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Feel very smug saying this but I've said it consistently since the August window closed, this would arguably be his biggest achievement with us.
Also thought it was noticable what he said at FT today to Sky (I think) that it would have been nice if we'd scored a 3rd in the first half so we (and he) could enjoy the rest of the game a bit more, but that "it's not what we've tended to do this season" or words to that effect.
To some extent that team of two years ago probably managed itself. Much different this time.
He mentioned the challenges this season, but didn’t go into details.
I assume he’s talking about players leaving who he didn’t want to lose (Hutchinson, Burgess, Tuanzebe, Morsy, maybe Szmodics - I forget the details there) and missing out on players he did want (Hackney).
Maybe also the Summer business was done so late that not only did many players miss pre-season, they missed the first few games of the season.
Anything else I’m missing?
0
That's KM's biggest achievement so far. on 23:22 - May 2 with 1718 views
That's KM's biggest achievement so far. on 23:13 - May 2 by Garv
Feel very smug saying this but I've said it consistently since the August window closed, this would arguably be his biggest achievement with us.
Also thought it was noticable what he said at FT today to Sky (I think) that it would have been nice if we'd scored a 3rd in the first half so we (and he) could enjoy the rest of the game a bit more, but that "it's not what we've tended to do this season" or words to that effect.
To some extent that team of two years ago probably managed itself. Much different this time.
What a manager.
I said the same. He made a big point very early on about the turnover, the late arrival of players and the challenge.
He had to build a new team in very difficult circumstances.
He did it.
4
That's KM's biggest achievement so far. on 23:23 - May 2 with 1713 views
That's KM's biggest achievement so far. on 23:15 - May 2 by DarkBrandon
He mentioned the challenges this season, but didn’t go into details.
I assume he’s talking about players leaving who he didn’t want to lose (Hutchinson, Burgess, Tuanzebe, Morsy, maybe Szmodics - I forget the details there) and missing out on players he did want (Hackney).
Maybe also the Summer business was done so late that not only did many players miss pre-season, they missed the first few games of the season.
Anything else I’m missing?
Yep, it was the turnover and the late arrivals. Plus the usual challenges of picking up a relagated side.
KM tried his best to explain at the beginning of the season but the numpties didn't want to listen.
He looked exhausted today. I hope he has a real break.
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That's KM's biggest achievement so far. on 00:06 - May 3 with 1598 views
That's KM's biggest achievement so far. on 23:15 - May 2 by DarkBrandon
He mentioned the challenges this season, but didn’t go into details.
I assume he’s talking about players leaving who he didn’t want to lose (Hutchinson, Burgess, Tuanzebe, Morsy, maybe Szmodics - I forget the details there) and missing out on players he did want (Hackney).
Maybe also the Summer business was done so late that not only did many players miss pre-season, they missed the first few games of the season.
Anything else I’m missing?
From memory he's on record saying he wanted to keep Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Burgess, Morsy, Hutchinson, Broadhead and Delap. Which makes me wonder who we wouldn't have signed if we'd managed that! I guess some are obvious.
I'm not going to go down the route of having the biggest budget and some of the best individuals in the division means finishing second, eleven points off Coventry, is the biggest achievement so far. Not when compared to going toe to toe with parachute teams with a team predominantly made up of players signed when we were in League One. But we're up and that's all that matters.
That's KM's biggest achievement so far. on 00:43 - May 3 by pointofblue
From memory he's on record saying he wanted to keep Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Burgess, Morsy, Hutchinson, Broadhead and Delap. Which makes me wonder who we wouldn't have signed if we'd managed that! I guess some are obvious.
I'm not going to go down the route of having the biggest budget and some of the best individuals in the division means finishing second, eleven points off Coventry, is the biggest achievement so far. Not when compared to going toe to toe with parachute teams with a team predominantly made up of players signed when we were in League One. But we're up and that's all that matters.
I have to agree with your last paragraph, but beating the scum twice and finishing second is fine by me. Rather that than be top and not beat them. We are the true pride of Anglia in every sense.
22/23 felt like back to where we should be. 23/24 was ridiculous, once in a generation fayre.
This one will get sweeter as it sinks in. We shall see what base we have for strengthening this time round. If McKenna stays and keeps us up, or even better, that will be the mark of legend.
That's KM's biggest achievement so far. on 23:13 - May 2 by Garv
Feel very smug saying this but I've said it consistently since the August window closed, this would arguably be his biggest achievement with us.
Also thought it was noticable what he said at FT today to Sky (I think) that it would have been nice if we'd scored a 3rd in the first half so we (and he) could enjoy the rest of the game a bit more, but that "it's not what we've tended to do this season" or words to that effect.
To some extent that team of two years ago probably managed itself. Much different this time.
What a manager.
I'm so glad someone picked up on this. Even amongst the euphoria, he is humble and honest enough to admit that we should have put games to bed more often than not.
For me, that is why he is a top manager and will only go higher. That willingness for perfection and improvement, even in the best of times speaks volumes of his personality and desperation to succeed. That is without considering his calmness, man management etc.
If Carrick can get Man United doing what he has, I'd dread to think what Mckenna could do with one of the big 6, but only if we can enjoy him for a bit longer first!
0
That's KM's biggest achievement so far. on 08:21 - May 3 with 1065 views
That's KM's biggest achievement so far. on 23:15 - May 2 by DarkBrandon
He mentioned the challenges this season, but didn’t go into details.
I assume he’s talking about players leaving who he didn’t want to lose (Hutchinson, Burgess, Tuanzebe, Morsy, maybe Szmodics - I forget the details there) and missing out on players he did want (Hackney).
Maybe also the Summer business was done so late that not only did many players miss pre-season, they missed the first few games of the season.
Anything else I’m missing?
McKenna - an acknowledgement by homer_1232 May 16:12 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.
Ade Akinbiyi couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo...
That's KM's biggest achievement so far. on 23:15 - May 2 by DarkBrandon
He mentioned the challenges this season, but didn’t go into details.
I assume he’s talking about players leaving who he didn’t want to lose (Hutchinson, Burgess, Tuanzebe, Morsy, maybe Szmodics - I forget the details there) and missing out on players he did want (Hackney).
Maybe also the Summer business was done so late that not only did many players miss pre-season, they missed the first few games of the season.
Anything else I’m missing?
We were always likely to lose Hutchinson & Delap, who were our 2 stand-out performers. That's the way the world works. I think Burgess wanted more regular starts. No more than a solid Championship player IMO & we brought in Kipre, who has been as least his equal, although a slightly different type of player. I would have liked Tuanzebe to have stayed, but the lure of PL money was too strong. He's still had injury problems & Furlong was a great short term signing. We could have forced Morsy to stay, but I think he was coming to the end of his tether. I think McKenna was please to farm out Szmodics because he was a difficult character & he will be moved on this summer. More disruption than we would have wanted, hence the slow start but McKenna did plug a couple of gaps in January with Neil & Mehmeti & Town really came good in the last third of the season, while Boro faltered.
Mick Mills was talking about KM after the game and wondering if he would be here next season. I know we constantly we talk about it every season but I do wonder if he thinks he needs a new challenge or has taken us as far as he can. He has looked absolutely knackered the last month.
2
That's KM's biggest achievement so far. on 09:24 - May 3 with 797 views
That's KM's biggest achievement so far. on 09:16 - May 3 by gtsb1966
Mick Mills was talking about KM after the game and wondering if he would be here next season. I know we constantly we talk about it every season but I do wonder if he thinks he needs a new challenge or has taken us as far as he can. He has looked absolutely knackered the last month.
One thing which may work in our favour is that, recruitment considerations aside, there’s less all round hoopla for the club to consider about going into the Premier League than there was 2 years ago because a lot of required infrastructure is now in place. To paraphrase the metaphor, it may be that the rocket ship is now largely built and can get cleaned up on the launch pad.
0
That's KM's biggest achievement so far. on 09:37 - May 3 with 678 views
This season had its unique challenges for sure, I can't say it's a bigger achievement than 23/24 however. We're far from the first parachute payment team to have a heavy squad turnover, as much as we might not have anticipated it. And we may have come up from League 1 with momentum, but who doesn't? There are good reasons why back-to-back promotions are so much rarer than instant returns. This isn't to downplay this season.
3
A passage in his BBC interview clearly aims a shot at the dissenters.. on 09:45 - May 3 with 651 views
That's KM's biggest achievement so far. on 09:16 - May 3 by gtsb1966
Mick Mills was talking about KM after the game and wondering if he would be here next season. I know we constantly we talk about it every season but I do wonder if he thinks he needs a new challenge or has taken us as far as he can. He has looked absolutely knackered the last month.
… who came out of the woodwork this season, but Kieran knows himself that Town have not performed at the levels he’d like.
But he’s probably rightly frustrated that people slating players/performances, were unable to fathom the challenges he was under (I’d suggest he’s more bothered by the audible groans and abuse of his players, than the online critiques of him).
I think the fan reaction yesterday and at St Mary’s will have been positive for him. We are at times the passionate fanbase he demands.
I think the guy is absolutely knackered and needs a serious recharge.
Whether he’ll leave - the lure of the new training ground, the wider improvements off pitch he sighted - in recruitment and analysis - are also a huge draw, plus he gets another go at the Premier League in a club where he is settled and his family are happy
But he is getting older and he will want to push himself to a higher level
My current gut feeling is that he will stay, I personally would be devastated if he left, but I think he is superb person and character
Absolutely this is his biggest achievement, picking the team up after last season and a poor start was outstanding. Football is all about recruitment these days, it's why Brighton, Bournemouth and Bretford have overperformed in recent years and why Sunderland have had a great season. I don't think our recruitment team did KM many favours this season, a few hits but quite a lot of misses. Hopefully we'll begin to see the changes made in the recruitment team bearing fruit this summer.
1
A passage in his BBC interview clearly aims a shot at the dissenters.. on 10:07 - May 3 with 540 views
A passage in his BBC interview clearly aims a shot at the dissenters.. on 09:45 - May 3 by unstableblue
… who came out of the woodwork this season, but Kieran knows himself that Town have not performed at the levels he’d like.
But he’s probably rightly frustrated that people slating players/performances, were unable to fathom the challenges he was under (I’d suggest he’s more bothered by the audible groans and abuse of his players, than the online critiques of him).
I think the fan reaction yesterday and at St Mary’s will have been positive for him. We are at times the passionate fanbase he demands.
I think the guy is absolutely knackered and needs a serious recharge.
Whether he’ll leave - the lure of the new training ground, the wider improvements off pitch he sighted - in recruitment and analysis - are also a huge draw, plus he gets another go at the Premier League in a club where he is settled and his family are happy
But he is getting older and he will want to push himself to a higher level
My current gut feeling is that he will stay, I personally would be devastated if he left, but I think he is superb person and character
[Post edited 3 May 10:19]
He's earned the right to have a pop at dissenters, and he's earned the right to decide what to do with his career next. I really really hope he stays.
As you say, he knows Town haven't (always) performed at the level he would have liked. He expresses that in very muted, calm, circumspect tones, just as he doesn't get too carried away when things go right. Many of the grumblers are not really a million miles away from him in that respect. They just express things in more forceful and reactionary language after a disappointment, because they are incapable of the sort of superhuman patience that he's shown.
I've certainly been a grumbler, insofar as I have thought that for the first 2/3 of the season we should have performed better, given the money that has been spent. But anyone who was seriously 'McKenna out' was palpably wrong, and not a little ungrateful. Promotion was always the goal, and that has been achieved. And automatically too - no mean feat.
So judgment comes at the end of the season. We are there. And Kieran has shown his remarkable qualities. Where are the other parachute teams? A penny (or a billion) for their thoughts? And Brum, the new Ipswich, the coming team? Nowhere. Even Hollywood Wrexham failed to make it past plucky Hull, who only just stayed up last year. Norwich signed goal machines and had an unbelievable manager but couldn't mend their mess.
Who would we swap places with? Nobody.
Last time round, we got to the Prem with our wonderful momentum. A settled side, improved. A togetherness, a fearlessness, greater than the sum of parts. But this time, all the momentum was reversed. Relegation. Losing our best players. Our captain. A difficult transfer window, for whatever reason.
And the man did it. Please God let the man stay.
Will he stay? He's not entirely unemotional, but his head rules his heart, I'm sure. He may calculate that another trip around the Town wheel of fortune may see him with no advantageous exits. Relegation with Town would not help the CV - where does he go from there? If he can find a patient Premier League club and keep them up, then that may be a better route. But does he want to be another Potter, Rosenior? He, more than anyone, is capable of playing the long game.
Sir Bobby stayed for long enough before going on to a top job, and thereafter to many exciting destinations. Maybe that is the template. If he keeps us up, it may be that he can get a job that's worth it. If he does so in style, or helps us push on thereafter, maybe Old Trafford comes calling.
What I would love to know is how attractive he finds the Spurs job. Imagine him jumping ship to a relegated Spurs, in order to play the long game once more. That would be a sucker punch, but maybe suckers like me would deserve it.
2
That's KM's biggest achievement so far. on 10:10 - May 3 with 516 views
Fair play to your positivity throughout the season - when most had given up hope of automatic.
Apart from McKenna and the team I’m not sure anyone else did more to manifest that second place!! 🙌🤣
In seriousness, I thought we could end at ~85 points but not much more and worried another team would just pip us. The relentlessness that McKenna gets into the squad at the end of promotion seasons to keep consistently picking up points and going on long runs with very few defeats is something else.
Not sure he got quite the tune he wanted out of certain players, which as others have said shows all the more his skill. With a better tune from a few we would have been 95pts without McKenna we quite probably could have been 75pts.
I’m sure he was as frustrated as fans many times when the work in training was not translated to the pitch. could see the pride in the hard work in those interview quotes
1
POST OF THE MONTH (n/t) on 10:16 - May 3 with 478 views
A passage in his BBC interview clearly aims a shot at the dissenters.. on 10:07 - May 3 by HighgateBlue
He's earned the right to have a pop at dissenters, and he's earned the right to decide what to do with his career next. I really really hope he stays.
As you say, he knows Town haven't (always) performed at the level he would have liked. He expresses that in very muted, calm, circumspect tones, just as he doesn't get too carried away when things go right. Many of the grumblers are not really a million miles away from him in that respect. They just express things in more forceful and reactionary language after a disappointment, because they are incapable of the sort of superhuman patience that he's shown.
I've certainly been a grumbler, insofar as I have thought that for the first 2/3 of the season we should have performed better, given the money that has been spent. But anyone who was seriously 'McKenna out' was palpably wrong, and not a little ungrateful. Promotion was always the goal, and that has been achieved. And automatically too - no mean feat.
So judgment comes at the end of the season. We are there. And Kieran has shown his remarkable qualities. Where are the other parachute teams? A penny (or a billion) for their thoughts? And Brum, the new Ipswich, the coming team? Nowhere. Even Hollywood Wrexham failed to make it past plucky Hull, who only just stayed up last year. Norwich signed goal machines and had an unbelievable manager but couldn't mend their mess.
Who would we swap places with? Nobody.
Last time round, we got to the Prem with our wonderful momentum. A settled side, improved. A togetherness, a fearlessness, greater than the sum of parts. But this time, all the momentum was reversed. Relegation. Losing our best players. Our captain. A difficult transfer window, for whatever reason.
And the man did it. Please God let the man stay.
Will he stay? He's not entirely unemotional, but his head rules his heart, I'm sure. He may calculate that another trip around the Town wheel of fortune may see him with no advantageous exits. Relegation with Town would not help the CV - where does he go from there? If he can find a patient Premier League club and keep them up, then that may be a better route. But does he want to be another Potter, Rosenior? He, more than anyone, is capable of playing the long game.
Sir Bobby stayed for long enough before going on to a top job, and thereafter to many exciting destinations. Maybe that is the template. If he keeps us up, it may be that he can get a job that's worth it. If he does so in style, or helps us push on thereafter, maybe Old Trafford comes calling.
What I would love to know is how attractive he finds the Spurs job. Imagine him jumping ship to a relegated Spurs, in order to play the long game once more. That would be a sucker punch, but maybe suckers like me would deserve it.
It shouldn’t have been with the investments and financial resource, but I think when you do analyse the group and recognise that some pieces just aren’t the right fit, to have found a formula to gain automatic promotion, is an incredible achievement.
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