Jamie Carragher urges Ipswich Town to take Kieran McKenna stance | OneFootball

Ipswich Town are on the cusp of officially confirming their relegation back to the Championship.

Jamie Carragher believes that Kieran McKenna is the best man to manage Ipswich Town in the Championship next season.

The Tractor Boys are heading for relegation back to the second division after just one Premier League season.

A 4-0 loss to Arsenal on Sunday has left them 15 points adrift of safety with five games remaining, with the team 18th in the table.

It will need a remarkable turnaround to ensure their safety at this stage, leaving them on the precipice of a return to the Championship after McKenna oversaw promotions in the last two seasons.

Jamie Carragher makes Kieran McKenna claim

Carragher believes that McKenna is the best man to guide Ipswich forward ahead of their relegation from the Premier League.

He pointed out Southampton’s search for a new manager as a poor example for how relegated clubs should act, suggesting the Saints would be better off sticking with Russell Martin given the inevitability of their 20th place finish.

“I think almost every manager in that situation is the best man to bring you up,” said Carragher, via Sky Sports Football on Facebook.

“Especially, as I said, they got the experience of the Championship.

“Don’t forget, they jumped a lot quicker than most teams do, I think they had double promotion as well, so it was a great job he did.

“I think a lot of teams in this situation, look at Southampton this season with the manager they’ve got in now, they’re going to change and go with a new manager next season.

“Russell Martin, yeah you sack him cause the results are poor at the start of the season but you should only change him because you’re thinking about staying up.

“You know you’ve got no chance of staying up, this is the guy who brought you up, he knows the Championship better than anyone.

“The situation Ipswich find themselves in, there’s no one better than that manager to bring them back, he’s got the experience of coming up.”

Keeping McKenna would be great for Ipswich

The decision over McKenna’s future is more likely down to the man himself rather than the club, who would no doubt love to keep him.

We saw last year that his stock was high and this led to speculation over his future, and that could still happen again despite their relegation.

He’s earned a lot of credit for bringing Ipswich this far, and even doing admirably in the Premier League despite relatively limited resources.

If the club can keep McKenna this summer, they will be in a strong position to compete for promotion again next year.