After a poor start in the Championship this season, Ipswich Town have turned it around and already sit third in the table.
Kieran McKenna saw his team go winless in the first five matches of the season across all competitions. This run included an elimination from the Carabao Cup to League Two side Bromley on penalties in the first round.
Since then, however, the tide has turned at Portman Road, with the Tractor Boys picking up just four losses in 19 games (W10 D5).
How did Kieran McKenna turn things around at Ipswich Town in the Championship?
Context adaptation
Ipswich have had to adapt to a lot of different situations over the past few years. After getting relegated from the Championship in 2019, they spent three seasons as a mid-table side in League One before going back up to the second tier.
Their back-to-back promotions that saw them rise from the third division to the Premier League in two years made them comfortable in being a ‘hunter’.
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The Tractor Boys never had to worry about breaking down low blocks and taking the game to the opposition. It favoured McKenna’s preferred direct style and he made the most of it. In the end, it wasn’t enough in the top flight.
And when they went back to the Championship, the context had changed. As a ‘parachute team’, everyone expected them to dominate the season and go straight back up. But Kieran McKenna and Ipswich weren’t used to this kind of scenario. It took them a while, but everything looks to have stabilised now.
Getting the most out of the wingers
What would Ipswich be without Jaden Philogene and Jack Clarke? It’s ironic that their leading scorers both play in the same position – the former ahead of the latter, in fact.
Philogene leads the league in goals from outside the box (4, alongside Oxford United’s Cameron Brannagan). Clarke ranks first in goals off the bench (also four). Both of them scored in the recently ended 3-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday.
They provide the individual quality and one-on-one skill that create dangerous situations out of nowhere.
Dara O’Shea also deservers a mention as one of the top centre-backs in the division. His partnership with Cedric Kipre is a solid one that helps the Tractor Boys have the second fewest goals conceded this season. They also first in fewest expected goals conceded (20.1 xGA).
In addition to that, Clarke – alongside Marcelino Nunez and Leif Davis – leads the team in big chances created. And Ipswich as a whole (62) have actually had more clear-cut goalscoring opportunities even than Coventry City (60), with Southampton (61) sandwiched in between them.
The ‘solid defence and strong attack’ formula is exactly where every team wants to be and the Tractor Boys are as good as it can get in the Championship.
Margin for improvement
Ipswich started the season poorly and, despite the remarkable improvement since then, still don’t look as dominant as they could be.
They suffered more than they should have against hopeless Sheffield Wednesday and lost to struggling Leicester City the previous weekend. And even then, the Tractor Boys are already up to third in the table, tied with Hull City on 37 points – five behind Middlesbrough.
While it seems like Coventry have already ran away with it, they are also slipping a little bit. Boro lost to Bristol City, Hull and Preston North End may be punching above their weight and Millwall have now gone winless in their last three.
We’re still halfway into the Championship season and Ipswich have easily climbed up the table. There’s no reason to believe it should stop here. If things go according to expected for each of the sides fighting for a spot in the top-6, the Tractor Boys should be on their way back to the Premier League.