Ipswich Town

  1. Town need to 'add some physicality in key areas'

    Seb Brown
    Fan writer

    Ipswich fan's voice banner
    Leif Davis tacklesGetty Images

    The sun has set on Ipswich's venture into the Premier League and now the crucial work will begin to ensure the club is ready to mount a return at the first opportunity.

    The Liam Delap relegation release clause is a frustration, but its advantage is that it means there will be no long running saga with suitors fighting to win his signature.

    Central midfield looks to be the most obvious area in need of attention.

    Kalvin Phillips and Massimo Luongo have left, Sam Morsy is another year older, and Jack Taylor has never nailed down a starting spot since joining two summers ago.

    We know Kieran McKenna likes to revisit previous targets so Flynn Downes returning to the club could be a possibility, while any permanent move for Jen Cajuste would be welcoming.

    Up front, Town may have the ideal Delap replacement in the building already.

    George Hirst has proved he can score and assist at Championship level. Ipswich are arguably a better 'team' with him in the starting XI but questions around his durability will persist based on recent history. At least one striker will be needed to provide competition and support.

    The transfer strategy over the past two windows has been to buy the very best talent from the Championship. These arrivals should put the club in good shape as it returns to familiar surroundings.

    What I would like to see now is some physicality added in key areas. The pace and power of the Premier League found us wanting and will need to be addressed.

    While the immediate priority is the promotion challenge next season, Ipswich would do well to have one eye on future requirements.

    Find more from Seb Brown at the Blue Monday Podcast

  4. Ipswich Town's Sam Morsy has dark hair, and a beard. He is wearing the blue and white Ipswich kit, and is gesturing to a teammate with instructions.

  5. Ed Sheeran smiles for photographers during an event. He has red hair and wears a salmon pink suit jacket with a white T-shirt underneath.

  6. What if... the season started in January?

    Nicola Pearson
    BBC Sport journalist

    Graphic showing 2025 calendar year table top six: Pos Team P GD PTS 1 Man City 19 22 40 2 Liverpool 20 17 39 3 Arsenal 20 16 38 4 Aston Villa 19 10 37 5 Newcastle 19 10 34 6 Brighton 19 6 34

    As the dust settles on the 2024-25 Premier League season, we have been taking a look at some of the alternative ways the the table could have finished...

    A Premier League season can sometimes be a tale of two halves.

    Some come flying out of the blocks, while others are more sluggish starters.

    The busy Christmas period can be a turning point with the arrival of the January transfer window feeling like a fresh start.

    So what might have happened if the league season only start on 1 January?

    Well, Pep Guardiola's title-winning machines would have picked up their fifth Premier League trophy in a row.

    Playing one game fewer than actual champions Liverpool - who secured the title with four games remaining - they would have finished one point clear of the Reds, not withstanding Arne Slot's side slowdown in form after sealing the title.

    City always seem to come good after January, but this time it was not enough to outweigh the torrid time they had from late autumn.

    The rest of the top six is not too dissimilar to the final placings, although in this case, Aston Villa would have secured Champions League football and Brighton a Europa League spot in the absence of Chelsea - whose form nose-dived at the very beginning of the year.

    And while the new year is a new start for some, it is less so for others.

    That was the case for many of those down the bottom of the league.

    The relegated trio would still have been relegated and Manchester United and Tottenham would still have ended up in the bottom six. West Ham find themselves one place lower after Wolves picked up form under Vitor Pereira.

    So what does this tell us? If you wan to achieve your Premier League ambitions, it is about making sure you are there for nine months and not just from January.

    *Table data from Football365

    2025 calendar year table bottom six graphic showing: Pos Team P GD PTS 15 West Ham 19 -4 20 16 Man Utd 19 -5 20 17 Tottenham 19 -14 14 18 Leicester 19 -27 11 19 Ipswich 19 -31 7 20 S'oton 19 -33 6

  8. Liam Delap looks forward wearing an Ipswich Town tracksuit

  9. A CGI image showing the back of the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand at the Portman Road stadium in Ipswich, including an illustration of what a new car park will look like

  10. Lee Grant during his time on Ipswich's coaching staff

  11. Your Ipswich player of the season

    We asked you to select your Ipswich player of the season from the four candidates chosen by our fan contributor.

    And with the poll now closed, we can reveal the winner is... Liam Delap!

    Here's what Seb Brown from the Blue Monday Podcast said about him:

    Our top scorer of the season with 12 goals and counting.

    His ability to lead the line, create chances for himself and occupy defenders is a throwback to a previous era of centre forwards.

    He has been excellent this season and will have his choice of top clubs this summer.

    See the final poll breakdown

    Liam DelapGetty Images

  12. Which teams put a shift in this season?

    Chris Collinson
    BBC Sport statistician

    A graph plots distance covered on x axis and sprints on y axis. Brighton covered most distance. Most sprints is Bournemouth followed by Tottenham. Nottingham Forest are low for both metrics.

    Bournemouth and Tottenham were the most physical teams in the Premier League this season when considering the distance they covered and the number of sprints performed.

    The results might explain why they had a lot of injuries.

    Newcastle and Brighton were not too far behind though, with Brighton actually covering the most ground in the league, with fewer sprints.

    Chelsea and Liverpool's style of play saw them sprint a lot but not cover a lot of ground, while Manchester City and Arsenal were the opposite (ran a lot but didn't sprint a lot).

    Nottingham Forest very much had their own style of play this season as they both ran and sprinted the least.

  14. A painter on a platform lift paints over a mural that depicted Ipswich Town's players and manager on the side of a building.

  15. Fan scorecard: Unsung hero? Overriding emotion?

    Rich Woodward
    Fan writer

    Ipswich fan's voice banner
    Massimo LuongoGetty Images

    Season rating: 4/10. After a significant summer investment and coming into the season with serious momentum, to be so far adrift of the 'big 17' is a pretty major disappointment. We had a few positive moments, though, and unlike those around us stuck together despite the adversity. We'll be stronger for it.

    Happy with your manager? Yes. There are things I'm sure in hindsight he could have done differently at points in the season, but Kieran McKenna is always learning and finding ways to improve. Hopefully he stays with Town and that improvement journey continues together.

    Unsung hero: There will be a few of our double promotion heroes who depart this summer. One already confirmed is Massimo Luongo. The Australian joined on a free transfer in January 2023 having not made an appearance at previous club Middlesbrough. Despite this, Luongo immediately became a vital part of Town's midfield that dominated almost everyone in the EFL. Thanks Mass!

    Player you would most like to sign: As noted above, our midfield department will be depleted this summer. Plus we need to address our lack of physical stature compared with the sides in the big 17. Players like that aren't typically found in our usual market in the EFL so we need to expand our scouting network to find the next Pape Sarr or Abdoulaye Doucoure.

    Right now, my overriding emotion from the season is: I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed - in part at our inability to keep ourselves on the right side of the line, or at least to sustain a survival fight until the final day. Equal disappointment at what the Premier League has become in our 22 years away. Yes, it is the pinnacle, but it is also a brutal landscape which has all but left behind clubs of a modest stature now. I'm not sure that's something to be proud about.

    Do you agree with Rich's answers? Pick one or two categories and send your views

    Have your say

    Find more from Rich Woodward at the Blue Monday Podcast

  16. 'A return to the Premier League proved too much'

    Ipswich playersGetty Images
    Chief football writer Phil McNulty byline banner

    Here's my quick assessment of Ipswich's Premier League season - and a return to my August predictions.

    Ended the season: 19th

    Pre-season prediction: 20th

    There were some flashes of hope, all too rarely. A return to the Premier League proved too much for Ipswich under Kieran McKenna, after the brilliant achievement of two successive promotions.

    Liam Delap showed his quality but there was not enough elsewhere. He will leave, but McKenna might think he has enough for another promotion next season.

    What I said in August: "It will be some feat if they stay up."

    Read my assessments of the other 19 teams here

  17. BBC pundits Premier League predictions