MICK MCCARTHY HAS tapped into his vast footballing contacts in Ireland to secure a promising young winger from Waterford United.
18-year-old Jack Doherty impressed the former Ireland manager on his trial with the Championship club. He has been signed to a two-year deal.
“It’s a bit of a dream really,” Doherty told the club’s website. “I’ve been playing in front of 400 or 500 at home and to get the chance to join a club like Ipswich, with 20,000 at games. It’s amazing.”
“I can’t wait to get going now,” he added. “I spent a week with the squad in Ireland and although I was nervous at the start, I felt part of the team by the end of the week.
Daryl [Murphy] has helped me settle in and showed me around the club and I’m looking forward to training and trying to impress the manager and wearing the Ipswich Town shirt.”
It is Doherty’s second spell with the Tractor Boys, having been at the club’s academy three years ago without winning a footballing scholarship. He admitted, “It was an up and down time for me then and I was so close to signing but I went away, got my head down and worked hard and I’ve come back here a better player.”
As Doherty gets settled at Portman Road, Ipswich have allowed veteran striker Michael Chopra to leave the club. The forward will join up with Blackpool for a new season in the Championship.
