New Blues signing Ashley Young says manager Kieran McKenna played a big part in his decision to join Town having left Everton at the end of last season.
Young, 40, who signed for the Blues earlier today on a one-year deal, previously worked with McKenna during the Northern Irishman’s time on the backroom staff at Manchester United.
Asked what persuaded him that Town was the right club for him at this point in his career, Young told TownTV: "I think the manager played a big part in that. I worked with him at United, I know his beliefs, I know what he wants to do for this club, I’ve seen what he’s done with this club as well.
"Obviously it was disappointing last season, but speaking to him before joining, I knew that I wanted to come and play under him. I know how passionate he is about football and what he wants to achieve and that’s to get back to the Premier League.
"He’s a winner. You see that on the training pitch, you see that on the sidelines of the games.
"I’ve seen that day in, day out when I’ve worked with him previously. He was a massive pull, but the club as a whole as well, the fanbase, the players.
"Coming up against Ipswich sides, it’s never easy to play against an Ipswich side. [After] the excitement of last season, there’s definitely something to build on this season to get the club back into the Premier League.”
The former England international, whose son Tyler is currently on trial with the U21s, says McKenna, who has been at Town for three and a half years, hasn’t changed since he left Old Trafford for Portman Road.
"He’s the same,” Young, who was reportedly close to rejoining his first club Watford prior to his move to Town, continued. "You do get managers who come out of the Championship and go to the Premier League who change, but he hasn’t, he’s stayed the same way.
"He’s just the same, he’s still got that hunger, that desire for football, he lives and breathes football. The passion that he shows, it reflects on the players.”
Reflecting on Town, he added: "You can see that the club as a whole is a family club. You can see the players, the passion that they play with on the pitch. They emulate what the fans want to see and the manager is exactly that way as well.
"You see his passion, it runs down, it filters all the way through the club and just being here today, you get that feeling from everyone that’s around the club.
"The project is to get back to the Premier League, it’s that simple. We know it’s not going to be easy, it’s going to be tough, especially coming back down from the Premier League.
"But I think everyone has bought into the manager’s ideas, his thought processes of wanting to get the club back.
"When you have a taste of the Premier League, you want more and more of that, so I think everyone’s going to be champing at the bit to get back out there and get back in the Premier League.”
Young has achieved a promotion from the Championship previously, he was in the Hornets side which beat Leeds 3-0 at Wembley in the 2005/06 play-off final, in addition to a Premier League title with United in 2012/13 and winning Serie A with Inter Milan in 2020/21. He also won the FA Cup and Carabao Cup while at Old Trafford.
"When I did it, it was quite a long time ago,” he reflected on the success with Watford, his boyhood club. "The Championship has changed a lot. It takes everything the manager will talk about - togetherness out on the pitch, away from the pitch, being strong together. Everything that you do, it’s all about working hard.
"When you’re in day in, day out, it’s about working hard and you get the success from there.
"The club will know how tough the Championship is. It’s not easy to get out of, but when you’re in the right frame of mind and you’ve got the right focus, then I’m sure it will happen again this season.”
Outlining his role during the season to come, Town’s oldest ever signing added: "To bring my experience, my leadership, not just that but my footballing ability, that’s what I’m here for. I’ve come here to play football.
"A lot will be talked about my age but a lot of football talk is about stats these days and I played 32 Premier League games last season. I couldn’t tell you the stats about how many games I’ll play, but what my focus is on is getting this club back into the Premier League, that’s all I’ve got to focus on now.”