McKenna: My Phone is Reachable For Promoted Bosses Thursday, 1st May 2025 16:09 Blues manager Kieran McKenna says his phone is reachable if managers of promoted clubs want to call him for advice on how to approach the increasingly tough task of making the leap from the Championship to the Premier League. Last year’s promoted trio, Town, Leicester and Southampton, have been relegated, joining the previous year’s sides, Luton, Burnley and Sheffield United, in dropping back down after one season. The Clarets and Leeds United have already confirmed their places in the top flight, while the Blades, Sunderland, Bristol City and Coventry currently in the play-off spots but with Millwall, Blackburn and Middlesbrough still hoping to break into the top six in the final weekend. Asked whether he has any advice for bosses of teams coming up from the Championship, McKenna said: “My phone is reachable if anyone wants to pick it up. I certainly picked up my phone last year to teams who were in this position, as I'm sure teams did in the year before that. That's pretty common practice. Again, they will be private discussions. “As I've said before, the gap is certainly big and getting bigger. It's clear for everyone to see what was pitched as maybe the highest-level top end of the Championship ever last season, three teams with 90-plus points for the first time, two of whom were really established Premier League clubs over the last decade and Leeds, who didn't manage to make it, also in the mix. “Those three teams have all fallen short for different reasons this year. It's clear that the gap is big. Of course, when that happens for two seasons in a row, that's 17 teams then who have two full seasons of Premier League money and everything that comes with that. It makes it harder for everyone to catch up. “It's not a concern. Our journey is our journey. We know how quickly it's come. “I'd even like to think that as a squad, with infrastructure, staffing and everything, we'll be in a strong position irrespective of league for I don't know how many years. “We're on our own journey and we're going to try and keep progressing the club in every way. We hope that that will ultimately lead to establishing ourselves in the Premier League. “It's day by day and it's step by step. We know what our next steps are now and we'll get ready for those in the summer and try and tackle them. We've still got a lot of belief that this club can keep progressing.” Reflecting on what’s been learned over the course of the season, McKenna added: “I think there's been loads of lessons for everyone involved - manager, staff, players, board, supporters, everyone - about the level. “They're too thorough to digest in one answer and one question. We've reflected as we go along. We'll reflect plenty more in the summer. “As I’ve said before, most of the reflections are around the scale of the challenge and the task that we had, which has been a really, really big one. “Some of it will be around the areas that we've done well, that we feel that the process has been good or we've conducted ourselves well, or we've competed well. “And there will be areas that we think we could have done a little bit differently or that, hopefully, further down the line, we'll be in a better position as a club to make different decisions or to approach things slightly differently. There are lots of different reflection pieces. “In terms of learning from the last four games, I think it's really important that we show our character again, as I think the group has done over the whole course of the season. How professional, how committed they are, how together they are. I think that's been the case. “It's probably more of a challenge once it becomes a mathematical definite that you're not going to be in the division next year, but that's our responsibility. “We've had fantastic supporters behind us all season. The responsibility as professionals is to prepare to compete as well as we possibly can in the last four games. “Every individual needs to show that to the best of their ability. On an individual level in the dressing room, I know the players are desperate to play as many minutes as they can and compete as well as they can. We know we're coming up against, as we have all year, but on Saturday with Everton, one of the most experienced squads in the league. “A lot of players have played a lot of Premier League football now. On an individual level, the players are really keen to go up against that and test themselves. It's our job to support them with that and set up in the best way that we can to be competitive and try and give the best account of ourselves.”
TWTD Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
You need to login in order to post your comments |
   Blogs 298 bloggersIpswich Town Polls[ Vote here ] |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
