Ipswich Town: How Kieran McKenna guided Tractor Boys to immediate Premier League return | Football News

Ipswich Town have sealed an immediate return to the Premier League after a 3-0 final-day win over QPR secured automatic promotion from the Championship.

They went into Saturday’s home game needing to match fellow challengers Millwall’s result at home to Oxford and the victory over Rangers has seen Kieran McKenna mastermind a second Championship promotion in three years.

It is also a third promotion in four seasons on McKenna’s managerial CV, but the first in which he has had to pick a team up from setbacks while rebuilding a squad’s personnel and playing style.

Two seasons ago, Ipswich were the surprise package that held off the threat of Leeds United and Southampton among others to finish second in their first season back in the Championship.

This season, they started as a club with Premier League parachute payments like Leeds and Southampton were before them and were many pundits’ favourites to bounce straight back with the budget and weight of spending behind them.

That added pressure has been reflected in a more pragmatic promotion push this time around rather than the pulsating and jaw-dropping ride supporters enjoyed in 2023/24.

Calm-headed McKenna steers Ipswich back to top flight

You can easily count on the fingers of two hands the number of jobs McKenna has been linked with in his time as Ipswich boss.

He perhaps came closest to departing Portman Road hot off the back of his double promotion exploits with jobs at Brighton, Chelsea and Man Utd more than just mere speculative links in the summer of 2024.

Even after Premier League relegation, he was once again linked with vacancies. Celtic came up more than once this season and he was even mentioned in conversations around Tottenham, West Ham and Bournemouth.

But his decision to stick at Ipswich and the backing he has received in the transfer market has been rewarded even if this campaign has felt like more of a grind than a victory lap at times.

Compared with the 2023/24 season where they amassed 96 points, Ipswich have only mustered 84 this time around. Wins have been harder to come by on the road than at home and their longest winning streak has only stretched to four games.

Ipswich racked up 92 goals in their last promotion season compared with 80 this term.

While clean sheets have risen largely thanks to goalkeeper Christian Walton’s performances, Ipswich have been top of the league for big chances missed (84 before the final game) as frontline strikers George Hirst and Ivan Azon have only netted 16 times between.

Forwards Jaden Philogene and Jack Clarke have led the way on 12 and 16 goals respectively, even more impressive considering those two have rarely been on the pitch at the same time.

On top of all that, only two games have been won all season from going behind, both coming in April. Opponents have been wiser and sharper to their style this time around and Ipswich and their fans have had to show patience more often than not.

Rebuilt Tractor Boys go again

After the highs of back-to-back promotions from League One and the Championship in McKenna’s first two full seasons in charge, a humbling experience in the Premier League followed last season.

Ipswich could only register four top-flight wins as they finished second from bottom and were never realistic survival candidates.

A host of departures and arrivals followed that relegation as along with Liam Delap’s £30m move to Chelsea, stalwarts of the double promotion-winning side also said their farewells.

While there were 10 notable new additions during the summer transfer window, seven went the other way, including a few that split opinions among the fanbase.

Omari Hutchinson eventually joined Nottingham Forest for a club-record sale of £37.5m. But club captain Sam Morsy mutually agreeing his departure to initially move to Kuwait, academy graduate Luke Woolfenden joining Coventry City, Nathan Broadhead returning to his roots by moving to Wrexham and Conor Chaplin being loaned to former club Portsmouth on deadline day, were far from unilaterally approved.

The time had come for supporters to find new heroes, but who would they be and how quickly could they endear themselves with their hefty price tags?

Midfielder Azor Matusiwa would go on to be an almost ever-present along with right-back Darnell Furlong, who added a potent long throw-in to the armoury.

But winger Kasey McAteer failed to find his feet until the closing months of this season and Norwegian teenager Sindre Walle Egeli took time to settle into the English game after his £17.5m purchase broke the Championship transfer record.

There would also be a controversial and unexpected addition at the back end of the window. Marcelino Nunez became the first player in almost 25 years to move from East Anglian rivals Norwich City to add more fuel to the rivalry.

With the comings and goings, it was perhaps no surprise Ipswich took time to gel again and had to wait until their fifth league game to secure a first win. A 5-0 thumping of Sheffield United featured Jaden Philogene’s hat-trick that sparked his knack for producing top-drawer goals.

But while wins started to come through the autumn, including a significant first one in an East Anglian derby for 16 years, there was inconsistency aplenty.

Back-to-back defeats at Middlesbrough and at home to Charlton were followed by consecutive 4-1 away wins at QPR and Swansea.

It was not until the turn of the year that Ipswich started to rein in the top two of Coventry and Middlesbrough.

Wins at home and away in December against Coventry showed what could be achieved by a fully firing side and as 2025 turned into 2026, the longest winning streak of the season was recorded to lift them to second.

But inconsistency returned in the shape of one win from four into mid-February, including a humbling 5-3 defeat at Wrexham after leading 3-2.

That defeat, a week after the same opponents knocked them out of the FA Cup, saw Ipswich drop to fourth and eight points off the top two. Despite having games in hand, promotion credentials were being fiercely questioned even after the January additions of Anis Mehmeti from Bristol City and Dan Neil on loan from Sunderland.

The response – a nine-game unbeaten run that culminated in a statement 2-0 win at Norwich in mid-April to put them back into second with a two-point cushion over Millwall and with two games in hand.

But in amongst those nine games were missed opportunities. Frustrating draws at home to Leicester and away at Stoke, while on the flipside, a point at home to Millwall was hard-fought as the visitors finished the game firmly on the front foot.

While some parts of McKenna’s system were clicking, others were still creaking. The high of the win at Norwich was swiftly followed by a limp defeat at relegation-threatened Portsmouth as the final run of six games in 21 days began.

With the finish line in sight, it has been a stuttering final furlong from McKenna’s men aided by other challengers tripping up rather than capitalising.

A fortunate 2-2 draw against Middlesbrough having twice come from behind was followed by a come-from-behind win at Charlton, before nervy, and at times, thrilling draws at West Brom and Southampton before the final-day win over QPR secured second place.

After a campaign filled with nervous energy, the Portman Road faithful could finally celebrate another promotion to the top flight.

Can they cut it in the Premier League a second time around?

Now attention will turn to Ipswich’s chances next season. Are they equipped and better prepared for the step up than they were after the whirlwind of back-to-back promotions?

The players who stepped up as novices last time like centre-back Jacob Greaves, midfielder Jack Taylor and left-back Leif Davis should be more battle-hardened this time around. But there is little doubt they will still need more experience and flair alongside them.

The key will be getting any reinforcements in early. McKenna can hopefully use a new and improved training ground as one carrot to tempt those he thinks can fit his playing style and mentality.

Ipswich will look at Sunderland and how quickly their new recruits settled in the Premier League this season, but they might also learn from how Leeds changed systems and identified how to make home advantage count.

Town only won once all season at home two years ago and took until early November to register a first Premier League victory.

What is for sure – it will be another busy and exciting summer ahead for Ipswich fans after a season of nail-biting and nervousness to get the job done.