Let the links begin...

Agreed. The whole “there’s no loyalty in football these days” argument applies both ways. It’s true, loyalty from football players and managers is generally in short supply. But typically most football club owners and indeed supporters are fickle, reactionary, and impatient.

Even if they didn’t deserve it, we didn’t exactly show much loyalty to the likes of Paul Hurst and Paul Cook when they were here.

 

Along with some others…. That’s why I used the word “considered”.

 

If McKenna leaves us, it would leave such a sour taste in the mouth. These players and club staff have given everything for him over the last two and a bit years.

He is absolutely deserving of the LMA Manager of the Year award. He doesn’t owe us anything. I’ll always be grateful for his instrumental role in getting Premier League football back at Portman Road. But … to leave us before we’ve even kicked a ball in the Premier League? He wouldn’t go down as an Ipswich Town legend in my books. A great manager, sure, but not a club legend.

We had Leeds fans warning us about the perils of the Premier League. And I was expecting a tough season. I knew it was going to be tough. I was not expecting us essentially being smothered with a blue blanket and taken out the back of the stables to get shot in effing late May/early June 2024!

 

Nobody can quantify how much of the achievement was McKenna and how much was down to the conditions. The core of the team was in place before he arrived and so was the support that had already been galvanised, largely thanks to Blue Action.

This season was nowhere near as much fun as the League One campaign. We rarely looked in control of matches. My hope for next season is that the side matures. The thing I was interested to see is what new ideas McKenna would bring to our tactics. Hard work and possession based football is bread and butter in the top flight.

 

He can just do one now for all I care. No one is bigger than the club. We will survive perfectly well without him.

 

If he’s not going to stay, leaving now would be a lot better than July or August!

 

Just imagine it’s a similar situation to the Southampton’s back-to-back promotions 12 odd years ago.

The popular manager overseeing the promotions leaves (ignore the fact Atkins got sacked) and in comes a new Poch figure to further improve the team and secure consecutive mid-table finishes. Or maybe it’s the man himself?! Straight from leaving Chelsea - replaced by McKenna - a vengeful Poch is appointed the new Ipswich manager in June. He beats McKenna’s Chelsea side home and away - that 5-0 thrashing at Stamford Bridge on the last day of the season sees Ipswich pip Chelsea to the final Champions League spot.

Ah, it’s the hope that kills ya!

 

Will we? I look at that squad and honestly, does anyone think it’s Premier League quality, currently? I don’t think any of them have even played a full 90 minute Premier League match!

Maybe they’d be fired up to prove McKenna wrong - presuming he does go - but they’ve been moulded in his image and to his philosophy. If there’s a new man in charge, I get the impression they’d want to do a Nottingham Forest.

 

They aren’t cloned robots they are professional footballers! I would like to see Michael Carrick given a chance. He’d make a decent fist of it

 

No thanks. Middlesbrough way under achieved. It would be a step backward. Pochettino would be my pick. I think Town have got to be ambitious and target European football. If we just aim to stay afloat we’ll come unstuck.

If McKenna does stay on, I think he’s going to be in for a much tougher ride from the stands the way he has handled it. It probably won’t have helped his relationship with the management or players either. Everybody has shown him unwavering trust and faith up to now.

 

It s all mad !!
It looks like Kompany is going to Bayern, what do they see in him after the season Burnley have had ?
As Nuggets said, will a cup win keep the current manager in his job ?

 

It does feel as though he's leaving which leaves me with the feeling we are certain for relegation. One of McKennas biggest strengths for me has been evolving the team over a long term. Which is why I disagree with Hampy saying the league 1 season was better than last season. To me last season was just a progression of the second half of the league 1 season and was brilliant, probably apart from the George Burley 5th Place in the PL season the most exciting I can remember. Before the January transfer window in League One I actually thought alot of games were pretty dull, we passed and we passed and we passed. Every few months we seem to progress under his management.

He came in made us defensively solid but over relied on the attacking threat from Burns. We were rubbish at set pieces. After that summer we improved, added to the threat down the left hand side with Davis coming in, which improved the supply line down both sides and our set pieces improved. We also became a dominant passing team but we lacked the ability to really stretch teams and press/squeeze the opposition.

In come Hirst Luongo and Broadhead and our style changes going forwards, we become better in the press and ruthless going forwards with the ability to score a variety of goals. This continues into the Championship but we lack options from the bench to continue that intensity and lack a Hirst replacement, Hutchingson comes in over the summer and improves over the season, in January we sign Moore as a replacement for the injured Hirst and we bring in firecrackers of Sarmiento and Al-Hamadi, meaning our forward options of the bench improve dramatically and mean we can maintain intensity and in some cases increase it towards the end of the game.

If McKenna stays this gives me confidence that the continuous evolution of our team might give us enough to stay up. If he leaves I think that evolution will take a serious dent backwards as we are so schooled in how he wants us to play a new manager will take time to get his own ideas across and I think it will be a huge blow for the fans and players alike who've all put trust in McKenna.

This is also why I think if McKenna goes to Chelsea or Man Utd now it'd be a huge risk for him, clubs who are in a mess and expect immediate success. I'm certain he will achieve succes wherever he goes if he's given time and as Ashton says the oxygen to do so but I'm not sure he'll get that at those 2 clubs. Whilst he's created success very quickly for us over 2 seasons it has still been a step by step evolving process, he's not a manager in my mind who will go in and get a team playing in his image straight away.

As for Poch, would he great but not a chance, he's being touted for the Man Utd job no way would he come to us.

 

A few here hate me saying this, you’ve possibly 11 players not good for anything but a PL survival scrap.

Your best two players were possibly loans, they were loaned out as their parent clubs deemed them not good enough for the PL. The three promoted last season all coming back down, prime examples of how tough it is.

Before anyone jumps on me saying I think Leeds are better, I don’t, if we go up we’re all expecting a bottom half dog fight.

You want to believe Ipswich run things differently, every teams supporters do, we all have rose tinted glasses when promoted and sure, sometimes season one gives you hope.

Kompany is a very good coach, he just didn’t have the players or funds. If he’d have been in charge of Man City, Chelsea or Man U where would he have taken them.

You desperately need McKenna clearing off now or signing a new contract and committing. Remain and you can crack on with transfers, leave and your new coach needs to get in and see what “he feels he needs”.

Worse case scenario you spend your budget and McKenna does one soon after. At this moment in time, there are some good available coaches too, they won’t be unemployed for long

 

They’re also human beings, who have bought so heavily into McKenna’s playing style and philosophy. Those players love him, and he seemingly even managed to keep the whole squad on side. They’d be absolutely gutted if he left. Add the fact that they’re untested in the Premier League and without a strong manager in the dug out, we’re in danger.

I like your Michael Carrick shout, I’m a fan of him and he is similar to McKenna in profile. I thought his Middlesbrough side was really hard done by last season with injuries - more so than other clubs. He should be on the shortlist.

I feel the likes of Potter and Poch (really Hampy, I was joking - no way would he join us haha!) are beyond us.

Maybe Steve Cooper? Did really well at Forest, experience keeping a side up, good knowledge of the game.

No thanks to Rob Edwards, he’d be an underwhelming choice in my opinion.

 

I can see why Edwards would be on the shortlist, has done superb at both Forest Green and Luton and seems to be the kind of character who could get the players on side quickly.

 

I just hope he is more flexible in his style of football and can use McKenna’s philosophy as a bit of a guide/blueprint.

At Luton, their football was very direct and dull - granted it’s Luton, but I do believe we’re capable of playing a better, more balanced style of football than that. He handled the Lockyer situation well and did the best out of the relegated clubs with arguably the worst squad.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d support Edwards. It just feels underwhelming. It just feels like guaranteed relegation.

 

I for one would be gutted if Kieran goes, as would thousands of fans.

Much of the pride, passion and performance will be deflated. It has been an extraordinary collective team effort since those wretched League 1 days.
Club owners, management, MA, KM, players, fanbase and community, all have been singing from the same glorious songsheet. What a joy it has been for all of us.

Our famed Suffolk Punch horse would give out a big fart! Preferably in the face of KM's agent!

 

You can't blame him, he's clearly destined for great things and has achieved them here already but I think it would certainly taint his legacy a bit if he were to leave us now.

After pretty much a perfect year and a half, we've fitted so much joy into it making up for 15 years which were completely joyless, it's felt like a dream, that dream now is being tinged with reality in that on the crest of a really important season for us we're about to go through some real unrest when we should still be basking in the glory and then gearing up with this team/community all heading in 1 direction knowing that we'll attack the division. This unrest allows doubt to creep in, that is dangerous.

For me one of the biggest things McKenna has developed over 2 years which saw us through at the end last season was the mentality of the team. I think that could be tested if he leaves and actually unless something is said fairly soon, I think even if he stays it might be tested given all the rumours flying around.

 

I for one am completely sick and tired of all this speculation around his future and i have reached the conclusion that for the good of the club he should just go and do one and the sooner the better. All of the euphoria we all felt a few short weeks ago has been well and truly poisoned over the last week. The club has bent over backwards for him but it seems that his mind has been made up to leave. If he wants to be cannon fodder for Chelsea to ruin then thats his look out! We gave him his big opportunity and it looks as though he's going to chuck it right back in our faces! History is littered with managerial corpses so one more wont make any difference. Yes i am feeling bitter as I write this and I so desperately wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt but all his mealy mouthed words about how much he loves the club and loves Suffolk and the community turns out to be a load of BS! Thanks for the memories Keiran and I wish you well but its now time to jog on as Ipswich Town is bigger than you.

 

Come off the fence JWM & let us know where you stand on all of this