Are Ipswich better equipped for Premier League this time?
There is no doubt that lessons were learned by McKenna during Ipswich's season in the Premier League, only his third full campaign as a head coach. One charge which could perhaps have been levelled at him was that he showed too much loyalty to players who had served him well previously. The starting 11 for the 2024-25 season opener against Liverpool at Portman Road, which they lost 2-0, contained six players who also began their final League One game against Fleetwood Town just 15 months earlier - Christian Walton, Luke Woolfenden, Leif Davis, Massimo Luongo, Wes Burns and Conor Chaplin.
Walton, Davis and Burns are all still in the current Ipswich squad, along with striker George Hirst, who also played in that 2-2 draw at Fleetwood. There was a radical change of personnel at Portman Road last summer when 11 new players were signed, with the help of Premier League parachute money, including Chilean playmaker Marcelino Nunez from regional rivals Norwich for a reported £10m. It took time for the new-look squad to gel - they did not win any of the opening four league games this season - and there were further additions in January when Anis Mehmeti and Dan Neil arrived.
They have not matched the 2024 team's total of 96 points, nor their 28 wins, nor their goals tally of 92, but that could be a reflection of the extra competitiveness of the Championship this year. "The players have grown over the course of the season - you look at this last run, this was our eighth game in 26 days, three away games back-to-back, there have been a lot of challenges," McKenna told BBC Radio Suffolk. "They stuck at it and you can't ever underestimate how hard it is to get promoted to the Premier League.
It's a great achievement. "To finish with one loss in 15 games really shows the character of the group really came together by the end. " One surprise in the January transfer window was that Ipswich did not sign a striker to provide competition for Hirst and Ivon Azon - in 2024, they brought in Wales' Kieffer Moore on loan and he provided seven goals to help seal promotion.
Hirst has hit double figures this season, but Azon has scored only five times, and it may be asking a lot to expect them to provide the goals to give Ipswich a chance of staying in the Premier League. Ipswich managed only 36 in 38 games in the top flight last season and finding someone who can hit the target regularly is surely an absolute must this summer - especially as Jaden Philogene, who has contributed 11 from midfield, will not be afforded as many opportunities to indulge his taste for the spectacular. There will also be questions about whether Walton should remain first-choice keeper, having played only seven top-flight games, and the solidity of the defence.