Externally, everything surrounding Ipswich Town has been about Kieran McKenna, his future and his new long-term contract.
The manager had been linked with Manchester United, Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion, but ultimately decided that Portman Road was the place for him to be, agreeing a new deal that runs until 2028.
Internally, CEO Mark Ashton insists that the noise was never that loud, but now the dust has settled, the Blues can begin to look forward.
The Premier League campaign kicks off in a little over two months’ time and the club have a lot of work to do to ensure that they’re competitive after securing back-to-back promotions.
“It’s immense, and it breaks down into different buckets,” Ashton told Town TV about the size of the task. “Myself, Luke Werhun [COO] and Tom Ball [CFO] have been in the Premier League offices looking at the details, the rules, the regulations.
“We’ve got the Premier League AGM next week where we’re formally presented with our Premier League share certificate, which will be an honour to receive that on behalf of this football club.
“We’ve got multi-million pounds worth of work already underway at Portman Road, buildings appearing at the training ground, pitches being prepared.
“We’ve got the manager and his staff secured, now it’s about the players. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
The bit that the supporters really care about is the transfer market, and Ashton has made it no secret that Ipswich will be busy. They’ve already been linked to numerous players and the speculation will only intensify between now and August 30th, when the window shuts.
Asked whether recruitment will be a key priority over the coming weeks, McKenna replied: “It will, and probably the next few months realistically with how football works. As always, we’ll try to do as much of our business as early as we can and get a good pre-season with them.
“There’s a lot of work ahead, there’s a lot of exciting work ahead. Recruitment is obviously a part of that, we know we have to improve and develop the squad for the big step up ahead of us.
“Pre-season is going to be really important, we’ve got a really exciting pre-season ahead and the players will have had a good rest by the time they’re back. We’ve got a good, full pre-season which is something that we have to use well.
“We don’t have as many players as other clubs at the Euros or the Copa America, things like that, so we have to use the time well. We’ve got a trip to Austria to look forward to and we’re going to have some good friendlies.
“As much as it’s going to be about bringing in some new players and integrating them into the group, it’s also going to be about preparing the players that we have here, who’ve been part of it, for their contributions and making the big step up as well.
“There’s lots of work ahead, but what a fantastic position to be in. What an enjoyable summer to be a part of and what things we have to look forward to.”
Regardless of what Ipswich do in the transfer market, they’ll always have their critics and their doubters. That’s natural with any side coming up from the Championship, never mind one that was playing in League One football as recently as May 2023.
It doesn’t help that all three promoted sides – Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton Town – were relegated from the Premier League last season, and McKenna admits that his side will have to ‘respect’ the difference between the second tier and the top flight.
“We know everyone’s going to queue up to tell us that the step-up is massive,” he explained.
“Everyone’s going to say that newly-promoted teams most likely go straight back down. Last year, the three teams who went up went straight down.
“We’ll be humble enough to respect the level and know what we’re coming up against, but we’re also going to back ourselves to do it in our way and to be competitive in our way.
“We’ll focus internally on the work and on trying continuously to improve this team, to improve the players, bring in players who can help us, and do it in our Ipswich way. We’ll approach the division in that way.
“It’s a great challenge, an exciting challenge. We know that there’ll be lots of noise, and every time a team comes up now, they’re going to get written off – especially when they’ve had two promotions in a row.
“I’m feeling really confident about how we’re going to go about it.”
Ashton believes in that approach too, but while he’s adamant that Ipswich can attack the Premier League next season, he also knows that this is just the beginning of a long-term project.
“As a club, I want us to thrive,” he stated. “We’re nowhere near the finished article on and off the pitch, we understand that.
“The learning environment, the processes we’ve put in place, that Kieran works so hard on the training ground won’t change. We’ve just got to get our heads down now and work hard.
“We’ve got to be the very, very best version of ourselves. If we do that, we give ourselves the best chance.”