In many ways, it wasn’t meant to happen this soon.
A Premier League return was always on the ownership’s wish list at Ipswich when an America-based consortium took majority control in 2021, but back-to-back automatic promotions from League One and the Championship were way beyond their wildest dreams.
Following a 3-0 defeat at Newcastle on Saturday, relegation for Kieran McKenna’s side was confirmed with four games still to play, seeing them join their fellow promoted sides from last season, Leicester and Southampton, in making an immediate return to the Championship.
Was this a case of what might’ve been or just a step too far, too soon for the Tractor Boys?
For those keen to back the arguments for the former, they can point to McKenna’s side having dropped 27 points from winning positions, but for the latter, this has been a squad competing at the top level still containing a significant core who helped gain promotion from League One in the 2022/23 season.
With that, unsurprisingly the gulf in class has been cavernous at times, even when Ipswich were largely in games for the majority of the first half of the season, despite many of those hard-working performances not translating into points.
Width of a post to chastening losses
More often than not, fine margins went against them – no better illustrated than when Jack Clarke’s low-driven shot in the closing minutes at Fulham in January, with his side 2-1 up, struck the base of the post and rebounded back into play.
Fulham would go straight up the other end and catch a flagging Leif Davis out as he desperately backtracked and brought down Raul Jimenez, who stepped up to convert a second spot kick of the afternoon in an eventual 2-2 draw.
Had Clarke’s shot gone inches wide or even been blazed into the Craven Cottage stands, his side would more than likely have held on for a win, which at the time would’ve put them two points clear of the bottom three.
For many Ipswich fans, that has been referred to as this season’s sliding doors moment.
What followed was anything but a case of just bad luck – a run of eight defeats in the next nine games. Ipswich had to wait until April 5 to record their next Premier League win – and first of the calendar year – in a 2-1 victory at Bournemouth.
The barren run before that win at the Vitality Stadium included a 6-0 humbling at home to Manchester City and an embarrassing 2-1 loss to a woeful Southampton, also at home.
Those two results were a microcosm for a season of toil on home turf. Portman Road, the place that had been the bedrock of their promotion-winning campaigns the previous two seasons, yielded just one Premier League win, a 2-0 victory over Chelsea on December 30.
New faces have mixed seasons
While some may point to bad luck with injuries, recruitment arguably had more misses than hits for a squad that needed to fast-track its Premier League class and experience.
Liam Delap was the obvious standout success with his goals. He will seemingly be able to choose his new suitor when clubs come clamouring to activate his £30m relegation release clause. But after him, there are mixed grades on the report cards.
Napoli loanee midfielder Jens Cajuste was probably the next-best addition, but the Sweden international will be hard to convince back to the Championship on a permanent deal and will come at a hefty price.
His performances came in stark contrast to fellow midfield addition Kalvin Phillips. Injury and a lack of form meant the England international’s loan move from Man City never got into top gear as he attempted to rebuild both his image and career after turbulent times last season, both at his parent club and on loan at West Ham.
Centre-backs Dara O’Shea and Jacob Greaves had strikingly different seasons, the former much more consistent than the latter’s drop off in form after a promising start.
On top of that, attacking additions Chiedozie Ogbene, Sammie Szmodics and Jaden Philogene (who arguably arrived a transfer window too late) saw their debut campaigns in blue and white cut short by injury.
Others, such as Jack Clarke and Ben Johnson, took a while before finding their role and identity in McKenna’s system.
The less said about the expensive addition of error-prone goalkeeper Arijanet Muric the better. By the time Alex Palmer arrived from West Brom on transfer deadline day in February, the damage was already done.
Will McKenna remain at the wheel?
So what now for Ipswich and McKenna?
The manager’s stock was sky high last summer when he appeared in the running for as many as three Premier League jobs, before putting an end to all the unwelcome noise and speculation for supporters by signing a new and improved deal.
This summer looks like being a less destabilising one for Ipswich fans as he has already seemingly spoken in optimistic tones at committing to masterminding an immediate Premier League return next season.
“We’re in a much better position than the club has been over previous years,” McKenna said after relegation was confirmed. “The journey has been a fantastic one which sets us up well.
“The club is in a really strong position. There’s still a fantastic togetherness there. It’s a step back now but that’s often the way in terms of taking steps forward.
“We’ve climbed so quickly from League One. It’s been a massive challenge to tackle that.”
If Ipswich can limit the departures of high-profile names over the summer to just Delap, maybe Omari Hutchinson and one other first-team regular, there is the nucleus of a Championship-ready squad, hardened by the experience of a season battling with the best of the best.
But while there is inspiration in seeing how Burnley have bounced back at the first attempt with defensive solidity and a relentless winning mentality, there will also be trepidation at seeing how another of last season’s relegated trio in Luton have slumped into a relegation battle, costing them a well-liked manager in the process.
One thing is for certain, ask any Ipswich fan if they regret being promoted too soon to the Premier League after this season’s chastening experience and without doubt, they will tell you they wouldn’t change any moment from the previous two seasons of dramatic joy and delight at back-to-back promotions.
Town will be back in the top flight and this time, it won’t take them 22 years to wait for the return thanks to the foundations put in place by McKenna and the ownership.
The future’s bright. The future’s blue and white.
Chris Eubank vs Conor Benn will be live on Saturday April 26 on Sky Sports Box Office. Book now!
