There is no doubt that lessons were learned by McKenna during Ipswich’s season in the Premier League, only his third full campaign as a head coach.
One charge which could perhaps have been levelled at him was that he showed too much loyalty to players who had served him well previously.
The starting 11 for the 2024-25 season opener against Liverpool at Portman Road, which they lost 2-0, contained six players who also began their final League One game against Fleetwood Town just 15 months earlier – Christian Walton, Luke Woolfenden, Leif Davis, Massimo Luongo, Wes Burns and Conor Chaplin.
Walton, Davis and Burns are all still in the current Ipswich squad, along with striker George Hirst, who also played in that 2-2 draw at Fleetwood.
There was a radical change of personnel at Portman Road last summer when 11 new players were signed, with the help of Premier League parachute money, including Chilean playmaker Marcelino Nunez from regional rivals Norwich for a reported £10m.
It took time for the new-look squad to gel – they did not win any of the opening four league games this season – and there were further additions in January when Anis Mehmeti and Dan Neil arrived.
They have not matched the 2024 team’s total of 96 points, nor their 28 wins, nor their goals tally of 92, but that could be a reflection of the extra competitiveness of the Championship this year.
“The players have grown over the course of the season – you look at this last run, this was our eighth game in 26 days, three away games back-to-back, there have been a lot of challenges,” McKenna told BBC Radio Suffolk.
“They stuck at it and you can’t ever underestimate how hard it is to get promoted to the Premier League. It’s a great achievement.
“To finish with one loss in 15 games really shows the character of the group really came together by the end.”
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