Ipswich Town 2022: Kieran McKenna impresses at Portman Road

From mid-table League One mediocrity at the start of the year to bang-on League One title contenders by the end of it - hell,we've even won two FA Cup games - 2022 has been a year when Ipswich Town Football Club has regained its mojo.

Okay, so it's still League One. And for many of us who have supported the Town for more years than we care to remember, it's a division we are not comfortable being in.

However, we are where we are but at least now the future appears brighter than it has for many a long season.

A close bond, Ipswich Town players (Image: Ross Halls)

Ipswich Town Football Club has superb and enthusiastic owners, plus has re-engaged with a fan base that it was incredibly close to losing.

And while I could waffle on about changes to the stadium, new signage, new scoreboards, a better Fan Zone, an improved menu in the media suite, etc - all much appreciated - there is one main reason Town fans feel the club is back on its way up... And that's Kieran McKenna.

Football clubs are not solely about managers. But managers can be absolute. Managers set the standard, they can set the tone. At Ipswich Town, we think of Sir Alf, Sir Bobby, George Burley, who did so much with their guidance and influence. Many other football clubs can name similar managers who have done so much.

And let me make it clear I'm not putting Kieran McKenna in the bracket of 'legend' manager yet. But he's made a decent start.

On the occasions I've spoken with Kieran in 2022 - and they are nowhere near as many as my colleagues Stuart Watson and Andy Warren - I have been left with a comfortable feeling about his management style.

His calmness and intelligent outlook, I suggest, masks a fierce determination inside to want to succeed. You don't go into football management to make up the numbers, or just jog along for the ride.

McKenna is a modern-day manager. Throwing tea cups, pulling his hair out, running up and down the touchline with joy or anger, is not his style. He has already demonstrated that he's keen to avoid getting too high with the wins and too low with the setbacks.

You can call him Kieran. I imagine his door is invariably open, although he'd rather be on the training pitch. Treat players with respect and trust that it will be reciprocated.

Because this is 2022 (soon to be 2023), not 1974. Things have changed in football and management is very much one of them.

Sam Morsy and Kieran McKenna, a good team (Image: PA)

I'm not suggesting you don't have to show passion on the touchline, or be an ever-composed figure who never lets their guard down. Even Pep kicks the odd water bottle about and Klopp loves a good moan at officials.

But in 2022, it's how you deal with players that is the key to success. Players have often been complicated, they still are and it's not always their fault. Managing them is an art.

I look at today's Ipswich Town squad and have to remind myself, as we all do, that McKenna is working with an Ipswich squad he mainly inherited - Donacian, Edmundson, Burgess, Woolfenden, Morsy, Evans, Aluko, Chaplin, Burns, Jackson, Walton were all here before he was.

READ MORE: Kieran McKenna on his first year at Town

Maybe Paul Cook might have got it all right given another six months, we'll never know.

Yet, there is little doubt McKenna has changed the playing landscape, the feel of the squad, the wanting to be part of it, the appreciation that everyone has a part to play.

He's improved them as players. All down to him. No-one else can claim credit, even though a modest McKenna will shake his head and suggest otherwise.

He's crafted his own path, yet helped the careers of his players. He deserves the plaudits.

Take the Northern Irishman's relationship with captain Sam Morsy.

Ipswich Town fans at Portsmouth recently, enjoying their side again (Image: Ross Halls)

It's a relationship I've watched from the sidelines with interest and I find fascinating.

I've witnessed solid bond building between two men, both good at their jobs. Morsy is 31 and McKenna is 36. That's no age gap between skipper and gaffer. But McKenna has - and continues - to make it blossom (Morsy too, of course). The Ipswich boss has identified an important building block to any good side, having a captain on the pitch who speaks the manager's language. 

So, let's get to the nuts and bolts, because stats don't lie.

I'm indebeted to Renegade Statman on Twitter for the following info on Town's 2022 season.

Under McKenna Town have played 53 games in 2022, won 28, drew 15 and lost 10. Ipswich have scored 89 goals and conceded 40. There have been 25 clean sheets.

He's used 42 players, with Conor Chaplin making most appearances (49), while Chaplin has scored most Town goals this calendar year (17). That just begs the question should a striker be topping the scoring charts? I'll park that for now. We can discuss that again next month!

Scoring goals and making appearances, Conor Chaplin (Image: Steve Waller)

Quite simply the stats are terrific, losing just 10 of 53 games played.

Of course, there is still a long way to go and there will come ugly times where vultures circle around Portman Road looking at McKenna when a management position is up for grabs somewhere higher up the pyramid than League One.

But McKenna is building something in Ipswich. He knows that. He has years ahead of him in management and he's at a club that has produced some of England's best-ever managers, who were given time. There's no reason time won't be given him here.

Yes, we do have 'super Kieran McKenna' but McKenna has us as well. It's a two-way street both fans and manager right now cruising along nicely, roof down, music playing.

There will be bumps. There will be times we may question Kieran McKenna. But let's try not to be short-sighted. Think where we were. Think where we are.

Ipswich Town have a bright young boss who has helped make 2022 a year to remember.

What 2023 holds, who knows?

But McKenna's at the wheel.. And right now, we should be glad.

Cameron Burgess celebrates his equaliser at Portsmouth. (Image: Page Pix)