Blues boss Kieran McKenna says he couldn’t be happier with his decision to have taken charge of Town last December, believing the club’s potential matches his ambitions.

McKenna was recruited from Manchester United, where he was a first-team coach, at the end of last year and has enjoyed a hugely impressive start to his management career with the Blues currently top of League One.

The Blues have won all four of their away games at the start of a season for the first time in their history and have won five and drawn two of their first seven league fixtures, matching the club record achieved in 1936/37, the club’s first professional season in the Southern League.

At this evening’s Fans’ Forum, the Northern Irishman was asked whether he believes he can go where he wants to go with Town.

“Very much so,” McKenna insisted. “I’ve said a few times that I wouldn’t have come to any League One football club. It’s my first opportunity, but I think that I could have had opportunities and would have had opportunities at a higher level, but I wanted to come to a project with massive potential.

“It was very important that the club that I took these steps in and coming to Ipswich Town with the history, the fanbase, the potential in the club with the investment that’s there, I think it was a perfect fit for me and that was the judgement that I made and I couldn’t be happier with that judgement.

“My 100 per cent focus is on the short, medium and long-term future of the club and I plan to, hopefully, be a big part of bringing this club back to the level where it belongs and having a really solid foundation here.

“That’s where my focus is completely at. I think the club has massive potential and I really want to be the manager to bring the club to that level.”

CEO Mark Ashton added: “I think you shouldn’t put a cap on where this football club can go. This football club is big enough to sustain top-flight football but we’ve got a helluva lot of work to do that because up until the start of this season we’ve been mid-table in League One for far too long.

“And Kieran’s absolutely instrumental to that plan and I think the owners have shown really clearly their intentions. We don’t waste money, we’re sensible where we invest it, we’ve been very active in the transfer market again, we’re investing in the infrastructure projects and I think this is a club that could take us all to where we want to go. But there’s a lot of work to go and I’m just delighted that Kieran’s with us.”

Photo: Pagepix

OliveR16 added 21:54 - Sep 5 This is an amazingly good time to be a Town fan. (I did see the open top bus in 1962 so have a bit of perspective as they say).
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ArnieM added 21:59 - Sep 5 Amen to all of the above. But please Mark Ashton, give McKenna a much longer contract - NOW!
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Suffolkboy added 22:05 - Sep 5 SO SO much promise , soo much potential – and we've a Management team so committed and enthusiastic from top down ! Let's all ride this train ! COYB
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Europablue added 22:29 - Sep 5 KM has the opportunity to manage in the Championship and even Premier League if he gets us there. If he can't then he might have found his level and he won't be that attractive to other clubs. I'm confident he will get us promoted at least to the Championship. I'm not that worried about losing him, because if he is successful we can grow and develop with him or get a better manager than we could have attracted at this level.

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joyousblue added 23:24 - Sep 5 Great great read , just wish they wouldn't keep. Describing him as the northern Irishman , it's so repetertive, the evening star says it all the time , we know he's from Ireland don't keep using that phrase please
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Len_Brennan added 06:51 - Sep 6 I believe everything he says here & do feel he is committed to the club (the project in business terms). A time will come when club in the top half of the Premier League make enquiries, & perhaps he will consider those, but from his prospective there is little value in jumping ship to a Championship club, or a bottom of the Premier League club with a weak squad & poor relative financing. Imagine his legend were he to bring an underperforming side from mid table in League 1 to the Premier League in 3 or 4 seasons of joining; that is possible with us, for all the reasons he outlines above. Who wouldn't want to he that manager, and no Championship club will offer him a higher salary package or greater support in the transfer market. It's all upside when you join an underperforming side with a huge fan base & strong support from the owner/board. The only possible club that could tempt him, by being able to accelerate the process, might be Nottingham Forest, who will probably sack Cooper soon if he can't get his 21 new players to gel into a coherent unit quickly - we know how that can work out. Even still I don't see it, as the risk is too high & the owners don't seem to be as measured as ours.

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SussexTractor added 07:34 - Sep 6 KM is a fantastic manager. Extremely detailed, methodical and has been mentioned many times by the players, everyone is well trained and knows what is expected of them for each particular match.
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Brazils_Hair added 09:28 - Sep 6 I'm now in my 50's and as OliveR16 said, I have seen a lot of things happen at PR over the years. But I am now as happy as I was when I was 8 years old being a Town supporter. It may be a cliché, but it really is an exciting time.
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IpswichT62OldBoy added 10:05 - Sep 6 Totally agree with Len Brennan, if he were to get us into the Premiership why would he leave? It would be HIS achievement, the biggest risk would be the fate of previous great town managers, getting the England job
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NthQldITFC added 11:24 - Sep 6 @OliveR16 - totally agree, although I wasn't around in those days. Were you actually On The Buses, Olive?
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Beattiesballbag added 12:17 - Sep 6 Can't understand people worrying about KM going else where! As they say, if he is successful he will be in the top flight with a team & club he has got there with owners he can trust, it will all be down to him not because of a rich owner buying the best players at a club already at the table. If he is the man he appears to be he would get much more satisfaction taking us back to the table & have us compeating with the heavy weights again.

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TimmyH added 12:30 - Sep 6 All good coming out from the club behind the scenes currently...
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1psw1ch added 12:40 - Sep 6 Best manager we've had since George burley,,, he's brought the good times back to pr and building a solid team,,, exciting times ahead for ipswich thanks to the boss,,, coyb
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blues1 added 12:44 - Sep 6 IpswichT62Old boy. He won't be going to manage England, and thats a fact. As he said when that was put to him at the previous forum, he's northern Irish and his family would never forgive him.
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blues1 added 12:45 - Sep 6 Joyousblue. The reason they say he's northern Irish, is bcse he is northern Irish, not Irish. They are different countries.
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IpswichT62OldBoy added 14:15 - Sep 6 Manage Northern Ireland then, same principle I think.
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BurleysGloryDays added 21:17 - Sep 6 Praise be, thank the lord and all hail KM!
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