Tomorrow’s visit of Barnsley to Portman Road could signal the first return of former Town striker James Norwood since he was released by the club at the end of last season.

Norwood has yet to score for the Tykes in six appearances in all competitions — three starts, three as a substitute — since being snapped up on a free transfer but if he features tomorrow, he is certain to be keen to break his duck.

Aiming to keep him quiet, though, will be ex-colleague Luke Woolfenden, who was asked if he had a message for supporters and how booing him might not have the desired effect and could, in fact, make him more determined to do some damage.

Woolfenden said: “I don’t really have a message. If you want to boo, then boo, if you don’t, then don’t. Nors is a top striker; he likes to put his body about and to have a bit of contact with opponents. Sometimes it works in his favour, sometimes it doesn’t. It’s just one of those things.

“It will good to see him on Saturday but once the game starts it will be business as usual and he will be just another opponent.

“He’s a top guy, one of the very best I’ve met in football. The word legend gets thrown around too much but Nors is one of the best. But he’ll know what to expect from us as much as we know what to expect from him. I’m sure it will be alright.”

Luke Thomas, a former Town loanee, could also feature for the Tykes and Woolfenden was asked what he made of the player who only made four starts and one appearance from the bench when he was on loan at Portman Road during the second half of the 2020/21 campaign.

“It’s difficult because he obviously had off-the-field issues and I’ve been there myself when your confidence isn’t up and you’re struggling with things off the field,” said Woolfenden.

“He came here with a reputation as a good young player and I think he’s proving it now with his performances for Barnsley. We didn’t see the best of him when he was here but I’m glad to see he has put it all behind him now.”

While Town lead the League One table and are still unbeaten five games into the league programme, Woolfenden insisted there was no danger of anyone on the inside being carried away with the team’s impressive start.

He added: “I think it’s easy to keep yourself grounded after what has happened in the past. After the takeover and the players who have come in, it could be easy to take your eye off the ball, but within the squad and within the training ground walls the players are only focused on one thing and that’s the next game. No one is getting carried away and we all know there is still a lot of work to be done.”

Recent transfer activity at Town has seen three players — Corrie Ndaba, Rekeem Harper and Matt Penney — depart on loan to Burton, Exeter and Motherwell respectively. Does Woolfenden, who impressed on loan at Swindon during the 2018/19 season, still regard a temporary spell elsewhere as a useful stepping stone in a player’s career?

He said: “In terms of your age and your experience it’s always good to go out on loan and play regular football. You could stay here, wait for an injury or two and get a chance, but it’s surely better to go on loan and potentially play 30, 35 or even more league games.

“Whether it’s League One or League Two, the experience will help you. You’ll have a better idea, a better know-how, of how to compete against senior players who are fighting every week to win games come three o’clock on a Saturday.”

Woolfenden stands out in the current Town side as the only academy product to be featuring regularly but he added: “To be fair, I don’t think it’s just players who have come through the academy that take a tremendous pride in playing for Ipswich Town.

“When you see the work that Fridge [George Edmundson], Chappers [Conor Chaplin] and all the boys really, do in the community, you know they are all proud to play for this club.

“They all realise how big a part of the town the football club is and how much it means to the people who live here and throughout Suffolk. This club is so big that if it does well it really could explode in terms of what it could achieve.

“We’ve touched on it a few times in the various interviews I’ve done over the past couple of years or so but it would obviously mean a great deal to win promotion with Ipswich and the sooner, the better.”

While Cameron Burgess is very much in the thick of the battle for places in the Town back line, veteran defender Richard Keogh recently arrived from Blackpool to add to the competition for places, with Woolfenden pointing out: “You can look upon it as a battle for individual places or you can see it as a big squad with plenty of scope for everyone to play a part.

“Of course, we’re all disappointed if we drop out of the team but we all share a common goal and that’s promotion. Everyone knows their jobs, we’re all in the meetings together and, yes, it is a battle — but it’s a healthy situation for the club to be in.

“I think Richard is enjoying his role here. He’s not actually played yet but he’s enjoying passing on his experience. He’s been around, played an awful lot of games and he knows every trick in the book. We can all learn from him.”

Asked to compare the captaincy qualities of current skipper Sam Morsy with previous incumbent Luke Chambers, the defender replied: “It’s a tough question. They’re both great leaders in their own ways.

“I think Chambo probably took on a lot of stuff at a time when the club wasn’t in a very good place and I think it was more than he should have been expected to do. But that’s the type of guy he is — he would do anything to help anyone.

“To be fair, Sam’s the same — anything you need he does for you — but in terms of the structure he has behind him now, it’s probably helping him.

“I don’t think Chambo had that. You can look and compare how they have been in League One but you have to remember that Chambo played an awful lot of his games for Ipswich in the Championship and was Player of the Year.

“A lot of the time he was wheeled out there when he was injured, painkilling tablets, you name it and he’s done it. They’ve got similar attributes and I couldn’t separate them in terms of their value to the club and to the team.”

Photo: Matchday Images

terry_butchers_twin added 21:46 - Aug 26 Very well put by Woolfie, hard to make a judgement between Chambers and Morsy as it was effectively two different clubs. No doubt the Chambers haters will come down on this though rather than looking at things in an analytical manner…..
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have_a_word_with_him added 22:06 - Aug 26 Very eloquent from Woolfy, well said.
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Suffolkboy added 22:46 - Aug 26 L C WAS an excellent character , honest as the day , fit and fitter than most and gave the most sterling service to ITFC and many individuals within . LW has informed the debate with a clear and concise assessment based on personal and intimate knowledge . COYB
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andehpandeh added 23:08 - Aug 26 Woolfy's comments make me feel really positive about the position the club is in right now. KMcK has drilled a real sense of belonging into the players even if they're not playing every week, a responsibility that they all take on when they pull on the shirt, as well as a drive to succeed amongst the group that really strikes a chord. Smash em tomorrow boys. COYB
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Saxonblue74 added 00:04 - Aug 27 Can anyone explain why we might want to "boo" Norwood? Not exactly a Town legend, but always put in a shift for us. Good luck to him......just not tomorrow!
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pg888 added 02:21 - Aug 27 Don't think there is any reason for anyone to boo Norwood. Wrongly phased out of the squad by Cook when in reality he might have actually saved his job had he not been made an outcast. Anyone who is brought in from the cold like that and still gives his all is fine by me!
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itfcserbia added 08:55 - Aug 27 pg888 I don't think anyone could have saved Cook the job but agree no reason to boo Norwood whatsoever. Great and insightful comments re Chambers from Woolfy.
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ringwoodblue added 08:59 - Aug 27 If I can put it like this about Norwood, I liked the on-the-field player but not the off-the-field person. Hope the fans don't boo him today as he doesn't really deserve that and it will give him extra motivation to score.
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blues1 added 11:03 - Aug 27 Ringwoodblue. So, apart from the drink driving issue( which he's hardly the 1st town player who's done it), what else has he done so bad? Smashed the window of his own car to get into it? So what, his own choice surely? Instead of ignoring fans skagging him off on social media, he's stood up to them and wound them up? Good for him. Why should he take crap off people who ow nothing about him,

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ringwoodblue added 13:37 - Aug 27 Blues1 - Obviously I don't know James as a person so I might change my mind if I met him. I guess my point is that I don't think he fits into the values and standards that our club is building for its staff (players and non-players alike). As for the drink driving thing, it hardly makes it acceptable just because a few other Town players have done it before.
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hyperbrit added 14:46 - Aug 27 I have been harsh on Chambers up until now but will continue to be grateful that he is no longer involved with Town. His "voodoo" was a comment from someone else on this site that resonated with me. When you find yourself working for an organization who cares nothing about you and only about themselves a decision has to be made to either leave or try to salvage what you can of your career. Chambers chose the latter and the malaise continued to worsen under an owner who cared nothing for the club except for it's ability to be used as a tax right off. A succession of managers both on and off the field tried to do the same and failed, settling for controlled mediocrity while the ship continued to sink in slow motion. Evans finally realized that he'd been found out and looked for an exit to salvage his business and maintain at least the illusion of honour. The present owners were well aware of the disease that had spread like a cancer throughout "the great game"as it became polluted by tickets touts,chicken farmers,pizza chains etc etc. The wonderful brewing family that was such a part of Town's history was swallowed up themselves by the corporate behemoths that now control all alcohol consumption in the UK. Will the new owners succeed? I think they will.

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