Analysispublished at 19:24 BST
Graeme McLoughlin
BBC Radio Suffolk sports editor
Kieran McKenna’s time in charge of Ipswich Town has been nothing short of incredible.
Just four full seasons in charge have brought with them three promotions and a first taste of Premier League football at Portman Road in more than 20 years.
What’s more, the football seen during those first two promotion-winning campaigns was the best at Ipswich Town in a generation, with a group of players who thrived under the Northern Irishman’s lead.
Relegation from the top flight just over a year ago, coupled with a slow start to Town’s most recent campain in the second tier, meant that McKenna had not been without his critics leading up to the New Year.
However, two morale-boosting wins over runaway Championship leaders Coventry City, and Town’s first East Anglian derby victories in more than a decade, helped a new-look Ipswich team book their seat at English football’s top table once again.
Town’s travelling support have enjoyed some of the most memorable away days and Portman Road has come back to life, but as McKenna alluded to on the final day of the season and in his latest statement, it has come at a cost to him. He is exhausted and he needs a break.
The Tractor Boys and Girls will wish him well in their tens of thousands. This departure is a sad moment for them, but Kieran McKenna leaves their club in a far better place, and he leaves it a very attractive proposition for his successor.
