Ipswich Town chief executive Mark Ashton and manager Kieran McKenna have spoken to Blues legend Matt Holland in a wide-ranging interview for the club. Here's a flavour of what was said.
ASHTON ON FINANCIAL BACKING
Ipswich have paid seven-figure fees on Leif Davis, Nathan Broadhead and Harry Clarke over the last two transfer windows.
On the club's spending, Ashton said: "The owners have been fantastic, both with their financial support and also their general moral support.
"Right up until the last day of the window they are asking me; ‘Do you need more? Do you want to do more? We’ll support you if you want to do more’.
"There’s nothing I can say they haven't backed us with. They are relentless and will continue to be relentless in rebuilding the club.
"I think we are probably the only team in League One who will pay the level of transfer fees that we’ve paid. That adds a level of pressure, but it allows us to be more selective in the type of player that we want to bring in to the football club."
ASHTON ON BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE
The aforementioned Clarke (21), Davis (23) and Broadhead (24) are all aged 24 or younger, while homegrown duo Luke Woolfenden (24) and Cameron Humphreys (19) have signed new contracts under the current ownership.
"Leif (Davis), (Nathan) Broadhead, (Harry) Clarke... These are young players that have left Premier League clubs to come, not to the Championship, but to League One and join a project and a plan and a journey," said Ashton.
"We’re trying to build the club in a sustainable manner. We don’t want to yo-yo. We want to get to the next level and when we get to the next level we want to be in a position where we are strong enough to progress again.
"I’ve always thought in the back of my mind ‘how will Kieran’s team perform against Championship clubs?’ Having spent the last decade in the Championship myself (at Bristol City), I’ve always thought the answer to that is ‘really well’.
"So I felt almost vindicated in my own mind when I saw those two performances against Burnley (in the FA Cup). There but for the grace of God we win either game. The neutral would have said they were two great games of football to watch. Burnley are a Premier League team in waiting and we pushed them right to the wire on both occasions.
"We have to earn the right to get there first though. We have to earn the right to get out of this division. That’s not easy. We don’t have a divine right because we’re Ipswich Town. We’ve got to earn it."
MCKENNA ON BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE
“In my opinion you can build a really strong team of men for one season from free transfers and loans.
“But if success is built heavily around loan players and senior players on short contracts you can go from here to here (gestures high and then low) very quickly - we've seen that in League One.
"We’ve signed some fantastic free transfers like Freddie Ladapo, Dominic Ball, Greg Leigh and Massimo Luongo, and we've taken Tyreece John-Jules (Arsenal) and George Hirst (Leicester) on loan.
"But as Mark says, with the fantastic support and the long-sightedness of our ownership group, we've also been able to make acquisitions that probably separate us from the other teams.
"It can create a pressure and can create a narrative. I know the reality is that is doesn’t guarantee anything for now. It doesn't give you a competitive advantage, in particular, on any given Saturday. But it does give you a better chance to be successful in the long-term."
ASHTON ON HIS 'IMPATIENCE FOR SUCCESS'
"It’s been 18 (22) months (since the takeover). Sometimes it feels a lot longer than that, but it has only been 18 (22) months and I have to remind myself that Kieran’s only been here just over year.
"I am impatient. I'm passionate about what I do. I'm passionate about this football club and success can't come soon enough.
"But let's be really clear, success is built. Success is not bought. It takes time. We will be relentless in building success.
"I'm really proud of the work that Kieran's done so far, but he’s only just started. I genuinely believe that we are only at the start of this amazing journey.
"Stability is key. Look at the Championship – it's wild. The majority of clubs have changed manager this season and a high number have changed twice.
"If we’re together and we have unity, we can do this.
"I promise you we will not fail through lack of hard work. Things will go wrong, there will be speed bumps and there will be challenges. But if we have unity in the club, unity with the fans and they keep turning up in the numbers they do then we will get there.
"We will be relentless in the pursuit of that excellence. I genuinely believe we will get this done."
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