Ipswich legend Sir Bobby Robson was a leading influence on new signing Bradley Orr during their time together at Newcastle.
Orr, 30, was a youngster at St James’ Park when the ex-Town and England manager was in charge — but he has never forgotten the great man’s part in his development.
The on-loan Blackburn defender said: "I was just a kid but he brought me through from the youth team to the first team squad and included me in matchday squads and on the bench.
"I never got as far as making my first team debut but for two or three years he always had me in and around the set-up. He was someone you could only love.
"His enthusiasm and character just rubbed off on everyone. He had great ties with Ipswich and when I was a fan I always thought of Ipswich as being a big, big club.
"It is a club steeped in tradition and history, and Bobby always used to talk about Ipswich Town along with Charlie Woods. I’ve always known that the club has history, tradition and all the things that big clubs have.”
Orr has made 12 senior appearances for Blackburn this season, including their 1-1 draw at Portman Road on the opening day, but having lost his place under new boss Henning Berg he wasted no time in agreeing his temporary move to Town.
He added: "I found out about the interest last weekend then I knew on Monday that I would be coming down to sign. I packed a case Monday night and I was in the car Tuesday morning, first thing, so it all happened pretty quickly.
"I’ve had no second thoughts at all. I spoke to the gaffer, which was great, and he outlined a bit of his plans. To be honest, the only factor that concerned me was the living away from my children and my wife, but for me it’s a job and sacrifices need to be made in order to achieve what you want and that’s the case with me.”
Match fitness is not a problem because Orr has not been out of action for long enough to get rusty.
He said: "In my head I wanted to get out quickly. I didn’t feel that I deserved to be out of the team and I saw this as an opportunity to strike while the iron’s hot, as far as my match fitness is concerned.
"I didn’t want to sit around and stagnate for three or four weeks and then come in and maybe take three or four games to get up to the pace that’s needed.
"I wanted to do it sooner rather than later, plus I didn’t want to let anyone down at the club I was joining. I feel like I am match-ready if selected and that was a big factor in me wanting to get the deal done quickly.”