Two seasons after being relegated from the Premier League, Ipswich Town have bounced straight back to England's top flight — and this time, they arrive with deeper pockets, a larger squad, and something to prove. The question hanging over Portman Road ahead of the 2026-27 campaign is simple: have the Tractor Boys learned enough to stay up?

Life after McKenna

The most significant change at Ipswich is the departure of Kieran McKenna, the 40-year-old whose work transformed the club from League One also-rans into a Premier League side in extraordinary time. McKenna has stepped away from football to focus on his family, leaving behind a legacy that places him just below the great Alf Ramsey and Bobby Robson in the club's managerial history.

Stepping into those considerable shoes is Gary O'Neil, who arrives having most recently steered Strasbourg through a productive short spell in France. Before that, O'Neil kept Bournemouth and Wolves in the Premier League — two survival jobs that underline exactly what Ipswich are hiring him for. Notably, O'Neil was himself a promotion winner as a player with local rivals Norwich City back in 2015.

Fans at Portman Road are cautiously unconvinced. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was the preferred name in the stands, and the consensus view is that O'Neil needs a strong start to win the support over. Following McKenna is, by any measure, an almost impossible task.

The squad: stronger on paper, shakier in practice

Ipswich return to the Premier League with greater financial resources than they had during their last stint. Their squad, on paper at least, is better equipped for this level. Yet the Championship campaign that earned them promotion — a second-place finish — showed a side with fewer settled partnerships and a lower overall performance ceiling than the team McKenna built two years earlier.

Dara O'Shea stands out as a cornerstone. The 27-year-old centre-back was ever-present throughout 2025-26, growing into a genuine leader. Having suffered relegation with three different clubs, O'Shea arrives hungry for a different outcome. Jack Clarke contributed 16 goals across all competitions last season and will need to carry that form into a tougher environment.

Elsewhere, tactical balance remains a puzzle. When Jaden Philogene or Clarke operates with creative freedom on the left, the right-sided role demands positional discipline — something Kasey McAteer and Wes Burns provide more reliably than the highly rated Sindre Walle Egeli. The Norwegian, signed as a teenager for a Championship-record fee, is yet to justify the investment. Meanwhile, the individualism of the wide attackers pushes the No.10 deeper into midfield, a role Marcelino Nunez performs with intelligence — though it limits the options for Ipswich's cluster of second strikers.

O'Neil's first major task will be deciding which players get creative freedom and which provide structure. Getting that balance right could be the difference between survival and another swift exit.

What the fans are saying

Supporter Philip Ham believes this edition of Ipswich is better placed for survival than the 2024-25 version, pointing to improved club infrastructure, a strengthened recruitment operation, and a squad with greater familiarity at this level. Ham identifies midfielder Azor Matusiwa as the key figure for the coming season, and admits fans would settle for a 17th-place finish.

The verdict

Ipswich have the resources and the motivation — but the transition from McKenna's methodical consistency to O'Neil's more expressive style carries real risk. The defence, solid in the Championship, faces a sharp step up in quality. If O'Neil can organise a backline and coax the best from his attacking options early in the season, a mid-table survival is achievable. FourFourTwo project a 19th-place finish — a sobering assessment, but one Ipswich will be determined to prove wrong.