Ipswich Manager Kieran McKenna says back-to-back promotions will be hard to match
He also says new signing Sammie Szmodics is a perfect fit for the club
Last updated 16th Aug 2024
Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna predicted his team's historic back-to-back promotions which brought them to the Premier League for the first time in 22 years may never be repeated, ahead of Saturday's season opener against Liverpool.
The lunchtime kick-off will see Portman Road host top-flight football for the first time since May 2002 after McKenna's side finished as runners-up in last season's Championship, 12 months after achieving the same feat to escape League One.
They are the first club to go from the third tier to the first in consecutive seasons since Southampton between 2011-13, one year after Norwich did the same.
Graham Taylor's Watford from 1997-99 are the only other team to have ascended as quickly in the Premier League era.
Former Manchester United and Tottenham coach McKenna was appointed in December 2021 with the team 11th in League One, their third season at that level following relegation from the Championship.
The following term saw them promoted behind champions Plymouth before embarking on a stunning campaign to beat the odds and rejoin English football's elite.
"That was the longer-term ambition," said McKenna of the club's rise. "I don't think anyone realistically thought it would come in the first two-and-a-half seasons. But that's the product of a lot of good work from a lot of people.
"We set out two-and-a-half years ago to build an environment, build a culture, a way of working that players would enjoy and improve in. We set about building a playing style that the supporters would be right behind.
"Each week you try and win the game that's ahead of you. Win, lose or draw, we focus on learning and improving.
"That's been the focus day by day. We've done that every day and it's led to a historic double promotion that, in modern football, is going to probably be very hard for anyone to ever match."
On Friday the club confirmed the loan signing of Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips, with the England international joining until the end of the season with no option to buy.
The 28-year-old has made just 24 Premier League appearances over the last two seasons since moving to the Etihad Stadium from Leeds, eight of which came during an unsuccessful loan at West Ham during the second half of the last campaign.
He was previously part of the Leeds side that won promotion in 2020 and was a key member of the team that consolidated its place in the top flight.
"He brings experience and he brings quality," said McKenna. "He brings recent experience of playing at the top echelon of club football, probably the best club side in the world, being part of trophy-winning squads.
"He has major international experience.
"Kalvin has worked so hard to get where he's got in his career. It's a fantastic achievement to do what he's done, to come through at Leeds and progress from playing in the Championship, got better and better.
"He was part of a promoted team that really went and attacked the next division."
The club also confirmed the signing of Blackburn forward Sammie Szmodics, who was last season's top scorer in the Championship with 27 goals.