Ipswich Town are third in the Championship table with 12 games remaining.
I believe I had a successful season as an individual. I’ve played the most of the games and completed the tasks assigned to me by the boss efficiently.
I believe he understands that he can rely on me to deliver on his expectations, whether it’s defending on the halfway line, building from the back, or dealing with vast spaces in one-on-one scenarios.
Nine times out of ten, he knows exactly what he’ll receive from me. He sees it, and so does Perty (assistant boss Martyn Pert). Being the player who has started the most games under him demonstrates a high level of trust, which I am grateful for because I have never had it before in my career.
Even after you leave the team, he will sit you down, and by the end of the discussion, you will be almost relieved that you have been dropped, since he is so amazing at articulating his reasoning!
I’ve enjoyed working with him as a manager, and I believe I’ve earned it after three years! (Paul Cook, Paul Lambert, and Paul Hurst).
On whether fans have now got their heads around the ‘bait the press’ delayed passing out from the back approach…
To be fair, I believe the most of them do. When I go out, the bulk of the individuals I see approach me and say, “Don’t listen to those who complain about moving things forward.” I laugh about it with the boys.
This is one of those things. People see football in various ways. I believe the majority of people understand and respect how we play. The ones who haven’t, well, it’s been two years, so I doubt they’ll change!
It is about being daring, establishing traps, and attempting to draw out the opposition. If they believe they have a better chance of winning the ball higher up, they will commit more bodies, resulting in an overload at the top of the pitch. We’ve received the benefits of that several times this season, scoring a good number of goals as a result.
We know what we’re doing because we practiced it so much in training.
My favorite part is when the audience groans and then applauds within seconds. It’s like, “When I do it again, will you still groan?!”
For me, that’s the most difficult thing. When everything goes perfectly and everyone is on their feet clapping because we scored a goal, the first build-up phase can be forgotten.
More on McKenna…
He’s excellent at reading the room after games. When we’ve won but not played well, he’ll remark ‘let’s not kid ourselves’. Then there’ll be times when we’ve drawn, gone close to winning, and we’re all beating ourselves up, and he comes in and says, “Actually, there were a lot of good things in there.” He’s quite good in that regard.
We’re all pulling in the same direction. There are no bad apples in the squad, regardless of who plays and who does not. Everyone is simply so determined to see Ipswich finish strong this season.
On whether Town are in the title race…
Every year, we appear to be up against teams aiming for record-breaking seasons!
We were all quietly optimistic that we’d have a successful season, but it’s probably gone much better than anyone could have predicted.
We’ve had a terrific start, and to be honest, we haven’t really discussed it. It has simply been a case of ‘keep ticking along’.
Are we in a title race? You can look at it whatever you choose. There are three fantastic teams surrounding us who have dropped from the Premiership. We’re probably the only team keeping up with them.
If you’d like to call it a title race… The fans can call it what they want, they can be anxious and thrilled about it, and we’re just going along with it.
On not going up for set-pieces…
Chaz (first-team coach Charlie Turnbull) puts me back on the halfway line at the moment. I suspect the Maidstone counter-attack gave him nightmares!
We have other threats up there. Big Kieffer (Moore) from any cross, set-ups… You have seen his size; he is an incredible monster of a man. Leif (Davis) must be licking his lips as he chases down the assist record. They are going to be huge for each other.
On improving his aerial game…
This season, I’ve worked hard to improve my defensive game with Perty. In the Championship, there is always a striker trying to press you.You need to act quickly.
It’s not just about winning duels; it’s also about identifying a player on your team so you can attack rather than the ball simply falling anywhere and being returned to you.
We’ve all worked on it this season.
On completing 101 passes out of 102 in the 4-0 win at Millwall…
I am not sure about it, you know! I remember it. I was trying to pass to Omari (Hutchinson), and it hit the guy’s stud but still made it to him.So I believe it’s 102 out of 102.
I saw an interview with (Leicester’s Jannick) Vestergaard the other day, and he was talking about how his job has become practically simpler due to the way the team plays. Because they have the ball for so long, there is less defense to do.
On what it would mean to him to reach the Premier League with his hometown club…
(Puffs out his cheeks). It would be unbelievable really.
That’s a difficult question because I’ve always felt that… I’ve never considered it… For a long time, it was all about a League One team seeking to advance to the Championship. Prior to this season, I had never considered making it to the Premiership.
However, it is a very large club in Suffolk. Everyone wants it to succeed, and with the current funding, it appears to be on an upward trajectory that will allow it to simply fly.
I was a child sitting in the stands when we lost in the play-offs to Norwich five years ago (2015).I was too young to recall the club’s Premier League season (2000–2002). I was three or four. I have only watched the vids.
That’s why it feels surreal to me. That moment seems so distant, but it wasn’t. Since then, we’ve gained a whole new generation of fans, and if we make it to the Premier League, that number will increase.
So, certainly, it would be incredible for me to do it because I am from here and have a lot of friends who are Ipswich supporters. It truly would be unbelievable.
