Boss Kieran McKenna admits he’s virtually putting a new side together given the changes which have taken place at Town over the summer.

The Blues have lost a number of players who were core members of the team which won back-to-back promotions and played in the Premier League, skipper Sam Morsy, fellow midfielder Massimo Luongo, defenders Cameron Burgess and Axel Tuanzebe, and forwards Omari Hutchinson, Nathan Broadhead and Liam Delap.

McKenna is integrating new additions Kasey McAteer, Chuba Akpom, Azor Matusiwa, Ashley Young, Cedric Kipre and David Button, while Jens Cajuste has returned from Napoli for a second season on loan and with further signings expected before the deadline a week on Monday.

The pace of change is illustrated by Leif Davis being the only player to have started both today’s 1-0 defeat at Preston and the Blues’ last match at Deepdale, the 3-2 loss in January 2024.

“That’s the reality of it,” McKenna said when it was put to him that he is essentially having to build a new team. “That’s come around pretty quickly, but I think the cycle of a team goes a lot quicker when you have the journey that we have had.

“If you stay in the same division, have maybe one promotion then you keep the team together for maybe three, four, five, six years sometimes at times.

“But the scale of what we went through meant that the cycle of that team that did terrificly and we loved being a part of came around quicker than we would have anticipated for a lot of different reasons, not that we wouldn’t have wanted because part of it is the success of the club.

“The situation is what it is. We have a new team to build. We’re not where we want to be yet with the team. The situation, the expectation on us is different and I understand and we expect that, but the reality is that it’s a new group and a group that hasn’t been together that long, they haven’t played together in terms of starting matches very much.

“The reality is they haven’t won together very much either because if we’re talking about the players who joined us last year, they were trying to compete in the toughest league in the world at a brand new club for the first time at that level for nearly everyone.

“There’s a lot of work to do and we’re going to be trying to do that work under a fair bit of expectation. But that’s the reality and that’s what we have to step up to. We have to bring this team together, produce a team that we can be proud of, that we can be successful with and we need to do it as quickly as humanly possible.”

McKenna admits it’s a big week for the club as the Blues look to add to the squad, but with his mind still on the defeat to the Lilywhites.

“I think so,” he reflected. “I can’t really put my head to the recruitment side at the moment because I’m frustrated that we’ve not delivered better as a group with what we have here.

“I know the reasons for that, but it’s not about making excuses, it’s about keeping the demand strong on ourselves that we need to produce better.

“There are some pieces to the squad that we’d like to add to to really be as complete and as strong as we’d like to be and hopefully we can make some progress on that this week.

“We’ve got to make sure the numbers are right and deep enough that we have the cover, but not too deep that people are going to feel detached from what’s going on on the pitch.

“We’ve got to get all the right over the next nine or 10 days that’s left, but my overriding thought at the moment is on the group that’s here and how we push to get the most out of ourselves.”

Photo: TWTD

matt1977 added 12:29 - Aug 25 That’s not really true is it… 10 of the starting 11 on Saturday were here last season and 5 of the subs!!
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blues1 added 12:36 - Aug 25 MickMillsTash. And how do you work out thst if we hadnt conceded the penalty we'd have conceded a set piece anyway? That was their only attempt on target. So clearly we wouldnt have. Especially when we totally controlled the rest of the match. If we can just get more balls into the box, and get more of our shots on target, then the goals will come, and things will start to look up.

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TimmyH added 12:38 - Aug 25 A new team to build but with players that should be doing better than what they're doing currently...quite a number of other sides in the Championship wouldn't mind having our squad. We do maybe need a degree of time for the side to 'gel' (yes that word again)...but only a period of time considering the so called quality at this level we have.
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bobble added 12:57 - Aug 25 As the previuos team only won 4 out of 40 games its a great idea to build a new team...lets hope this one is more successful
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bluesissy added 12:57 - Aug 25 Same old guff...deflecting his failure
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blueboy1981 added 13:04 - Aug 25 The excuses have to STOP NOW - the squad (with another couple of additions) is as strong as any in tha Championship, and stronger than many - it’s the One Trick Pony where the problem is !! It’s high time he proved me wrong …. !! - I would welcome that, but it isn’t going to happen !
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churchmans added 13:27 - Aug 25 Can we sign alexander mitrovic!! The guy is a free agent atm
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bluesissy added 13:45 - Aug 25 Im sorry but km is a desperate man....
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ArnieM added 13:56 - Aug 25 Blues1: dude Town a tusllh " have control of the rest of the match"( after PNE scored from the spot)? Or did PBE just shut up shop, retreat into a deep defensive position znd say come on then. They demonstrated a naster class in how to defend in all honesty and we had nowhere near enough guile to break it down. Town historically have never bern able to unpick a team that "parks the bus". For a start we moce the valley about around their 18 yard area far too slow. The Preston defenders didn't really get pulled about out of position of frankly even break sweat. McKenna really dies need to look at how hes going about things and how hes utilising his players. For instance dunce Dzvis has been asked to play this inverted role, he by and large anonymous as a overlapping attack threat - thst now supposed to be Clarkes told I presume (as hes been given Davis' space), but its largely ineffective atm . So how long does he persist with this tactic?

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Nottsblue66 added 14:03 - Aug 25 His talks are getting boring now said that last season as well and we still only managed to win 4 games? How on earth is he still in a job 4 wins in 40 games I’m sorry did a great job getting us up but it’s about now. Time to call it a day Ashton and the American iwners
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Nottsblue66 added 14:09 - Aug 25 Pilgrim blue spit on buddy McKenna has to go brought in average players and shipped out quality players I don’t think he has it no more he looks lost But the truth is most fans on here have blinkers on and think the sun shines out of his backside unfortunately
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Wooly74 added 14:12 - Aug 25 I had almost forgotten how fickle some of our so called fans are, I expect if we don’t start winning soon they will totally disappear like they did when we went down to League 1. Perhaps that’s a good thing, then us real fans can sit and watch the team and enjoy match days without some moron commenting from next to us. Ffs get a grip some of you, look where we’ve come from only three seasons ago, this is a summer of transition and it will take time to get the squad playing together and we have that, time. So button up sweet cheeks and either get behind the current squad or disappear again, you are boring the real fans who stuck by this club through thick and thin.

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Carberry added 14:27 - Aug 25 When they go on coaching courses they are shown different scenarios and ways to respond, like falling behind and needing to score - maybe he missed that day because it appears he relies on simply changing personnel to achieve something with plan A. Recruitment is another story, he was appointed because he was a promising young coach who wouldn't get involved in transfer dealings so that Ashton could have complete control. Draw what you want from that but it hasn't worked out on the pitch has it? 4 wins in 40. Put the statue on hold.

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Broadbent23 added 14:31 - Aug 25 Remember when KMc arrived it took six months to mould a winning side. Hopefully within the next six weeks if we beat Norwich 4-0 all this despair will be forgotten about. How many people on TWTD could do a better job than KMc. We have the tools but we just need to devise methods to use them effectively. There are still 129 points to fight for; what is the panic.
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Cervantes added 15:13 - Aug 25 I can scarcely believe some of the comments on here, the ones calling for change or calling us useless. It'll take 5 or 6 games for us to find our rhythm and then I think we can expect to see results improve. I'll be extremely surprised if we're not int the play-off positions, if not better.
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bluesissy added 15:32 - Aug 25 Well that should be done in the close season sherlock!!! Ffs
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bluesissy added 15:48 - Aug 25 Why is it always ipswich scratching around for the leftovers once the season has started....poor management
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Bramidan added 15:55 - Aug 25 No problem sticking together and supporting our team. Could we at least look like we are interested in scoring. Play on the front foot going forward rather than passing sidewards or backwards. We got hammered in the PL, not big or athletic enough compared to other teams. Can we at least attack? It is supposed to be entertaining, lose the ball in their penalty area, don’t be afraid. Get the crowd behind you. Sterile football is now outdated, ask Grealish and Pep!

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dieselmorris added 16:54 - Aug 25 to all the people on here having a go at McKenna, tuanzebe out of contract wanted to go, burgees out of contract wanted to go, hutchinson, broadhead, delap sold because they wanted to go,loungo contract not renewed, morsey wanted away for big payday why wouldn't you.muric was slagged for mistakes quite rightly so. we need a good midfielder and striker and we will be fine, three games in some of you need to go and see your therapist.

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dirtydingusmagee added 17:13 - Aug 25 I've said before give it 5 or 6 games,I'll stick with that but without the needed signings ( not the dregs in desperation) i fear we are going to struggle mid table a best i just hope we can get going before we play Norwich..
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 17:21 - Aug 25 dieselmorris is right. Hutchinson, Broadhead, Delap and Morsey all wanted to leave for different reasons. We clearly need some midfield reinforcement, which I hope will come this week. It isn't as if we haven't already tried to fill this gap, but the transfer market is very tough - we are not the only club on the lookout for good players. It's incredible to read so much invective after only 3 games and one narrow defeat. Keep that faith, and I think things will work out.

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slobfeatures added 17:45 - Aug 25 Blue in Boston I seem to remember a lot of fans writing Morsey off last season saying his legs are gone. So I don’t think he jumped ship he was told he wouldn’t feature much this year so don’t blame him for moving on for his family. Having said that he was definitely the glue that held our midfield together. Matusiwa is getting there.
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slobfeatures added 17:58 - Aug 25 Cantona11 Agree the penalty was soft standing right behind the goal. Any momentum we tried to build was stifled by shirt pulling, fouls and time wasting. We need a few more players that don’t get knocked over by bully boy teams. That was a problem last year in prem. but it also happened in the championship last time round. Cajuste looked different clas when he came on. Why isn’t he starting with him? Take him off when he’s spent. We could have had a goal by that time.

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armchaircritic59 added 18:13 - Aug 25 Broadbent23, the answer to your question above, is of course no one. Maybe those that think they can, should request a one day job swap, just to get a taster. I think that would be more than enough! I don't agree with everything KM does, playing people out of position has been a huge bugbear for me for decades, it's not necessary, but do I think I can do a better job? Not a snowball in hells chance. Oh and just a mention for a blueboy81 post above. It doesn't happen frequently, but part of it I certainly do agree with. As he says, and I agree, with a couple of additions the squad is a strong as any in the Championship and stronger than many, I would say, virtually any. About 10 days ago I put a post up in here saying, I was very confident that by the time the window slammed shut, which is 7 days and one hour away as I type this, there would be no stronger squad in the Championship, well I'm still waiting for what I consider to be the two absolute essentials, a creative midfielder and a goalscorer, at least as good as GH, and hopefully better. I also said if I was wrong, I would make an apology post in here, which I stand by. Lot's can happen in the final week of a window and I expect it will, in's and outs. We will wait and see. If nothing has happened by the weekend, before the Derby game, I will be practicing that apology, just in case!

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Carberry added 18:48 - Aug 25 So, nobody can have an opinion because we can't do McKenna's job. What a dull life we will all lead.
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