Kipre: I Hope I Showed Boss He Can Trust Me
Wednesday, 8th Oct 2025 09:39 by Kallum Brisset

Town defender Cédric Kipré hopes to have earned Kieran McKenna’s trust following his East Anglian derby heroics on Sunday.

The Blues defeated Norwich City 3-1 at Portman Road to secure their first victory over the Canaries in more than 16 years, finally putting an end to their winless run against their arch-rivals.

Kipré made only his second league start, but struck his first goal for the club when he opened the scoring after 32 minutes to set Town on their way in the derby.

Alongside a strong and accomplished defensive performance, the Ivorian stood out as he replaced Jacob Greaves in the starting XI, and Kipré is focused on doing all he can to keep his place in the side.

“We’ve got a few centre-backs and all of them are very good so it’s fair competition,” he said.

“If I have the chance to play, I have to make sure I grab the chance and show the manager that he can trust me and I can play week in, week out. I hope I sent out a good message.

“It’s difficult, there’s very tough competition. When I have my chance, I need to make sure I take it and grab it. I try to do my best and then let the manager make his decisions.”

Kipré was also widely praised for his work in possession, regularly taking the responsibility upon himself to play the ball out of defence with composure and an eye for a pass.

It should come as no surprise, given the 28-year-old revealed that he spent a large period of his youth career playing further up the pitch.

“It is a big part of my game,” he said. “I’ve grown up not a centre-back, so this is why it is a bit easier for me.

“I was maybe 13 or 14. They moved me to a number six, and then a centre-back. I was a winger.”

Asked about his turn of pace, he joked: “Not any more! Before, yeah, but not any more.”

What it means for the league standings is that the Blues are ninth in the Championship and sit five points outside the top two with a game in hand following a third successive home victory.

Town travel to second-placed Middlesbrough next Friday after the second international break of the season.

While Kipré would have liked to be able to continue the positive momentum quickly, he is keen to take stock of victory on derby day and rest up ahead of another busy block of fixtures.

He said: “It’s a derby, 16 years and we won. Everyone’s happy and everyone feels confident as well and that’s what we need for a big season. Hopefully after the break we keep going.

“We need to keep that going. Unfortunately there’s a little break now, but I hope that when we come back we keep going with that momentum.

“I wouldn’t say it comes at the right time because we’re on good momentum and we would have liked to keep that going, but it’s going to be nice for the legs because there are some very tough and important games coming. We will rest up and come back stronger.”

Photo: Matchday Images

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Mark added 09:49 - Oct 8 Kipré was outstanding in Sunday. Strong, confident, forward thinking, and what a great finish! He looks an excellent signing and McKenna was right to select him on Sunday. He deserves to keep his place.
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planetblue_2011 added 09:49 - Oct 8 With a performance like that he should be first name on the team sheet every week
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USA added 09:52 - Oct 8 Interestingly timed comments with the context of Wolf’s recent comments. An intriguing one to watch going forward
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Rimsy added 10:01 - Oct 8 One of the things noticeable last season, we were too lightweight to compete with the Pl. We look physically stronger this season through the spine of the team. Kipre is a unit and won't be bullied, he was superb in the derby and deserves to keep his place.
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fifeblue added 10:10 - Oct 8 I saw him in the pre-season friendly against Charlton at Colchester and I was immediately struck by his presence, composure, strength and skill. He could have a massive influence on the outcome of any game against any opponent. I doubt that even Haaland could knock him off the ball, he is that strong and imposing.
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Marinersnose added 10:11 - Oct 8

Outstanding performance. He looks very good with the ball at his feet whereas our Captain looks nervous and edgy with the ball. I’d love to see him play on the right and have a naturally left sided player on the left.Wolfie probably had a point and it’s highly unlikely that O’Shea steps down even after several well below par performances. Greaves or Young alongside Kipre would be a better fit in terms of playing out from the back.

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BobbyBell added 10:17 - Oct 8 He must keep his place, he was so good on Sunday. He seems so calm and assured and his footwork was great at times. He said in an interview that he used to be a striker so he will always pose a goal threat at set pieces The sheer size of the man will have an effect on most strikers coming up against him.
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Dissboyitfc added 10:22 - Oct 8 has to keep his place doesnt he!
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IvorFeeling added 10:28 - Oct 8

Injury is the only reason for Greaves to get back in. Kipre is physically more dominant, reads the game well and his distribution is better than what we have seen of JG.

The spine of the team is so important for a good season, the CM is now in a very good shape, Hirst & Azon do a good jog of leading th line with only the CB pairing looking shaky at times. Hopefully, Kipre playing consistently well and establishing a partnership with O’S will see us rise very quickly.

ThatMuhrenCross added 10:38 - Oct 8 Has to play. You can't be dropped after a performance like that.
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Gforce added 10:51 - Oct 8 He was certainly more composed on the ball,than O'Shea in the early stages on Sunday.On current form the best defender at the club and must surely keep his place up at Middlesbrough.
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EricGatesShinpad added 11:00 - Oct 8 Greaves just need to learn to keep on his feet, stop falling over and essentially being fragile. It was said before Butch needs to have a chat about the robustness and presence a CB needs. I can't see Cedric falling on the floor very often unless the brick ****house starts playing up front against us .....
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ThaiBlue added 11:02 - Oct 8 Was fantastic v Norwich hope oshea watched as he will have learned a bit on how to defend,shear looked terrible in the 1st half carry on like that and he will be on the bench.
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ThaiBlue added 11:03 - Oct 8 Sorry oshea.
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ploughman added 11:04 - Oct 8

Agree that Kipre should continue. More importantly though - on Sunday we kept on playing the ball out from Palmer to the centre backs, it nearly always went to O Shea and to Furlong and we lost possession. We did this repeatedly even though it ended in lots of giving the ball away. At the very least we need to use Davis and Philogene on the left to a greater extent to use the centre of the pitch with Cajuste and Matusiwa (but not when they're on the edge of the penalty area!).

I worried that we didn't seem to have the captain's voice saying, 'this isn't working, let's try something different'. The crowd certainly showed their frustration and applauded when Palmer chose to kick

Cakeman added 11:04 - Oct 8 Mark I agree that Cedric’s goal was a great finish and One that has been somewhat glossed over as Jaden’s wonder strike has rightly caught the main attention but Cedric made his goal look a lot easier than it was. He brilliantly controlled the ball and turned quickly to fire home with power in a very crowded Six yard box. Cedric has to start against Middlesbrough.
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Vic added 11:24 - Oct 8 Re the top photo - Photographer did well to get that picture, it was one of the few occasions that Sargent got out of Kippers pocket.
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BulgarianBlue added 11:30 - Oct 8 It could only have been politics that has kept him out the side until now ;) He looks much better than Greaves at the moment.
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flykickingbybgunn added 11:45 - Oct 8 It is good that we now know that we have another CB that is sound. Over to you Mr Geaves, you have a battle on your hands for that shirt.
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PortmanTerrorist added 11:51 - Oct 8

As much as I like Kipré and loved the way he spoke after the Derby, in Greaves and O'Shea (huge error in making him Captain) we have simply failed to upgrade on Woolfy and Burgess. I fully understand the commercial aspect of these deals and the direction the Club has to take to grow financially, but those 2 are NOT better defenders and are MILES OFF being progressive with the ball. I think this is McKenna's biggest test, to get our defense to be as productive as they were last time around in the Championship, and Kipré may be a big part of the solution now....though as every West Brom fan will tell you, he has a 'Rick' in him, so let's be prepared to tolerate that if/when it happens as he may be our best option !

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Linkboy13 added 12:07 - Oct 8 Early days not getting too carried away but looks promising not the quickest but reads the game well and good in possession. I think in general our signings have been good championship standard but not Premier league quality.
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Gazelle added 12:17 - Oct 8 O’Shea was our best defender last season but he’s going through a shaky spell especially when we’re playing it out from the back. Maybe he’s under pressure as Captain but he was the obvious choice.
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bluesnightorg added 12:18 - Oct 8 Of course he has a rick in him. Otherwise, his name would just be Cédipré.
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TimmyH added 12:21 - Oct 8

Had my reservations about him playing on Sunday but came through with flying colours keeping Josh Sargent relatively quiet...but still early days for him, we've seen defenders play well for a few matches and then to go off the boil or have tougher spells i.e. Greaves, Woolfie etc. but I think It's for McK to start him for a number of games and those include Boro and West Brom and lets see how he gets on...with £15M greaves on the bench I'd think it wouldn't take much for him to come back in.

poet added 12:34 - Oct 8 He was a tower of strength, displaying composure, accuracy, great vision and coolness. All the attributes of a very good Centre Half. I’m looking forward to seeing him play in more upcoming games. Great performance and an extremely good signing.
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