Exclusive: What Lee Hendrie predicts Ipswich Town and Kieran McKenna will do with Conor Chaplin
Ipswich Town are under threat of losing a lot of their top attacking talent this summer as they prepare for life back in the Championship.
Not all of Kieran McKenna’s side showed themselves to be up to the Premier League standard, which is why they ultimately got relegated, but there were some, particularly in forward areas, who looked like they could hold their own.
One of those players, Liam Delap, has already left Portman Road, and Omari Hutchinson, Ipswich’s star winger, is now being linked with a return to the top flight.
In the midst of all this, Conor Chaplin, a man who has established himself as a legend of the Tractor Boys over the last few seasons, being present in the promotions that took the club from League One to the top flight, is in the final year of his deal.
Ipswich are a smart club and will understand the potential need to try and cash in on Chaplin if they aren’t thinking of renewing the 28-year-old’s deal and don’t want him to leave as a free agent. They have two windows to sell him, including this one, if that’s the avenue they want to go down.
Ipswich urged to press pause on sudden Conor Chaplin decision by Lee Hendrie
The attacking midfielder’s immediate future with Town will come down to how many goalscoring options they offload this summer, according to Lee Hendrie. But he
Exclusive: Sky Sports pundit drops claim on Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich Town future
Kieran McKenna is preparing for his fifth season in charge of Ipswich Town.
The 39-year-old guided the Tractor Boys through their mesmeric rise from League One to the Premier League but now faces the challenging task of Championship promotion once more.
Football Insider claimed that Brentford were preparing to make McKenna their new boss following Thomas Frank’s departure. However that never materialised, with set-piece coach Keith Andrews now set to take over at the Gtech Community Stadium.
This means that as things stand, the Northern Irishman will remain in his current post as Ipswich Town manager for next season.
Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Sky Sports pundit and former EFL striker, Don Goodman, believes that remaining at Portman Road would be McKenna’s best bet this summer.
Kieran McKenna told to remain at Ipswich Town this summer
“I look at Kieran McKenna and I look at his development as a head coach at Ipswich Town,” stated Goodman. “Year after year, he built a team that came from League One into the Premier League where they were always going to find it difficult.
“I’m not sure they got their transfer policy or their recruitment right to be honest, how much of a part Kieran had to play in that I don’t know. So, then I asked myself, where could he go that’s better than Ipswich?
“He’s been linked with Brentford but other than that you’re looking at possibilities. Whereas at Ipswich you feel that they will be at the top end of the Championship and maybe that would be the best place for him, unless he gets an opportunity at a team like Brentford.
“It very much depends on what avenue Brentford go down and whether or not he is at the top of their list, but I do think Ipswich will still be a good project for him.
“He’ll be supported, backed and I like his chances of getting back to the Premier League with Ipswich.”
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