“It showed on the pitch” - Kayden Jackson lifts lid on past failings at Ipswich Town | OneFootball

Ipswich Town really struggled to come close to finishing in the top six in their first three seasons after suffering relegation to League One.

The Tractor Boys are in a great position to at least take their promotion bid deep into the play-offs this time around, seemingly onto a good thing with Kieran McKenna at the helm.

Promotion is the expectation at Portman Road now with the off-field investment they have received in the last couple of seasons, and it has led to a fascinating climax to this term as they look to hunt down second-placed Plymouth Argyle.

Kayden Jackson has played under four different managers since arriving from Accrington Stanley, and certainly the last two before McKenna, Paul Lambert and Paul Cook, would be considered more old-school style operators.

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Jackson did not pull any punches in speaking about what is different now compared to an underwhelming era at the club when he guested on Football Daily's 72+.

He said: "First of all, everyday is fun, it's exciting, everyone wants to come in and train, it's something different.

"It's something that you're going to get things from.

"We've not had that enough in the time that I've been at the club under different managers.

"It's been the same old stuff and nothing exciting.

"You don't feel like you're learning too much and I think it showed on the pitch.

"It showed in the fact that we haven't had the success that everyone thought we would go on to have when we got relegated.

"Yet, it's no fluke that we're in the position that we are, the stats speak for themselves, at the end of the day we've got a big job to do as players but the manager's certainly helping us and doing his all.

"As a management team they've given us everything that they can to help facilitate that success."

The Verdict

Lambert and Cook do not come out in the best light from Jackson's comments, and considering that the former has not managed since his Suffolk departure and the latter is back at Chesterfield in the National League, it could suggest that their methods are outdated.

Jackson has been revitalised since McKenna arrived at the club and has been a valuable asset in a range of positions.

The 29-year-old adds variety in the attacking third and could elevate the level of those around him, with Conor Chaplin and Freddie Ladapo for example being extremely different forward players.