Former Blues boss Jim Magilton says new Town manager Kieran McKenna is one of the top coaches he has ever worked with, citing his attention to detail and meticulous approach.
McKenna, 35, is the club’s second Northern Ireland-born manager following 52-year-old Magilton, who was in charge at Portman Road between 2006 and 2009.
"I have known Kieran for a long time through the Northern Ireland international set-up,” one-time Town skipper Magilton told the club site.
"He was an outstanding young player and would have gone on to have had a good career if he hadn’t had that terrible hip injury at Tottenham. He was an energetic midfield player and I liked him a lot.
"You do wonder what will happen when a player is forced to quit at such a young age but it gave him a chance to get on the coaching ladder early and I’m not surprised at all to see what he has gone on to achieve.”
Magilton says he spent time with him when working as the Irish FA’s elite performance director, a role he moved on from last year to become sporting director at League of Ireland club Dundalk, a position he left last month.
"I’d heard people talk about him in glowing terms so I asked him in to come and work with the U21s,” the Belfast-born schemer continued.
"From the moment I met him, I was impressed and he is one of the top coaches I have ever worked with. His attention to detail is brilliant, he is so meticulous.
"He’s a very good man-manager and the players will understand what he wants from them. There will be clear guidelines. I don’t know the players at Ipswich now. There are some experienced players there but I can guarantee you Kieran will impress them from day one.
"I interviewed him for the U21s job and he impressed me more than anyone else I have interviewed. I wanted him but he had commitments at Spurs though and we couldn’t make it work.
"This is a great opportunity for him though. It might be seen as a left-field appointment because he has no managerial experience but he gained a wealth of knowledge through working at top clubs and with top players and all the demands that go with that.
"He is hungry for success and no one will work harder to achieve that than Kieran. When you add that to his coaching experience from his time at Manchester United, I’d say Ipswich have done very well to get him.
"It’s a good fit and an exciting appointment. They have given him a long contract so that tells me the club are building something.
"He’s a very strong character and while he will want to play an attacking brand of football, he will also be adaptable.
"He knows the game and I think he can be a really big success at the club. He has got to win football matches. He knows that but I’m 100 per cent sure he has all the attributes to do that and if you can get some momentum, who knows what can be achieved.”
McKenna will speak to media, including TWTD, for the first time this afternoon.