KEY POINTSTony Pulis does not believe that Ipswich Town is among the best promoted Championship teams in history.The Tractor Boys want to return to the Premier League with consecutive promotions, something they haven’t done since 2015.The amazing ascent of Ipswich in the football league may be attributed in large part to Kieran McKenna’s leadership.
Tony Pulis, who praised Kieran McKenna’s team, said that Suffolk Town is not among the best promoted teams in Championship history.
This season, Ipswich is striving to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2002.
The Tractor Boys, who finished second in the third division the previous season, are also aiming for consecutive promotions from League One to the top division.
With three games remaining, the Suffolk squad is still in the running for the title. Neither team has accomplished it since Bournemouth in 2015 under Eddie Howe.
Their fate will be decided by their matches against Hull City, Coventry City, and Huddersfield Town. Leicester City, Leeds United, and Southampton are also opponents.
Ipswich Town receives a verdict from Tony Pulis.
According to Pulis, the Suffolk team isn’t quite as good as some of the greatest teams in league history to advance to the Championship.
Pulis responded, “No, they’re not [among the best promoted sides to play in the Championship].”
“Wimbledon excelled under Dave Bassett, Swansea under John Toshack, while Watford advanced through the divisions under Graham Taylor.
“Kieran McKenna has performed admirably at Ipswich, but many other managers have done a far better job.”
Writers for FLW have discussed their opinions on Ipswich Town competing against Southampton and Leeds United for the Ben Johnson Trophy.
Not that he hasn’t done a fantastic job.
“They have new owners who support McKenna, and even though Kieffer Moore is only on loan, signing him must have cost a lot of money.”
“He would have been desired by most of the Championship!
I know Mark Ashton to be a good lad as well. At the football club, everyone has made progress in the correct direction.
“They’re a fantastic club, and Norwich City gets a lot of support from them too.”
Ipswich’s promotion battle
| Championship Table (As it stands April 23rd) | ||||
| Team | P | GD | Pts | |
| 1 | Leicester City | 43 | 42 | 91 |
| 2 | Leeds United | 43 | 43 | 90 |
| 3 | Ipswich Town | 43 | 32 | 89 |
| 4 | Southampton | 43 | 29 | 84 |
| 5 | West Brom | 44 | 23 | 72 |
| 6 | Norwich City | 44 | 16 | 72 |
| 7 | Hull City | 43 | 8 | 66 |
| 8 | Coventry City | 42 | 14 | 63 |
McKenna took the reins at Ipswich in December 2021, with the team stuck in mid-table in League One.
He guided the club to automatic promotion to the Championship in his first full season with the Tractor Boys, finishing second in the table with 98 points.
Ipswich currently sit third in the second division table, one point behind second place Leeds.
However, the Suffolk side has a game in hand over the Whites, meaning victory in that fixture could move them back into the automatic promotion places.
Ipswich have not won any of their last three games, with the team potentially starting to feel the pressure of a promotion battle.
Next up for McKenna’s team is a trip to the MKM Stadium to face Hull on 27 April.
Ipswich’s rise has been remarkable
It’s difficult to compare Ipswich to similar sides of previous eras due to how much the game has changed.
Money has become such a big factor in determining how well teams can compete.
While Ipswich have certainly spent money, they haven’t broken the bank and their spending is incomparable to that of their other automatic promotion rivals.
Given where the club was when McKenna took over, nobody could have predicted their Premier League return when he joined the Suffolk outfit over two years ago, and he deserves all the plaudits for his role in their rise even if they don’t quite get there this season
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