own who are the age of some of the kids here,” McGoldrick added.”I do like that side, but I’m solely about playing at the minute. You don’t know when your last game is, so you want to treasure being a player as much as you can.”