Town CEO Mark Ashton says tying manager Kieran McKenna down to a new long-term deal gives the Blues the stability and the platform to move forward.

McKenna, 37, put pen to paper on a new contract which runs to the summer of 2027 earlier today.

“Delighted to get it across the line,” Ashton said in an interview with the club's social media. “It’s something that we’ve been working on now probably for the last three or four weeks.

“It shows a further commitment from Kieran to the football club and gives us that sense of stability to move forward into the Championship.

“From a board perspective, we talked about this whilst the season was ongoing but we felt we’d let the season finish and whatever way in which the season had finished, it was something that we wanted to do. Kieran had got two years left on his his current contract.

“But to give us that stability and that platform to move forward, we thought it was important that he was rewarded, firstly for the work that he’d done, but important also that we had a longer runway to put the plans in place and continue the journey.

“The conversations really started with Kieran and myself directly after the season, a couple of days after the season had finished, and I’m delighted to get it across the line today.”

Ashton says all thoughts are now on the campaign ahead in the Championship with the players set to return to Playford Road on Monday 26th July and new recruits set to join in the weeks to come.

“We’ve celebrated last season, that was great, we’ll never forget it, but we have to move quickly on to next season because it will hit us like a thunderbolt, we have to be ready, we have to be prepared,” he continued.

“We’ve tidied up, we’ve released some players, we’ve tied down players on new contracts, we’ve now probably tied down the most important person on a new long-term contract and over the next two, three, four weeks you’ll start to see players come into the football club in a very coordinated and organised manner. I think we’re in a strong shape, but we have to be focus now on moving forward.”

Photo: TWTD

Juggsy added 21:08 - Jun 16 Players back 26th July Phil?
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Guthrum added 21:19 - Jun 16 Juggsy - we're Ipswich, we don't need no pre-season!
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muhrensleftfoot added 21:42 - Jun 16 I still find it hard to believe the contrast between this and how Marcus Evans ran the club. Everything now is so professional. Delighted that Kieran has committed to the club and with him at the helm I can really see us challenging for the playoffs next season. Ashton is a genius getting him on board. A million miles away from the days of Clegg and …. Can't even remember the name of the other one.

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RobsonWark added 21:53 - Jun 16 Well done Mark and the owners for sanctioning this. Kieran has shown his qualities as a young manager and he will only get better - like Eddie Howe. I could not see Kieran going anywhere anyway, despite all the rumours in the papers about him being linked to other jobs. He knows he has the full backing of the CEO and investors to do the job as evidenced in the changes he requested at the training ground and all the investment in Portman Road and new players. He will be given time to build a great team. If he had gone to say Celtic or a Premiership club he may have been out of a job by Christmas if he had not got the results they wanted. Premier League clubs want to spend money and want instant success - didn't work for Chelsea last season though. It takes time to build a team. Players need to play with each other week in week out. As long as there is evidence of progress everyone should be happy. We LOVE you Kieran!

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RobsonWark added 22:01 - Jun 16 Munrensleftfoot do you mean Ian Milne? The man who knew nothing about football. He who told fed up supporters to come to Portman Road because where else can you get 2 hours of entertainment for only £25? There was no entertainment watching Mick McCarthy's teams on the pitch which is why home crowds dwindled to 13,000.
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BlueWax added 22:32 - Jun 16 Yet another day for Town fans to celebrate, especially the guy with KM tattoo! Well done MA and thank you for your loyalty Kieran and your sexy football...give it a look sometime Mickma and Mr Sutton! I was over the moon when i heard this news....roll on next Thursday!
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Blues_Sky_Thinking added 22:34 - Jun 16 I may be overstating but in so many ways I think KM is our best manager since Bobby Robson. The guy has been complete class since the moment he walked through the door at the end of 2021. The board is backing him and I firmly believe ITFC will be back in the Premier League in 2/3 years with KM at the helm. I also get the impression that Kieron wants to stay and see this project through because he knows that he's at a proper football club that will alow him to do his job and there's room to grow. Exciting times.

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ArnieM added 23:14 - Jun 16 Christmas came early for Town fans this year. I love KMcK. I'll tell you now.. this has the feeling of another Bobby Robsonisque era. The modern game we're now, in and the owners we have now- nothing is impossible. We will be limited only by our fears. This club is growing by the week both on and off the pitch, and when a current Town player says things like “ everyone wants to play for Ipswich”, you know our stock has risen in the game …. The word is out, Ipswich is the place to be.

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ImAbeliever added 23:19 - Jun 16 Blue Sky…👍
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grow_our_own added 23:40 - Jun 16 McKenna-ball on our new bowling-green pitch. Loving it. Now if we can just sign George Hirst for another season+ please.
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Churchman added 23:57 - Jun 16 You can see MA is over the moon with this and he's right to be. Ashton is right. When everyone is aligned, you can't half achieve a lot. Anyone who's been part of a team in any walk of life and experienced it will tell you that. In the Championship, if your club and team are organised and the manager has a sprinkling of good players for the level, you are in with a chance.

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Saxonblue74 added 07:28 - Jun 17 Best news we've had for many years.....and we've had lots of good news recently! The stability this brings should prove an attractive proposition for potential new signings, I'll be keeping a very close eye on TWTD over ylthe coming weeks!🤞
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Europablue added 07:29 - Jun 17 Churchman Just by running your club properly, you are almost guaranteed to stay up in the Championship. I'm wondering what expectations each party has and whether multiple seasons in the Championship will be suitable.
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Rimsy added 10:37 - Jun 17 Top class from top to bottom, makes us proud again. Although I don't like to mention him, I wonder what Marcus Evans thinks when he looks on now. He must rue the missed opportunity had he only been more professional and invested in the club like the current owners.
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IpswichT62OldBoy added 16:23 - Jun 17 Premiership is the stated goal, and then Europe, KMcK said as much in his interview after signing.
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dirtydingusmagee added 11:41 - Jun 18 a close knit unit all with ambition ,backed by actions , not empty words and pipe dreams, a decade of nightmares behind us , We are THE PRIDE OF EAST ANGLIA, not the JOKE, that we became in Evans era .
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therein61 added 19:03 - Jun 19 Mr Ashton is the best thing to happen to our club coming in with the new owners and having a steady look ahead plan for our rise Kieran(forgetting players) has been his best signing he probably had him in his pocket when sounded out by the new owners as he moves very quickly undercover as it were to get things done, What a refreshing change from Evans and big gob the damage they were doing losing supporters and steadily sliding downhill would have meant we would be in the same division as Mr Skuse in a few years!!.

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