Kieran McKenna takes aim at Ipswich Town players – it has caused a stir online

Ipswich Town managed to salvage a point away at Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday night thanks to a late strike from EFL Championship record signing Sindre Walle Egeli.

Despite the draw, head coach Kieran McKenna was deeply disappointed with his team’s overall display.

Ipswich are currently seventh after 18 matches, just one point outside the playoff positions and five behind second-placed Middlesbrough, but expectations surrounding McKenna’s side have been far higher.

McKenna guided Ipswich to back-to-back promotions in his first two full seasons at Portman Road—first from League One in 2022/23, then from the Championship to the Premier League the following year.

However, the step up proved challenging, and Ipswich suffered relegation at the end of last season.

With a squad widely regarded as one of the strongest in the division, many anticipated Ipswich would be competing near the top two.

That hasn’t materialised, and the draw against Blackburn only added to McKenna’s frustration.

Tuesday’s fixture was originally scheduled for mid-September but was abandoned in the 80th minute due to a waterlogged pitch with Blackburn leading 1–0.

The rescheduled match finished 1–1, as Walle Egeli finally opened his account after his £17.5m move from FC Nordsjaelland.

McKenna was blunt in his post-match comments:

“I thought it was a really poor performance—no two ways about it. We weren’t good enough in any aspect of the game. We’ll take the point because it was probably more than we deserved, but we must be much better and there are things we need to fix.”

Despite an underwhelming start, Ipswich remain within touching distance of both the top six and the automatic promotion places. They now prepare to host Frank Lampard’s league-leaders Coventry City on Saturday, where a much-improved performance will be necessary.

Some fans have become restless due to inconsistent displays and frequent squad rotation.

While McKenna still enjoys strong backing after his rapid promotions, supporters feel that this season’s performances warrant concern and that their expectations have not been met.

The club faced significant rebuilding after relegation, losing key figures such as Sam Morsy, Liam Delap, Massimo Luongo, Cameron Burgess, Conor Chaplin, and Luke Woolfenden.

Although reinforcements arrived—Walle Egeli, Marcelino Núñez, Kasey McAteer, Darnell Furlong, Azor Matusiwa, Jens Cajuste, Ashley Young, Chuba Akpom, and Ivan Azon—many have yet to settle.

Even so, Ipswich remain strong contenders for automatic promotion. With the quality in their squad, many believe it’s only a matter of time before they hit their stride once again.