The former Manchester United coach has worked wonders since his arrival at Portman Road, building an attacking, energetic side that has been one of the stories of English football in the past 18 months or so.
Yet, despite his brilliance, there’s one thing that McKenna has now failed twice to do since his appointment – beat Norwich City.
Norwich City’s hold over Ipswich Town
Upon returning to the second tier, the first fixture that all connected to Ipswich would’ve looked for was the game against the Canaries.
For younger fans of the Tractor Boys, it’s been a game that has only brought hurt and disappointment, with Ipswich having failed to beat their bitter rivals since 2009, a run which stretched 12 games prior to this season.
| Norwich City’s Record Against Ipswich Town Since April 20, 2009 | ||||||
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Scored | Conceded | |
| 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 27 | 10 | |
During that period, there have been some real low moments, including a 5-1 home hammering to Norwich in 2011, a 3-0 defeat at Carrow Road in 2019, and a heartbreaking play-off loss over two legs in 2015, where Alex Neil’s side would go on to win promotion.
But, a small consolation for Ipswich fans was the fact that the Canaries were simply better in that period of time.
They had more resources, teams that had been up and down from the Premier League, whilst Ipswich were a bang-average Championship side that would eventually drop to League One.
However, this time it was supposed to be different.
McKenna’s side went into both games this season sitting above their rivals in the table, highlighting their superiority. They had momentum on both occasions, and there was a belief that the hoodoo would come to an end.
Norwich City’s unbeaten run against Ipswich
When the two met back in December, Ipswich’s superiority was on show in front of a packed Portman Road. They dominated the territory, the possession and had more attempts on goal.
To their credit though, David Wagner’s side stuck at it, and Jonathan Rowe scored twice to ensure they kept their unbeaten run going.
Then, all attention turned to Saturday’s game, with many believing it was the most important East Anglian derby for some time, and that view was easy to understand. Norwich need the points to finish in the top six, whilst Ipswich are chasing automatic promotion.
In truth, unlike the game earlier in the campaign, this was no classic. But, the old saying is that derby games are only about winning, and that’s what Norwich did, as Marcelino Nunez’s strike gave them the lead, and they held on.
