Since Kieran McKenna became manager, we have not only performed well but have accrued lots of points in the process. He retains an impressive win ratio of 61.5 % after 13 games. That equates to eight victories, three draws and two defeats, but is it all a little too late? If only we could have started the season the way we are finishing it!
It is not his fault, of course, as he has been playing catch up ever since he walked through the door. Paul Cook essentially assembled this squad, and Mckenna has managed to fit round pegs in round holes, and there is completeness within the ranks that was not there before. I do feel a little sorry for the Cook because he did what he promised to do at the back end of last season, and removed 27 players and replaced them with 19 new others. We all knew it would take time but time was his enemy, and although he put the building blocks in place, he struggled to get the results that would have kept him in a job. He was unable to prize away his chief lieutenant Leam Richardson, and the training staff he did eventually employ proved to be very poor.
There are ten games left of the current league campaign, and we would have to win at least seven of them and gain some points perhaps from the other three. It is a very tall order but not impossible given the momentum that we clearly have at the moment. What we have to do is to convert those potential draws into victories, and this is something we failed to do against MK Dons, Cheltenham Town and Morecombe recently. On Saturday, it looked like we were heading for another draw but then two goals from Sam Morsy and Kayden Jackson made it three points instead of one. We have to continue to do this because there will be more games that will look to be heading for a draw – unless we manage to pull a rabbit out of the hat!
Tomorrow we are back at Portman Road and in front of another healthy crowd. Tuesday night football here is always a bit special, and we will go into the game against Lincoln City with a renewed sense of optimism. Confidence is high and there is still genuine hope on the part of supporters that it is not too little too late. We have momentum and we still retain some belief. Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna says that the next few matches will be a good indicator of the progress we have made. “We had an 11-game block, now we’ve got a 10-game block. We’ve ticked one-off. We’ve got to keep performing well and we’ve got to try and win games. What we now have is a run of games against teams towards the top of the table, good footballing teams, starting with Lincoln on Tuesday night, who are not at the top of the table but are certainly a very good footballing team. We’ve got quite a lot of home games and I think we’re going to see where we’re at, to be honest.” I am in complete agreement here. It’s make or break time, and every single point could mean something in the long run. Victories must remain the primary objective in this run-in, and the more we get of them, the greater the chances of us realising our dream. If we make the play-off’s then I think we will be very difficult to beat. A 4% chance of the top six? I think we are worth more than that.
