John McGreal says plenty of his former Town team-mates, as well as his first Town manager George Burley, have been in touch since he took the role as interim boss at Portman Road on Monday.

“Tommy Miller, Veno [Mark Venus], David Johnson, Scowy [James Scowcroft], all these guys have wished me luck, Jamie Clapham,” he said.

“We had a really strong core of lads and a really tight bond as well, so they’ve been brilliant.

“I think that will last forever from what we did in that era, getting promotion, getting into the Premier League, the UEFA Cup, that was a callback to the 1970s and 1980s when they were a different type of player and type of breed, a winning team then.

“We had a good team and we’ve still got those connections. I saw Matty Holland the other night as well [at Charlton], he touched base with me as well, so it’s a great group of lads.”

He says he still has a close relationship with Burley, the man who brought him to Portman Road from Tranmere for a fee of £750,000 in the summer of 1999.

“I still text the gaffer,” he said. “He gave me a good text the other day and even when I was at Colchester he was a bit of a mentor for me.

“We used to debrief the game every now and again, so he's been a great help over the years, and again he gave me a lovely text the other night.”

Photo: TWTD

billyrobinson3 added 16:15 - Dec 9 Billy Boy Gentleman George, one of our own top bloke
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 16:29 - Dec 9 Don't know if I'm too old to have heroes, but George Burley has always been one of mine. Statue pending!
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yorkieblue62 added 16:41 - Dec 9 Sorry to disagree but whilst there were some good years under Burley, I still hold him mainly responsible for our current predicament because of his abysmal dealing in the transfer market 2001 & then his mismanagement of the team at the back end of the 2001/02 season when we took 6 pts from the last 13 matches. We have never recovered & you can blame other personnel for that!

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Suffolkboy added 17:08 - Dec 9 Come on any miseries ; it's always best to reflect on the good things in life and GOOD people are to be treasured ! We did have a great bunch of players ,we did enjoy their endeavours ,we did relish their achievements ; and we were there when we first took on Man U at Portman Rd , proving so so strong in the very last quarter of an hour Adversity always caused our boys to rise to the occasion ( or nearly always ) and it's heartwarming to know those bonds remain strong ! COYB

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therein61 added 17:33 - Dec 9 As the bond between the guys who wore the shirt in 61/62( not many still around now R.I.P) & 78-81 were John, you and your team mates days were memorable as well i have been so lucky to see them all, my problem is now that if i see anything like it again i will be too bloody old to remember it!!!!
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itfcasual added 19:28 - Dec 9 Glory days well they'll pass you by
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SouperJim added 12:02 - Dec 10 yorkieblue absolute twaddle mate! All managers have ups and downs, they can't be held to account for what happens at the club after they leave, certainly not beyond a couple of windows anyway. Blaming Burley to any degree for anything that went on at the club post-Royle is nonsense I'm afraid.
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austractor added 12:55 - Dec 10 King George could get us back on track 😁
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