New Town signing Kevin Foley spotted several well-known faces when he arrived at the training ground, none more familiar than those of manager Mick McCarthy and his assistant Terry Connor.
It was then Wolves boss McCarthy who signed Foley from first club Luton in 2007 and it turned out to be a dream move as the Molineux men clinched the Championship crown two years later, with the full-back also collecting the fans’ Player of the Year accolade.
Foley, who left Wolves 13 months ago and was most recently with FC Copenhagen, said: "I had my best spell as a player under Mick McCarthy so it made sense for me to come here, although I obviously had to impress him first of all.
"One of Mick’s qualities is that he always gets the best out of his players and that can only be of benefit to me.
"Jonas [Knudsen] was asking me how highly I rated Mick and I told him he was the best. We won the Championship at Wolves, got promoted to the Premier League and stayed there.
"A big part of his success is down to his man management — knowing how to treat players and if you’re not doing the business for him you’ll soon know about it and you’ll be shipped out. It seems like he’s got a good bunch of lads here and it’s down to him and TC.”
McCarthy was sacked by Wolves in February 2011 and within three months they surrendered their top-flight status.
Asked if the club would have survived had they kept faith with the manager Foley said: "I think so, yes. We weren’t even in the relegation zone at the time but the chairman pressed the panic button, sacked the gaffer and put TC in charge.
"He was supposed to bring somebody else in and it was just a palaver, the whole thing. It’s all ifs and buts but that’s all in the past now.”
The move to Ipswich on a short-term deal through to the end of the season has also seen Foley reunited with former playing colleagues Daryl Murphy and Christophe Berra.
He added: "I know Daryl and we’ve been chatting about our time at Luton together.
"It’s a long time ago but it seems like only two years ago that we were there playing head tennis under the Kenilworth Road stand. Time flies in football and you’ve got to make the most of it.
"I realise now that I’m trying to make as much as I can of this part of my football career.
"When you’ve had an injury and you’re approaching your 30s you realise that you have to do everything you can to make the most of the time you have left.
"That’s my attitude at the moment. I come in every day and do my work before and after training.
"I know I’m lucky to be here but I also want to show people why I’m here. Sometimes I think age is just a number and it’s about how much you really want it.
"I’m staying with Christophe at his place. It’s interesting. He’s looked after me and we’re negotiating a rent deal. I know him from our time together at Wolves and straight away he said ‘Come and stay with me’ so it has worked out well.
"I have a wife and two children back home in Birmingham but they will stay there.
"I’ll look after Christophe and he’ll look after me — happy days! I’ve taken over the cooking because his cooking leaves a lot to be desired.
"But to be fair to him, he gave me some haggis last week, which was nice. It was the first time I had tried it and he’s not really too bad. I’ve heard about the Scots and their deep-fried Mars bars but we haven’t had that yet!”