| Reflections on KM 17:37 - Jun 11 with 2224 views | jasondozzell |
He walked into the freezing dressing room blowing on his hands and looking so fresh faced and young that his tie (not quite done up fully - this would become a familiar sight on award evenings etc.) gave him the look of a reluctant sixth former having to suffer a suit in an interview. But he was quietly confident and the answers to the questions were thoughtful, considered and gave you the immediate impression of a man who had a method he believed in.
He spent Christmas holed up in the Salthouse watching video after video of us. The club released a video of him in his first coaching session (talking to Chappers on that strange hill at Playford Road on the walk to the pitches) and the enthusiasm and energy was there immediately. Crouched to the ground, stopwatch in hand, conducting the players. Here was a coach who thrived on being on the grass. Echoes of Burley.
The effect was immediate. The second game away to Gillingham sticks in the mind. Suddenly a Jekyll and Hyde squad under Cook was playing total football in a matter of a week or two. Movement and passing almost unrecognisable. KM had his bash brothers playing like Brazil. I remember writing on here that at the end that he was immediately on the pitch talking about finer points of the game with Lee Evans. A football obsessive. And something very Ipswich about him. Dignified, polite, enthusiastic and a gentleman. Robson like.
After the dour 'he'll do for me' of the later Mick years, the panic of Hurst, Lambo's early demonstrative touchline presence and promise petering out, it was refreshing to have something entirely new. A scholar of the game watching calmly, then walking back to watch key moments back on the iPad set on a tripod. An entry made in the notebook. A mental note. Always seeking improvement.
Other things changed too. The coach arrival was one of the first things. Morsy would speak of it later: 'He said this was a big club and we were going to begin to behave like one again.'
Here was a man who was methodical but imaginative. Brave yet calculated. A football romantic who has done the hard yards of studying and learning and adapting. His brand of football summed him up. Front foot, attacking, but with control. We began to learn the language: 'find the spare man', 'play through the pitch', 'vertical movement', 'finishers'. A 'random low scoring event' where if you do the right things enough times eventually you will get your rewards.
Doing the right thing at the right time was a McKenna maxim and he was the embodiment of it.
Everything was done properly. The football obviously. But everything else that comes with the demands of that role too. Media duties? Calm, reasoned and willing to explain everything to supporters. Every question given a thoughtful answer. You could tell that media wasn't really what he was interested in ( I always enjoyed his wry smile when faced with the latest gushing hyperbole from a Sky presenter) but if he was going to do it, he was going to do it properly. Fans forums? Putting the room at ease with a joke, never patronising, always seeking to meet the questions with respect. Players? They knew how much he cared. From the start he kept everyone onside. Macauley Bonne's description of the conversation KM had with him when he left was a good example. Classy.
The football was magical. Even though we fell off short of the play offs and drew gamesn in 21/22, you could see the patterns and play getting stronger and stronger. It was so exciting. It felt like our own little secret. We were a way off selling out the ground, the promotion hype, the PL noise, but for the fans who had kept faith during the Evans disaster, you just knew this was different. People from the outside thought we were just continuing to slope along in league one but those following knew this was the real deal. The final away game to Crewe and then that final home game against Charlton. Something was happening.
The rest is history.
It's somehow entirely fitting that he now leaves us as he does. Just like at the beginning, a thoughtful decision, not rushed or impulsive but considered and sensible. Bowing out on a high with the club restored to where it belongs and in fine fettle and giving himself a chance to recover from 5 years of service and create a new pathway eventually for the ambition that has always burned brightly within him.
He doesn't look quite as fresh faced now as he did on that cold day in the dressing room in December 2021. He looked exhausted at the end of this season, a season that had taken everything out of him. I think it will remain his greatest achievement considering the challenges.
He leaves a big club that believes in itself again.
Ramsey, Robson, Burley and McKenna.
Thank you, KM.
[Post edited 11 Jun 17:52]
|  | | |  |
| Reflections on KM on 17:38 - Jun 11 with 1837 views | Marshalls_Mullet |
Someone's had a quiet day. |  |
| |
| Reflections on KM on 17:48 - Jun 11 with 1741 views | jasondozzell |
| Reflections on KM on 17:38 - Jun 11 by Marshalls_Mullet |
Someone's had a quiet day. |
Any thoughts on KM? | | | |
| Reflections on KM on 17:51 - Jun 11 with 1732 views | Marshalls_Mullet |
| Reflections on KM on 17:48 - Jun 11 by jasondozzell |
Any thoughts on KM? |
He did a good job.
Hope his time off works out for him.
Now I'm excited to see what's next. | |
| |
| Reflections on KM on 17:52 - Jun 11 with 1706 views | portmanking |
| Reflections on KM on 17:51 - Jun 11 by Marshalls_Mullet |
He did a good job.
Hope his time off works out for him.
Now I'm excited to see what's next. |
He did a good job. Jesus fecking chr.... |  | | |
| One good season.... on 17:53 - Jun 11 with 1711 views | Bloots |
| Reflections on KM on 17:48 - Jun 11 by jasondozzell |
Any thoughts on KM? |
....one excellent season, one poor season and then one good season.
End of thoughts. |  |
| "....a smegma of a man” - TWTD User (Apr 2026) |
| |
| Reflections on KM on 17:55 - Jun 11 with 1674 views | Marshalls_Mullet |
| Reflections on KM on 17:52 - Jun 11 by portmanking |
He did a good job. Jesus fecking chr.... |
Chill out, everyone is getting so mawkish and getting competitive about how sad they can appear.
He did an excellent job, and then walked out on us. 😮😮
I am grateful for what he has done, and am excited to see whats next. | |
| |
| Reflections on KM on 18:00 - Jun 11 with 1622 views | jasondozzell |
| Reflections on KM on 17:55 - Jun 11 by Marshalls_Mullet |
Chill out, everyone is getting so mawkish and getting competitive about how sad they can appear.
He did an excellent job, and then walked out on us. 😮😮
I am grateful for what he has done, and am excited to see whats next. |
Not mawkish at all!
And he didn't walk out on us. | | | |
| He literally did. (n/t) on 18:02 - Jun 11 with 1602 views | Bloots |
| Reflections on KM on 18:00 - Jun 11 by jasondozzell |
Not mawkish at all!
And he didn't walk out on us. |
| |
| "....a smegma of a man” - TWTD User (Apr 2026) |
| |
Login to get fewer ads
| Reflections on KM on 18:04 - Jun 11 with 1589 views | Mullet |
| Reflections on KM on 18:00 - Jun 11 by jasondozzell |
Not mawkish at all!
And he didn't walk out on us. |
Eh? Thats literally what he did.
As for the OP…. This sort of performative grieving doesn’t make us look as a fanbase. Social media is full of it. The bloke has been great, but he’s not dead. |  |
| |
| Reflections on KM on 18:10 - Jun 11 with 1556 views | Marshalls_Mullet |
| Reflections on KM on 18:00 - Jun 11 by jasondozzell |
Not mawkish at all!
And he didn't walk out on us. |
He literally walked out on us.
I'm OK with that (he had his reasons), but its def what he did. | |
| |
| Reflections on KM on 18:12 - Jun 11 with 1544 views | Marshalls_Mullet |
| Reflections on KM on 18:04 - Jun 11 by Mullet |
Eh? Thats literally what he did.
As for the OP…. This sort of performative grieving doesn’t make us look as a fanbase. Social media is full of it. The bloke has been great, but he’s not dead. |
This. | |
| |
| Reflections on KM on 18:27 - Jun 11 with 1454 views | SomethingBlue |
Beautifully put, every word. | |
| |
| Reflections on KM on 18:30 - Jun 11 with 1438 views | BackToRussia |
Wow, a lot of too cool for school kids in this thread. |  |
| |
| Reflections on KM on 18:31 - Jun 11 with 1431 views | jasondozzell |
| Reflections on KM on 18:27 - Jun 11 by SomethingBlue |
Beautifully put, every word. |
Cheers! | | | |
| Reflections on KM on 18:32 - Jun 11 with 1419 views | jasondozzell |
| Reflections on KM on 18:30 - Jun 11 by BackToRussia |
Wow, a lot of too cool for school kids in this thread. |
I know! Can't understand it. | | | |
| Reflections on KM on 18:34 - Jun 11 with 1408 views | BackToRussia |
| Reflections on KM on 18:32 - Jun 11 by jasondozzell |
I know! Can't understand it. |
Abandonment issues innit. | |
| |
| Reflections on KM on 18:35 - Jun 11 with 1398 views | jasondozzell |
| Reflections on KM on 18:34 - Jun 11 by BackToRussia |
Abandonment issues innit. |
Must be! 😅 | | | |
| Reflections on KM on 18:37 - Jun 11 with 1387 views | BlueBadger |
Apart from the bit about Lambert having 'early promise', spot on. He never had promise, just a near inexplicable level of popularity. [Post edited 12 Jun 18:10]
|  |
| |
| One good season.... on 18:43 - Jun 11 with 1342 views | mellowblue |
| One good season.... on 17:53 - Jun 11 by Bloots |
....one excellent season, one poor season and then one good season.
End of thoughts. |
you've missed out a season, surely.
two excellent seasons, one poor season, and then one good season | | | |
| I've gone for.... on 18:48 - Jun 11 with 1318 views | Bloots |
| One good season.... on 18:43 - Jun 11 by mellowblue |
you've missed out a season, surely.
two excellent seasons, one poor season, and then one good season |
...."Good" for our promotion from the 3rd Division.
I'd say he met expectations that season, so it's "Good". Same as last season.
On average he comes out as "Good".
Which is good. | |
| "....a smegma of a man” - TWTD User (Apr 2026) |
| |
| I've gone for.... on 19:13 - Jun 11 with 1207 views | jasondozzell |
| I've gone for.... on 18:48 - Jun 11 by Bloots |
...."Good" for our promotion from the 3rd Division.
I'd say he met expectations that season, so it's "Good". Same as last season.
On average he comes out as "Good".
Which is good. |
'On average he comes out as good'
Cmon Bloots! | | | |
| Reflections on KM on 19:13 - Jun 11 with 1207 views | seblue78 |
Excellent JD, well said.
For me he just made supporting Ipswich enjoyable again and he gave me and my two boys (now 8 and 10) an amazing 4 years of moments and highs that they’ll never forget, and turned them into proud itfc fans for life.
I wish him every success.
Now onwards and (hopefully) upwards… | | | |
| Reflections on KM on 19:16 - Jun 11 with 1179 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Reflections on KM on 18:35 - Jun 11 by jasondozzell |
Must be! 😅 |
it's more that people are acting like we woke up to news that he had passed away.
He hasn't, it may not be long until he;s in the opposition dug out, and people are gushing like mad.
Thanks for doing what you were paid incredibly well for, it's about time a town manager did for a while. Cheers
Now lets getting excited for next season. |  |
| |
| Reflections on KM on 19:20 - Jun 11 with 1138 views | SitfcB |
| Reflections on KM on 18:30 - Jun 11 by BackToRussia |
Wow, a lot of too cool for school kids in this thread. |
Being edgy is fashionable. |  |
| |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
