‘He needs to relax himself’ – Skuse agrees Chambers has taken on too much as captain

Cole Skuse agrees that his team mate and good friend Luke Chambers has probably taken on too much responsibility as Ipswich Town captain.

New Blues boss Paul Lambert said recently that he felt Chambers had ‘taken a hell of a lot on his shoulders, probably too much, and that’s been a little bit unfair on him’.

Skuse concurs, saying: “He’s one of those guys, constantly on the go, and I’ve often said to him that he needs to relax himself and let other people take care of things.

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“If I ring him to see if he and his wife fancy going out for a bite to eat with me and my wife he’ll immediately say ‘yes, no problem, I’ll sort that out’. He’ll take it upon himself to book the table and decide the time – he’ll even decide who’s driving there and back.

“If I say to him ‘what about going on holiday in the summer, the two families’ he’ll say ‘I’ll sort it’. He’ll arrange everything, the transportation from the airport to the hotel, even getting the bags upstairs to our rooms.

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“Basically, he wants to sort out everything to the last detail. That’s just him as a person so you can imagine what he’s like in a football environment.

“We’re bottom of the league and you get some of the lads who are down and keep themselves to themselves, but he’s trying to lift the morale of the players and taken it upon himself to do something about it – even if it’s just changing the yogurts we have in the canteen.

“Every week, on the Thursday or Friday, he gets given the complimentary tickets for the players’ family and friends. He asks how many each of us wants and he distributes them. He’s always looking to organise things.

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“He has some of the youth team lads living in an annexe at his house and he has to supply an evening meal for them. He says he has almost adopted them as family because they sit at the dinner table as if they were his own kids. Again, that’s typical of him.

“He’s the type who wants to mend things and it’s credit to him as a person. It’s a good trait to have but it could get to the point where he just needs to concentrate on being the very good defender and captain that he is.”

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Chambers, 33, has made it clear that he wants a career in management after hanging up his boots. And it could be Skuse who ends up as his assists one day.

“I’m doing my coaching badges, with the emphasis on coaching,” he explained.

“I have no aspirations to go down the managerial route – that would send me even greyer I think, it looks like a tough gig.

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“I’m waiting on Chambo to get an appointment, wherever that might be, and he has said he might bring me along with him.

“You should never say never but I haven’t got a burning desire to go into management. I think Chambo is cut from that certain cloth where he can manage that, whereas I can just put a few sessions on then go back in the coaches’ room.”