New loan keeper David Stockdale says yesterday’s Portman Road open day convinced him that he made the right decision in joining the Blues for the season from Fulham. More than 2,000 fans turned up to watch Stockdale and his new team-mates put through their paces on the main pitch.
Stockdale, who was also linked with a loan to hometown club Leeds, while Swansea had a £2 million bid rebuffed by the Cottagers, was clearly impressed with yesterday’s turn-out: "There were other options but I felt that Ipswich was the best and it also comes down to Fulham and the other club agreeing terms.
"I’m totally happy here, I made the right decision, I know that now, and the fans today have just cemented that decision.”
He says he needed to move on loan to gain experience with Fulham boss Martin Jol not convinced that the 25-year-old is ready to take over from first choice Mark Schwarzer. Stockdale says keepers often find themselves in this position while their outfield peers have already established themselves: "Goalkeeper years are like dog years! Mark Schwarzer’s nearly 40 now and most outfield players go on to 35, so in goalkeeper years I’m about 20 or 21. I don’t feel it, though!
"But I don’t really think about that, I try and think about how I can do my best every week, rather than every year.”
Australian international Schwarzer, who started his career in England in the mid-nineties at Bradford where Blues boss Paul Jewell was on the coaching staff, is clearly a big influence on his deputy: "I spoke to him about the whole moving lark; where to go on loan, making the right decisions, feeling right at home where you go.
"Things like that you have a little chat and obviously he had a great word to put in for the coaching staff.”
Stockdale says he also consulted a former Cottagers team-mate, a certain Jimmy Bullard, who he says is a good friend: "We have Fulham connections and you know what he’s like, I could hardly get a word in edgeways! But he spoke highly of the club and he enjoyed his time here.”
The loan to Town coincided with the announcement that the former York and Darlington man had signed a contract until 2015 at Craven Cottage after what the 6ft 3in tall keeper says has been an enjoyable spell up to now: "I’ve had a great three years at Fulham and last year was a big year.
"Even though I only played 13 games, I showed what I could do. With the England thing, I think Fulham wanted to give me what they thought I deserved and I was only too glad to sign it.”
After two calls into England squads last season, although without winning a cap, Stockdale says he’d love more involvement with Fabio Capello’s side, but is currently concentrating on more immediate matters: "If that happens, so be it. But you can’t think ‘I’m going to try and get in the England squad’. You’ve got to play well in the Wolves game.
"But if it comes about, I’m a proud Englishman and I’d love to go off and put Ipswich Town’s name in the England squad.”
He says he enjoyed his first experience of playing for Town at Colchester on Tuesday, even if the match was curtailed by Andy Bond’s injury: "I’d like to pass on our best as a team to the player that got injured in circumstances which weren’t very nice. We’re all rooting for him and were glad to see him get up all right.
"It was nice to get a clean sheet, even if it was by default. The lads are coming together nicely. We’ll try and do a bit more work next week and hopefully put on a show for the Wolves game.”
He says the clause in his deal which could see him return to London if Schwarzer suffers an injury isn’t particularly in his thoughts and plans to move to Suffolk for his year with Town: "I’ll always watch Fulham but my interests are with Ipswich at the moment, until the day that the 24-hour call-back comes through and the gaffer says I’ve got to go back.
"I’m going to move my family here, we’re a young family, we’ve just got married, so we’re going to come here and start and new chapter and go back next year.
"Fortunately as a young family we’ve got a bit more flexibility and we’re going to start a new part of our lives in Ipswich, and what a nice place to do it.”