New Blues U18s coach Callum Tongue has been speaking about his coaching development and says he’s enjoying life at Playford Road having joined the academy from Manchester City in March.
Tongue was a goalkeeper in his playing days with Bradford City’s youth team, then with Barrow in the National League.
He had a trial with the Town academy in pre-season ahead of the 2012/13 season, featuring in a friendly at Kirkley & Pakefield.
In a lengthy chat with the MiMentor Coaches Coffee Club podcast, presented by Colchester United’s head of recruitment Ross Embleton, Tongue speaks about his coaching journey which has taken him from schools to Oldham Athletic’s academy.
The 29-year-old, from Hyde, joined Manchester City in April 2014 where he worked in a variety of roles and was academy lead age group coach before moving onto the Blues.
"This job came up at Ipswich and having spent a small time playing there, it’s a huge club,” he says of his move to Town.
"I think it’s one of the rarest things in England to be a one-club town, a one-club city almost where there’s no one really close by.
"The fans are incredible. I was incredibly fortunate enough to be there the day they got promoted and I’ve been there when [Manchester City] have lifted Premier League and I went to the Champions League final with City and that’s great, but this is just a different kind of feeling.
"When the job came up with the first-team manager [Kieran McKenna] we’ve got and the academy manager [Dean Wright], they were both big appeals to come to Ipswich and it was a really exciting opportunity and one so far in the short time I’ve been here I’ve really enjoyed.”
Regarding boss McKenna, Tongue added: "Now at Ipswich, the first-team manager, Kieran McKenna, unbelievable manager. From the small time I’ve been here, you can see that he’s an unbelievable manager.
"What’s he got? Real consistency. Consistency in language, identity, behaviour, attitude.
"If people watch this and take nothing else, if you work for a football club or a business, just get consistency.
"Write down what you want and what it looks like and you’ll be fine because that is what the best do.”