Ipswich Town column: Kieran McKenna is the man to bring Blues back to the Premier League if relegated

Kieran McKenna was last summer’s hottest managerial property; it felt like everybody wanted the Northern Irishman.

I always thought he would carry out this season for us, but I was fully prepared for it to be his last at Portman Road as I expected him to move on.

However, fast forward to where we are now and I don’t think he's in a position to land himself another Premier League job just yet.

And with the size and talent in the club he's potentially coming down with, I can't see anywhere else he would go in the Championship.

So on that basis, I expect Kieran to stay in Suffolk, and I'd be really happy with that.

Say what you like about this season, which has been rough in parts, but there's no doubt the experience will have made him even stronger and I don't think there's a better manager than Kieran McKenna at Championship level.

You could argue he always needed another year in the division below, before really establishing himself as a Premier League manager.

It's been a tough season for Ipswich and I can't say I'm necessarily looking forward to the remaining nine games of it either.

But one positive is that I do think we get to keep Kieran for a little longer, which should hopefully play a part in keeping certain players here too.

Delap will leave as he won't be seeing the Championship again any time soon.

But what about Omari, would he stay? We'd have to get back what we paid for him for him to leave.

What about Dara O'Shea and Nathan Broadhead? There's a few uncertainities, but I think with stable management we'll be in a good position to bounce straight back up.

Most clubs who come down do so having sacked their manager before starting again. I can't see that happening for us and think that can only be a positive in our quest to try and bounce straight back up.

In Kieran I trust.