Paul Merson has lambasted Ipswich Town after Kieran McKenna’s team lost to Stoke City and Leicester City in their past two Championship games.

Kieran McKenna’s side has perhaps the greatest roster in the Championship, yet Ipswich Town have never finished in the automatic promotion places this season. Despite going undefeated in five league games, they have not surpassed Middlesbrough.

They are fourth, trailing Millwall and Coventry City, despite having lost only once since late November, when they were defeated 2-1 away to Oxford United. That means they’ve lost only three of their last 19 league games.

Three wins and three clean sheets against Watford, Swansea City, and Hull City lately put them in a strong position to become the hunted rather than the chasing, but they were unable to defeat Stoke City and Leicester City in the division’s bottom half.

Paul Merson’s assessment on Ipswich Town and their promotion prospects

Merson discussed Ipswich Town’s next games against Millwall, Southampton, and Norwich City on Sky Sports News’ Gillette Labs Soccer Special on Tuesday.Playing games on Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Easter can soon become overwhelming.”You can’t afford to drop points against Leicester and Stoke,

who are at the bottom of the league. These games will go quickly.”This was a dismal outcome. During the first half of the game, it appeared that the team would easily beat Leicester.Then in the second half, I felt they were amazing.

They advanced with the ball and created numerous opportunities.But something is amiss with them since their first-half performance was far from satisfactory.”

How Kieran McKenna will be seen without another promotion at Ipswich

McKenna and Ipswich had high expectations going into the 2025/26 season, but their campaign has been extremely dismal in comparison. After earning promotion in 2024 and gaining momentum under McKenna, many thought Ipswich would be one of the strongest challengers for automatic promotion from the Championship.

Instead, the club has battled with consistency. In many ways, the current club appears to be stronger than the one that soared to promotion in 2024: important players from that season have either dropped in form, left, or been more than adequately replaced by superior quality than League One players they promoted with.

Being outside those positions after 37 games raises awkward concerns about whether Ipswich have stagnated under McKenna, who was once regarded as their most valuable asset. Middlesbrough and Millwall deserve credit for outperforming Ipswich, despite starting the season with less external buzz.

The final nine matches will so be crucial. They will influence not only Ipswich’s promotion prospects, but also the general perception of McKenna, determining if this season is a momentary setback or an indication that he isn’t as impressive as those back-to-back promotions made him appear.