How Ipswich Town can avoid Luton Town nightmare in 3 steps | OneFootball

The Tractor Boys will hope their fall back into the EFL is nowhere near as poor as that of the Hatters

For the second successive season, all three of the Premier League's freshly-promoted sides are making an immediate return to the EFL in the form of Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton.

It had been a remarkable two years for Kieran McKenna's side as they rose from League One, straight through the Championship and into the top-flight for the first time since 2002.

Whilst the Tractor Boys have plenty of high-potential talent in their ranks, it hasn't been good enough for them to consolidate, although there will be an immediate expectation for the club to challenge for promotion next season.

The same was expected of Luton Town, who, like Ipswich, gained praise for their valiant displays against some of English football's elite after reaching the division 10 years after earning promotion from the National League.

However, unlike Burnley and Sheffield United, it's been a disastrous season for the Hatters, who are staring back-to-back relegations in the face despite maintaining plenty of the squad who performed admirably last term after a previously unexpected play-off success.

With that in mind, FLW has looked at three steps Ipswich must take in order to avoid a similar calamity.

Replace the key players such as Liam Delap and co with adequate quality

Unsurprisingly, the high-profile duo of Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson have been tipped to stay in the top-flight unlike their current employers.

Delap excelled on loan at Hull City last term and has taken to the elite division like a duck to water with outstanding movement, agility, composure and a ferocious ball-striking ability that has seen him responsible for almost half of Town's goals this season when taking his overall G+A into account.

The 22-year-old has seen his £30m relegation release clause activated amid interest from the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Everton as he looks to continue his upward individual trajectory, whilst Hutchinson, who has also been a shining light in McKenna's team, has been exclusively predicted by Lee Hendrie to potentially join Leeds United or Burnley amid talk of his own £35m relegation release clause.

What Luton didn't nail after returning to the EFL was their recruitment drive, regardless of the £10m signing of Mark McGuinness from Cardiff City, with the gaping holes left by Ross Barkley and Albert Sambi Lokonga evident throughout the season. An abundance of incoming midfielders have since failed to reach the standards required in order to earn promotion.

It is also important for the East Anglian side to retain as many talents as possible, with the likes of Jacob Greaves, Dara O'Shea, Jack Clarke and Jaden Philogene all enjoying fine previous seasons in the division, as well as hoping the likes of Conor Chaplin can emulate his 13-goal haul of last season if he is to stick around.

Ipswich Town need to make a fast start to the new season

Although Luton were handed a tricky opening game of the season against the Clarets at Kenilworth Road, not many expected then-manager Rob Edwards' team to be on the receiving end of a 4-1 drubbing before losing six of the first 10 games, which ultimately set the tone of their long, old season.

When taking the standings of each individual matchday into account, Luton have failed to even break into the top-half all season, which is quite an astounding statistic given the quality which has remained. This includes the likes of Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo - who both hit double figures in the top-flight - and Alfie Doughty, who was the subject of previous Premier League interest.

It was evident that there was to be no way back for Edwards as the Bedfordshire side's initial post-relegation hangover continued to deteriorate, with the 42-year-old departing on January 9th and being swiftly replaced by Matt Bloomfield, who has managed to turn the side's form around in the latter weeks of the campaign following an underwhelming start to his own tenure.

It remains to be seen whether Gamechanger 20 LTD will retain McKenna's services heading into 2025/26, but whoever is in the dugout has to show Town's early promotion intent, or they could be caught out by plenty of competitive sides such as newly-promoted Birmingham City and Wrexham, who are both expected to heavily invest.

Handle the vast change in expectation levels

Now Ipswich players, supporters and owners have seen the glitz and glamour - aside from VAR controversies - there is no doubt the club will want more of it, and with that comes a change in expectation levels.

Luton, for effectively the first time ever, were tipped by many outsiders to mount an immediate return to the elite, although they were walking into unchartered territory unlike their fellow relegated sides in Burnley and Sheffield United, who have been through relegation on several occasions combined.

Whilst no one expected Ipswich to be relegated during their solitary season of Championship football since 2019, hardly anybody expected them to seriously challenge Leeds, Leicester and Southampton in such unrelenting fashion, as well as being rooted for by many due to their 'underdog' status in comparison to the other sides' predicament at the time.

Now, the shoe is firmly on the other foot, and those donning the blue and white must face up to the fact that, even before a ball has been kicked, they will be among the expected front-runners for promotion, especially if McKenna stays due to managerial uncertainty at the King Power Stadium and St Mary's.

This is a seamless link to the previous point in a sense. However, as Luton's significant drop-off in form showcased, having a previous promotion-winning manager who is so highly-rated doesn't guarantee anything, which is something Mark Ashton and co. may be slightly wary of.