A three-time promotion-winning manager, adored by all, suddenly announcing he’d quit to take a break from the game.
Last Wednesday’s news hit players just as hard as it did supporters.
“I heard a few bits and bobs the day before, which I didn’t know if were true or not,” reveals Leif Davis, the left-back who will forever be among those synonymous with the McKenna era.
“I wanted to see it come from his mouth, from the gaffer’s mouth. When it got announced it was a big shock, a big disappointment. I was gutted, absolutely gutted that he obviously decided to do that, but family’s before anything in life. He says needs time with his family, so you can’t say anything. He’s worked his heart out for the four or five years he’s been here.
“From day one when I came to the club I could see how intense he was… So, yeah, I was gutted, absolutely gutted, when I saw the news. Because to have the opportunity to work with him was a pleasure. Hopefully I do come across him again in my career.”
Asked if he’d seen McKenna since the news, Davis replied: “Yeah, I saw him on Monday. It was good to see him. You could see the weight had been taken off his shoulders. I think he’d been thinking about it for quite a while.
“Like I say, family’s important. Family’s there forever. Football’s not, you know what I mean? You have family for all your life. You’ve got football for a short period of time.
“He has to take his time now to spend that time with his family. You’ll hopefully see him again soon in management. We would all like to see that. Where it is, we don’t know, but we would like to thank him for what he’s done for the football club and the journey we’ve been on.
“He just said to me, ‘Keep your head down’. He’s gutted he can’t be with the lads this year in the Premier League, he would love to have had a second shot at it, but like I say, he’s taking some time with his family and we can’t say anything about that decision because he’s done everything he can for us. We thank him a lot.”
McKenna had said he ‘didn’t have a lot more to give’ after the end of last season, having overseen three promotions and one relegation during his first four full seasons as a senior boss.
“We see how hard he works,” said Davis. “He’s in at six o’clock every morning. He’s the last to leave. He’s watching football anywhere he is. He’s football mad, speaking about football every day. His intensity is incredible. I don’t know how he’s done it for so long. I think I would have crashed after a season doing that, how he does it.
“On the coach, in hotels, he’s always watching games. Towards the end of last season I could see him falling asleep watching games on the bus. He loves football, but it does take its toll sometimes when you watch too much of it. It does drain you. I’m knackered already watching all these World Cup games, so I don’t know how he feels!
“He wants the best for people, he always has. On my first day of training, when I came from Leeds, he was like, ‘Come on, we’re working on this straightaway’. I was just like, ‘Gaffer, I can’t, I’ve literally just come off a 21-hour flight from Australia, I don’t know where I am!’ He said, ‘No, we’re working, we want to get better straightaway’.
“I would always do everything I could to improve myself for him. He always spent a lot of time with me after training, working on stuff that I needed to work on. Defensively, I know I’m not the best at it, but I’ll always give everything I can to improve in that area. He’s helped me massively with that.
“This year was a bit different for me, having Jaden (Philogene) and Clarkey (Jack Clarke) playing wider and me having to go inside a bit more. Without the manager I would have been lost in there, I wouldn’t have known what to do. He always said every time I did one of those (decoy) overlaps for Jaden or Clarkey, and they scored, that it was an assist for me. I always said, ‘No, it’s not’, but he’d make me feel good about the unselfish run.
“He’s been incredible. Not just for me, but the whole town. The club are going to miss him.”
McKenna is the only manager Davis has known during his four years in Suffolk. Asked if this was a bit of an uncertain time for him and his team-mates, he replied: “Yeah. It was going to be a bit of a change anyway, moving into the new training ground, moving up a league, so the off-season would have felt like a fresh start even with Kieran.
“But yeah, I’ve never had this before. At Leeds I just had Marcelo (Bielsa). At Ipswich it’s just been Kieran. It’s the same here for the likes of Walts (Christian Walton) and Wes (Burns) too.
“I’ve just got to go and show whoever does come into the football club what I can do. I’ll give everything, no matter what. Even if they were don’t like me, then I’d still do everything I can for the club to try and play. I always have done, always will.
“It’s going to be a big change, a fresh start, which I’m looking forward to.”
On whether he feels a better player now than the last time Ipswich were in the Premier League, Davis replied: “Massively. That year in the Champ again has done me the world of good.
“I had clubs after me last summer, but I said, ‘No, I want to stay’ and signed my new deal.
“I’m enjoying it here. I feel it’s somewhere I can push myself every day. The manager was right that I did need to stay and get another 30-plus games under my belt to get ready for another go at the Premier League.”
He continues: “Obviously, that first year in the Prem was a bit of a shock. When you’re younger, you’re playing on FIFA FC, all that kind of stuff, and then you’re like, ‘Wow, now I’m playing against them’. I think everyone feels like that. When you go from watching them on the telly to playing against them on the pitch, it’s a bit like, ‘I’m nervous here’. It’s hard not to be nervous playing on the biggest stage in the world.
“But now we’ve experienced that and the club’s better prepared. New training facilities will hopefully help take us to another level.
“I feel more ready this time, a lot better this time. I’m not nervous. I’m just ready to attack the challenge.”