Town manager Paul Jewell says former skipper David Norris only left the Blues because of the “fantastic” contract offer he received from tonight’s opponents Portsmouth. Pompey offered the midfielder a three-year deal on improved terms, the former Plymouth man having turned down the Blues’ contract extension of two years.
Jewell said: "Chuck wanted to stay but he got such a fantastic offer from Portsmouth. I remember he came to my office and told me he didn’t really want to leave Ipswich
"He got offered a three-year contract that we didn’t match, or wouldn’t match or couldn’t match, and he said he couldn’t really turn it down. I fully agreed with him.
"I don’t think any supporter could ever accuse David Norris of not giving his best. He put in 100% in every game and every training session — a complete model professional, one of the best pros I’ve worked with, a terrific lad.
"But this is a job and he got an unbelievable offer from Portsmouth that he felt — and I think we would all agree — that he had to take.
"That’s life and right to the last game he played for us he always gave everything. He's a terrific player, a terrific pro. Our crowd clap everybody, so they’ll definitely welcome Chuck back, I’m sure."
It wasn’t just the length of the contract which led to Norris’s exit but the salary on offer at Fratton Park: "I think it was both really, the whole package,” Jewell said. "I don’t know the exact figures but I remember he sat in my office and telling me he’d had an offer from Portsmouth.
"I think he was settled in the area here but he’s 30 and the contract takes him to 33 and will probably secure him, and more importantly, his family.
"I had no issue with that because at the end of the day, it was our fault that for whatever reason we let go so long. It might well happen again this season, I don’t know. "
Since Norris’s exit the quartet of Jimmy Bullard, Keith Andrews, Lee Bowyer and Grant Leadbitter have established themselves as the Blues’ engine room but Jewell wouldn’t be drawn on whether his former captain would get into the current Town side: "I don’t know. I only want to talk about our players really. I’ve said what I want to about Chuck.
"Our midfield is doing well at the moment but it’s not for me to talk about other team’s players, that’s not what I’m going to do.”
While Norris is facing Town for the first time as a Portsmouth player, Ibrahima Sonko is up against Pompey, the side with whom he was on loan from Stoke last season but who decided against signing the Senegalese international in the summer.
Jewell says managers don’t always agree on players: "If every manager fancied the same players, no one would sell anyone or buy anyone. We all see players differently. We all see things our own way.
"Sonks is almost fell into our lap really. He was training at Portsmouth, then he was training at Reading. Then we had a centre-half problem and he came and he’s filled the gap very, very well. He’s been a good player for us.”