“We sat down, and obviously still preparing to leave, Pickford’s were waiting at the door basically. My wife was a Scouser, we had a house in Ainsdale, we had a buyer for the house in Ipswich, everything was rosy in the garden of Eden and we were ready to go.

“But in the meantime in the managerial appointment process, big hitters are falling by the wayside. They were interviewing him, they were speaking to him, they were speaking to him and I think I had a conversation with [local journalist and former club PRO] Mel Henderson, I had a conversation with [Radio Suffolk’s] Brenner Woolley and I had a conversation with someone else.

“So I kept working on things, kept thinking about things - what would you do here? What’s going to change people’s mindsets around the club? How are we going pick the club up? What are we going to do?

“All these things I’m putting a little bowl and I’m juggling them around, I’m trying to fit pieces here, it’s a little jigsaw.

“All these things were happening and I was spending 24-seven on it, becoming obsessed with it as I am when things like this come up, but while still working on the move up north.

“One interview, two interviews. I’d lined-up staff and Bryan Klug was in the background there too but I’d been speaking to a lot of people, interviewing people over the phone, meeting people off campus, meeting them, speaking to them, touching base with them, trying to get little ideas from them - could we work together? Could we not?

“A lot of things were happening and I was juggling plates and in the end I get down to the final interviews. And it was kind of, ‘Here we go’.

“So it’s game face, game time and Jonny Bickers, the analyst at the club at the time, he was brilliant, he put together a montage of playing, of players, of thoughts and then I delivered Powerpoint, a presentation.

“Jonny was with me, and afterwards we went to Liverpool Street and we got absolutely pissed. He was more upset and nervous than I was, so I had to buy him a whole load of drinks to calm him down.

“And then I went away on holiday, and when were coming back from holiday we were moving.

“The chairman rang me, we were in Benalmádena, which was our holiday of choice and I was actually on the beach with my youngest, Ryan, playing football believe it or not, and we were just messing about with the ball and there was the phone call, the chairman rings me and says ‘You enjoying your holiday?’. And I said ‘I am’.

“I said, ‘Right, put me out of my misery, what’s the craic?’. And he said to me, ‘Well, are you standing or sitting?’. I said ‘I’m standing’ and he said ‘You might be sitting after this, you are the next Ipswich Town manager!’.

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