| McKenna - an acknowledgement 15:42 - May 2 with 857 views | Paul |
I’ll hold my hands up - there were points this season where I seriously doubted where things were heading.
There were spells where performances dipped, results weren’t going our way, and you start to wonder if we’d run out of steam at the worst possible time. You look at the table, see the pressure building, and it’s hard not to think we might have fallen just short. I definitely had my moments of frustration!
But fair play - massive fair play - to Kieran McKenna and this Ipswich Town side.
What they’ve done this season is nothing short of outstanding.
To keep things together when the pressure was really on, to steady the ship when results wobbled, and then to deliver when it truly mattered — that says everything about the mentality in that squad and the coaching behind it. There’s a resilience there that we’ve not always seen, especially early in the season and I think it's easy to underestimate the impact of the changes last summer.
McKenna deserves huge credit. Tactically, he’s done the job, even when I and others query the lack of Plan B sometimes, but more importantly he’s built a team that believes - even when supporters like me were starting to lose a bit of faith. That’s not easy to do over a long Championship season and they came good at the end. Those last ten minutes at Southampton and the first ten minutes today were simply brilliant.
End of the day, promotion is what matters — and they’ve earned it.
I’ll happily admit I had doubts… but I’m absolutely delighted to have been proven wrong.
Promotion and the comprehensive double over the budgies - what a season! |  | | |  |
| McKenna - an acknowledgement on 15:43 - May 2 with 823 views | gtsb1966 |
I'll second that |  | | |
| McKenna - an acknowledgement on 15:56 - May 2 with 746 views | Blue_In_Boston |
My sentiments exactly. At times I had my doubts, but he has got us over the line and that's all that is important today.
Now the hard work begins, and hopefully we have learnt lessons from two years ago and can consolidate. A tough ask, but Sunderland and Leeds have shown its not impossible. |  | | |
| McKenna - an acknowledgement on 15:57 - May 2 with 725 views | Ftnfwest |
Doubting him is the one thing I’d never got as far as. Just the thought of someone else being our manager prevented that! Will happen one day of course but I’ll cross that bridge then.. |  | | |
| McKenna - an acknowledgement on 16:03 - May 2 with 659 views | Ryorry |
Exactly the same for me.
Would like to say thanks to our owners too, not just for KM’s appointment, but for the new pitch, other ground improvements etc 👍 |  |
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| McKenna - an acknowledgement on 16:04 - May 2 with 647 views | TheMoralMajority |
I, honestly, never doubted him. He had enough credit in the bank, and enough contributing factors for the early season slump.
I would hope, though, that those who were calling for a change in manager (or who were perhaps wavering a little), will find a little more patience the next time things invariably don't go our way for a while.
He would be an incredibly hard man to replace, and I wouldn't want to force that issue any earlier than we have to. |  |
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| McKenna - an acknowledgement on 16:06 - May 2 with 639 views | Swoody |
In his interview at the end he said how hard it had been this season with issues behind the scenes but when asked did not want to elaborate on what the challenges were. Makes you wonder if there were issues amongst some of the squad and back-room staff. | | | |
| McKenna - an acknowledgement on 16:07 - May 2 with 619 views | TheMoralMajority |
| McKenna - an acknowledgement on 16:06 - May 2 by Swoody |
In his interview at the end he said how hard it had been this season with issues behind the scenes but when asked did not want to elaborate on what the challenges were. Makes you wonder if there were issues amongst some of the squad and back-room staff. |
Nah, I just think it was a more in depth conversation than he wanted to go into on the sidelines having just clinched promotion. | |
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| McKenna - an acknowledgement on 16:12 - May 2 with 586 views | homer_123 |
| McKenna - an acknowledgement on 16:06 - May 2 by Swoody |
In his interview at the end he said how hard it had been this season with issues behind the scenes but when asked did not want to elaborate on what the challenges were. Makes you wonder if there were issues amongst some of the squad and back-room staff. |
Sammy S and the 'other thing we don't talk about' are two obvious situations that spring to mind. And I think there is some or has been tension around recruitment as well. |  |
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| McKenna - an acknowledgement on 16:18 - May 2 with 543 views | Ryorry |
| McKenna - an acknowledgement on 16:12 - May 2 by homer_123 |
Sammy S and the 'other thing we don't talk about' are two obvious situations that spring to mind. And I think there is some or has been tension around recruitment as well. |
Locking horns with Ashton wouldn't surprise me. | |
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| McKenna - an acknowledgement on 16:34 - May 2 with 473 views | LeoMuff |
| McKenna - an acknowledgement on 16:07 - May 2 by TheMoralMajority |
Nah, I just think it was a more in depth conversation than he wanted to go into on the sidelines having just clinched promotion. |
There was definitely something left unsaid there, felt like he wanted to say something but chose not to, was interesting I thought.
Maybe it was Ashton stuff or something else, but definitely alluded to something behind the scenes |  |
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| McKenna - an acknowledgement on 16:40 - May 2 with 453 views | ClareBlue |
| McKenna - an acknowledgement on 16:06 - May 2 by Swoody |
In his interview at the end he said how hard it had been this season with issues behind the scenes but when asked did not want to elaborate on what the challenges were. Makes you wonder if there were issues amongst some of the squad and back-room staff. |
Agree. That interview came across more as someone vindicated than someone overjoyed by the outcome. I would say he is on his way. Not many managers do more than 5 years in the modern game. There is no doubt he was just what we needed at the right time and if he does go then good luck to him. He's not proven in the Premiership so if he is offered a job then it will be at some risk for the club offering, but his career trajectory with our without us, will be of interest. He brought some well needed intelligence skill and class to the role when it was needed by our club and we rewarded him well for it. | | | |
| McKenna - an acknowledgement on 16:46 - May 2 with 389 views | heavyweight |
| McKenna - an acknowledgement on 16:34 - May 2 by LeoMuff |
There was definitely something left unsaid there, felt like he wanted to say something but chose not to, was interesting I thought.
Maybe it was Ashton stuff or something else, but definitely alluded to something behind the scenes |
I think Hutchinson, Morsy and to an extent Broadhead leaving were unexpected problems, along with Ogbenes injury | | | |
| McKenna - an acknowledgement on 20:14 - May 2 with 188 views | lazyblue |
I don’t know why you even had doubts , trust the process . He did his job even if some of you didn’t rate him . | | | |
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