Brentford will reportedly target Kieran McKenna once Thomas Frank completes his move to TottenhamBrentford will reportedly target Kieran McKenna once Thomas Frank completes his move to Tottenham (Image: PA)
Confirm McKenna’s future
The start of last summer was horrible.
Ipswich had secured automatic promotion to the Premier League, avoiding the play-offs, meaning that there was an extended break in between the two seasons. It was too early to look ahead to life in the top flight, but that bus parade around the town centre was undoubtedly in the rear view mirror.
The void was filled with a summer saga surrounding manager Kieran McKenna, who was linked with Manchester United, Chelsea and Brighton. Rumours swirled around and the interest was clearly genuine, but it was tough to know who to believe and at what time.
In the end, the Northern Irishman ended speculation by signing a new deal. That’s when everyone was able to look forward.
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McKenna probably won’t have another contract offer coming his way from Town this summer, but they do need to ensure that he’ll be at the club next season. Although he has said that he intends to remain in Suffolk, some dominos are starting to fall which could potentially lead to an exit - or at least the possibility.
Tottenham have sacked Ange Postecoglou and are closing in on appointing Brentford’s Thomas Frank. The Bees are reported to have picked McKenna as their target to replace him, with bookies’ favourite Justin Cochrane lined up for a coaching role at North London.
Would an offer from Brentford, or any other Premier League club, tempt him to leave Suffolk? The Blues need to find out soon.
Dara O'Shea and Cameron Burgess have been linked with summer exitsDara O'Shea and Cameron Burgess have been linked with summer exits (Image: Ross Halls)
Prepare for potential departures
Of course, it’s not just the manager who could move on this summer. The transfer window shut yesterday, but it will reopen next week, running until Monday, September 1st. In that period, Ipswich will surely confirm at least one or two departures.
Liam Delap has moved on, his £30m exit to Chelsea now confirmed. Will there be any others? Mark Ashton has said that there will be.
Omari Hutchinson reportedly has a £35m relegation release clause, which is believed to be attracting a bit of interest. Dara O’Shea is clearly a man in demand and understandably so. Ben Johnson, Sam Morsy, Sammie Szmodics, Jack Clarke and George Hirst are among those who have also been linked with moves away.
That’s not even mentioning Cameron Burgess and Axel Tuanzebe, who are both out of contract. Negotiations are ongoing, but they can’t continue forever.
They need to decide whether or not they see their respective futures at Portman Road, and the club needs to start picking out replacements if they do decide to move on.
I can’t see a world in which Town lose the spine of their squad. I think most players will want to be a part of the journey, but the club will have to have discussions with anyone who could potentially move on, if they haven’t already.
It’s best to be organised and get things planned out early doors if possible.
The Blues will look to sign a new striker following Liam Delap's departureThe Blues will look to sign a new striker following Liam Delap's departure (Image: Ross Halls)
Nail down target areas
Recruitment is a 24/7 thing. When the transfer window shuts, staff don’t sit around twiddling their thumbs until the next one. They are always scouting, always researching and always looking to improve the squad.
Things can change at a moment’s notice. You might get to the end of the transfer window and learn that the board has accepted a huge bid for a key player, leaving limited time to source a replacement. You’d hope that Ipswich would avoid situations like that where possible, which means that they should be able to take full advantage of their early relegation.
With a place in the Championship confirmed at the end of April, everyone has known for a while what league the club will be in. Scouts and recruitment staff have been able to focus on players who would join them in the second tier rather than the Premier League.
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McKenna will obviously have a big say in that. Key members of staff will need to analyse the squad and pick out the key positions to strengthen. At a glance, they will obviously need a striker and a couple of midfielders. From there, they might want to add depth at the back and in wide areas.
There have been a few links so far. Talks continue with Jens Cajuste, who spent last season on loan at Portman Road, while Chelsea’s Marc Guiu is also understood to be a concrete option. More rumours will come in the next few weeks as we start to discover which names are on the club’s shortlist.
Ipswich are yet to win a home league game in 2025Ipswich are yet to win a home league game in 2025 (Image: PA)
Approach the mentality shift
This, for me, is the most important thing to deal with this summer.
Ipswich are the favourites to win promotion next season. I think that’s fair, and I think that they will have a really good campaign. My one doubt is about the mentality. There are two big issues to address. The most important one is the internal and external expectations.
In League One, Town struggled when everyone assumed they would stroll to promotion. They had to face some adversity in the early stages of 2023, when a lot of people began to write them off, to kickstart a barnstorming run to promotion.
In the Championship, they were the underdogs, securing promotion by staving off two relegated Premier League sides. Nobody expected them to do what they did.
In the Premier League, it was a bridge too far, but that’s okay. Regardless, the Blues have spent most of the last three seasons fighting against the odds to achieve their goal.
Next season, that won’t be the case. They will be the target for everyone. They will probably have the best players and the best manager. Most people will tip them to win the league.
That’s a huge change, and everyone at the club will have to adapt to that.
Home form will also be a key talking point. In both 2022/23 (League One) and 2023/24 (Championship), Ipswich boasted a home record of 16 wins, six draws and one defeat. Last season, it was one win, four draws and 14 defeats.
The last home victory was against Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup on January 12th. The last league win at Portman Road came against Chelsea on December 30th. Town haven’t taken three points on Suffolk soil this calendar year, losing all nine games. No professional team in the country has had a run like that in 2025.
If Ipswich are going to challenge for promotion, they will need to banish their IP1 blues.
Ipswich are the favourites to secure promotion from the ChampionshipIpswich are the favourites to secure promotion from the Championship (Image: PA)
Tactical tweaks
With a change in mentality could come a slight change in tactics, although these won’t be wholesale by any means.
We saw some bits in the Premier League. The biggest switch came around the festive period, when McKenna started playing with three natural centre-backs to form a proper back five. We saw that off and on until the end of the campaign, although it probably won’t be used in the Championship.
The crux of the situation is this: Ipswich have had a couple of seasons where their squad hasn’t been significantly stronger than the average across the division. As a result, there are certain consistent elements that we’ve seen - two that stand out in my mind – that may be tinkered with.
One is the right side. The right-back normally operates as another centre-back out of possession, staying in defensive areas and playing more narrow to allow the winger in front of him to play as a wing-back.
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Will that approach remain next season? Johnson, for example, loves to bomb forward. If Tuanzebe leaves and he becomes the starting right-back, the set-up might look a bit different. There might be fewer defensive responsibilities for the right winger too.
The other one is in midfield, where Town have often operated with two defensive-minded players. Jack Taylor has been the only exception, and the returning Cameron Humphreys is a similar player.
Morsy, Cajuste, Kalvin Phillips and Massimo Luongo play in the no.6 role, but three of those four players aren’t at the club anymore. Could we see the Blues look at signing a ball-playing midfielder to start behind the front four?
We should get some answers in pre-season.