Former Nottingham Forest defender Luke Chambers has recalled the “difficult situation” which saw him come close to a City Ground return two-and-a-half years ago.
The Ipswich Town skipper was the subject of interest from his old club during the January window in 2017 and was on the verge of heading back to the Reds come deadline day.
As the clock ticked down to the cut-off point, Chambers turned out for the Tractor Boys in a 3-0 loss to Derby County that Tuesday night –and then-Town boss Mick McCarthy vetoed a possible move at the last minute.
But the 33-year-old still had to wait for his future to be fully resolved beyond the end of that season as his club delayed new contract talks.
Two days before a trigger clause of an additional 12 months was due to expire, he was finally offered a two-year deal.
“I was put in a difficult situation,” Chambers, who spent five years in the Garibaldi before switching to Portman Road in 2012, told the East Anglian Daily Times.
“I was being told that they weren’t sure if they were going to offer me a contract. Then all of a sudden Forest came in and I was like, ‘I’ve got a family to look after’.
“I went in to see the manager and said, ‘what’s happening boss?’. This was the day of the game. I’ve never not prepared properly for a game, but that day I didn’t even have a pre-match meal.”
Chambers says he “didn’t want to go” to Forest, but felt he deserved better than being left with uncertainty about his future.
“I would never step out of line and say to a manager, ‘I’m not going to play’ or ‘I want to leave’, because that’s not in me,” he said.
“I’ve worked so hard for the reputation I think I’ve got in the game, why should I be the one, through no fault of my own, to have something thrown back on me?
“I didn’t want it to be, ‘he did this at this time in his career’.
“I just didn’t think it warranted me to go into the last three months of my contract, having barely missed a game in five years.
“I’d been the captain, we’d made the play-offs, we’d turned a team around from 16, or wherever we were, to sixth – and I think I’d had a major part to play in that.
“For me, it was difficult because the other lads were thinking, ‘hold on a minute, if he’s going through that, where do we all stand?’.
“I never went up there to talk to them (Forest). I never tried to force anything through.
“I didn’t want to go, but I was put in a difficult situation.
“I want what's best for the football club, to the detriment of my own situation probably,” Chambers added. “I don't think there are many people in football who can say that.
“There's no agenda with me. I want to play for this football club. I've tried to do everything I can for this football club.
"I've had chats with Marcus (Evans, the owner) over the last few months and I think he realises that."
