‘Bigger and bigger’ – Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna fires Premier League warning at Sunderland and rivals
Sunderland are bidding to make a long-awaited return to the Premier League this month
Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna has warned Sunderland and their promotion rivals that the gap between the Premier League and the Championship is getting “bigger and bigger”.
The Black Cats are already guaranteed a place in this month’s play-offs, and will be bidding to seal a long-awaited return to the top flight following their relegation all the way back in 2017.
For their part, Ipswich will make an immediate return to the Championship next term after their relegation from the Premier League was confirmed last month. The Tractor Boys had gone up automatically in 2023/24, racking up an impressive 96 points to finish just behind Leicester City in second place.
The Foxes have also been relegated this term, as have last season’s play-off winners Southampton, meaning that for a second successive Premier League campaign all three promoted clubs have failed to beat the drop.
What has Kieran McKenna said about the difference between the Premier League and the Championship?
Reflecting on Ipswich’s relegation, as well as Leeds United and Burnley’s recent automatic promotion confirmation, McKenna suggested that he would be happy to give advice to any head coach gearing up for a shot at the Premier League next term.
He said: “My phone is reachable if anyone wants to pick it up. I certainly picked up my phone last year to teams who were in this position, as I’m sure teams did in the year before that. That’s pretty common practice. Again, they will be private discussions. As I’ve said before, the gap is certainly big and getting bigger.
“It’s clear for everyone to see what was pitched as maybe the highest-level top end of the Championship ever last season, three teams with 90-plus points for the first time, two of whom were really established Premier League clubs over the last decade – and Leeds, who didn’t manage to make it, also in the mix.
“Those three teams have all fallen short for different reasons this year. It’s clear that the gap is big. Of course, when that happens for two seasons in a row, that’s 17 teams then who have two full seasons of Premier League money and everything that comes with that. It makes it harder for everyone to catch up.”
But despite the disappointment of his side’s campaign, McKenna is still of the belief that Ipswich are on the right track when it comes to establishing themselves in the Premier League.
He added: “Our journey is our journey. We know how quickly it’s come. As I’ve said many times, I think we’ll be in a much stronger position going into next season than we have been for the previous years, and certainly the previous years at Championship level.
“I’d even like to think that as a squad, with infrastructure, staffing and everything, we’ll be in a strong position irrespective of league for I don’t know how many years. We’re on our own journey and we’re going to try and keep progressing the club in every way. We hope that that will ultimately lead to establishing ourselves in the Premier League.”