Godfrey: Call With the Gaffer Blew Me Away

Town defender Ben Godfrey has credited Blues manager Kieran McKenna for making Portman Road the ‘place to be’ following his arrival on loan from Atalanta earlier this month.

It was expected that the centre-half would return to England this month with Tottenham Hotspur, Leeds United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest among other sides to be linked, but a personal phone call with McKenna was believed to have made the difference in Godfrey’s decision on a final destination.

The defender arrives in Suffolk off the back of a difficult first half of the season in Italy where he did not register a single start for Atalanta and only featured once in Serie A from the bench.

Godfrey believes the influence of the Town boss made his decision a ‘no-brainer’, having considered both tactical elements on the pitch and his family off of it.

“The times that I spoke to him I felt the sense of being wanted and I knew that he’d be welcoming,” he said on the impact of McKenna. “That’s a big thing in football to feel wanted, I think it does a lot for your confidence as a player.

“On to tactical things, he showed me what he’d expect from me and how he’d want me to play. I’d watched Ipswich but he showed me clips and the patterns that we worked through and I thought the detail he went into would be another step for me in the right direction in terms of improving me as a player.

“You know his coaching history, he’s coached some great players and I’ve actually spoken to those players previously who speak about him in a really positive way. As soon as I got off that call with him I was speaking to my family and said this is the place to be.

“It was the call with the manager that blew me away really with his detail and everything, after that it was a no-brainer for me.”

McKenna’s system features a hybrid role on the right of the defensive unit, with Godfrey admitting that works out perfectly for his own game and hopes that his versatility can impact the side in a positive way.

“He mentioned that on the call as well which I knew would suit me,” he said. “I’m looking forward to hopefully getting many games in that position and helping the boys. It’s a position that I’ll hopefully do well in.

“The right side of defence, obviously our formation is quite fluid anyway. I think I’m someone who wherever the manager says I’ll play I’ll give 110 per cent to help the boys. In that sense I’ll use my versatility to do that.”

Godfrey was also quick to highlight how welcoming the club has been since his arrival on January 5th, with the defender grateful for the warm reception he has received.

He said: “Unbelievable. Before any of them even met me I had three or four messages from the lads just to welcome me in. On the day that I arrived, from staff to players and the manager, they made it so easy.

“It’s important for me to feel comfortable in my work surroundings and it makes a massive difference. I really appreciate that from the boys.”

On his decision to wear squad number 44, he added: “22 and four are my favourite numbers, so two fours and double 22 is the closest I could get.”

The elephant in the room is the fact that Godfrey spent four years and won a Championship title with Town’s arch rivals Norwich City between 2016 and 2020.

In that time, the 27-year-old made his Premier League debut for the Canaries and earned himself a £20 million move to Everton off the back of his success in Norfolk.

Despite the connections north of the border, Godfrey accepts that time moves on and his sole focus is on performing as well as he can for the Blues, while also admitting his long-standing opinion on Town’s Portman Road home.

“Players move on and things change, coming here was the right decision for my career,” he said. “The Ipswich Town fans have been unbelievable as has everyone here, it was a nice welcome.

“It’s a great stadium to play in, I’ve always thought that even when I was on the other side of things. It’s a good atmosphere and we’ll need them throughout the year, it will be good to see them again against Brighton.

“There’s quite a lot of people that I’ve played with that have moved on, I met some great people there. It’s well-known that I was a Norwich player but that’s football and players move on. I’m an Ipswich Town player and my job here is to do the best for this club.”

During Town’s Championship relegation season in 2018/19, Norwich went up as champions. Having played in both East Anglian derbies that campaign, Godfrey knows how much the rivalry means to the supporters.

He said: “The derby means a lot to people in this area of the country. I remember years ago it being an exciting day to play in the derby games, they’re the games you always want to play in regardless of what team you play for. Derby days are always special.

“The first one that I played in was at Portman Road and we drew 1-1. The second one Norwich won at Carrow Road. They were the two derbies that I played in, both good atmospheres and good days.”

Godfrey’s arrival means he is now the most experienced Premier League player in the Town squad having played 112 matches in the top flight for both Norwich and Everton, 28 more than the second-most experienced in Kalvin Phillips.

The Atalanta loanee hopes that his familiarity of the level can count for something as the Blues look to fend off the drop in their first season at this level for 22 years.

He said: “I just got reminded that I’m old! But I’ve got Premier League experience and hopefully I can use a little bit of that to help the boys. I’ve been in relegation fights before at past clubs and if I can use that bit of experience to help the club achieve staying in the Premier League then I’m ready to do that.

“It will be great for me to use those experiences on the pitch and help the boys through it because there will be challenging moments. Hopefully we can achieve that.

“It’s about not getting too high and not getting too low. When you win a game you can’t think it’s going to be like that every week, but when you lose a game you can’t let that shatter your confidence either. You’ve just got to have a plateau of emotions and attack every game with the same mentality.

“Whether you win or lose, you wake up the next day and it’s done and it’s onto the next one. That played a vital part in the seasons that we’ve been successful at Everton in staying up. That’s probably the number one for me.”

Godfrey is not the only man from York in the Blues’ squad. In fact, he is not the only player to have attended Archbishop Holgate’s School, with Jack Clarke among their alumni.

“If we were to share the pitch at the same time in the Premier League, I don’t think there’s ever been two lads from York before,” Godfrey said of Clarke.

“I’ve always watched his career, I went to school with him and always wanted him to do well. We have mutual friends and things like that so it’s nice to be in the same team as him. He’s a great lad and he’s talented as well.”

If the Blues are to survive in the Premier League, a large contributing factor will be the goals of swashbuckling centre-forward Liam Delap. Having already struck eight times this season, Delap has proven to be one of the league’s signings of the season.

On the Blues striker, Godfrey said: “He’s got a good footballing brain, he’s got the physical attributes. He’s still young and will tell you himself that he’s still learning.

“The most important thing is that he’s actually hungry to do that as well, he doesn’t walk around thinking that he’s the finished article. He’s obviously hit the ground running this season but he still wants more and I’m sure he will do that.”

While there has been much national conversation around Delap in relation to a potential England call-up, the Three Lions is not unfamiliar to Godfrey, who was capped twice by his country in 2021.

Asked if a potential recall to the national side under Thomas Tuchel was on his mind, he said: “Yeah, of course. If you speak to any English footballer they’ll tell you their aim is to be in the national team.

“It’s been a fair few years since I’ve been in there but all I can do is focus on my Ipswich performances, play at a good level regularly and that will take care of itself.”