Ipswich must now sell £35k-p/w flop who McKenna said had a 'high ceiling'

Two huge crunch contests await Ipswich Town in the Premier League to close out an up-and-down February, with Kieran McKenna hopeful for a pair of big positive results in front of the Portman Road masses.

That is the case despite Ipswich’s only game this month in Suffolk seeing the Tractor Boys slip up to bottom-of-the-table Southampton, as Ivan Juric’s Saints collected only their second win of a sorry campaign.

Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United are the two heavyweights travelling to Portman Road in quick succession – with both sides capable of a slip-up of their own – as Alex Palmer now prepares to be the new heroic goalkeeper in between the sticks to spearhead a change in fortunes.

Alex Palmer’s debut for Ipswich

Another reason why McKenna will be feeling optimistic about his team’s chances in these key clashes to come is Palmer’s standout debut, with the ex-West Bromwich Albion shot-stopper keeping his lowly team in the contest last time out.

It’s fair to say the new £2m buy was under the cosh for most of his first taste of Premier League action, considering Ipswich were reduced to ten men for all of the second 45 minutes, leading to wave upon wave of Villa attacks nearly breaching the visitors.

The confident 28-year-old would end up finishing the chaotic contest with six saves next to his name, which included thwarting this deflected effort right at the death after a mazey Marcus Rashford run had left various Ipswich shirts in the dust.

Having garnered a reputation at West Brom for being a dependable shot-stopper – with 11 clean sheets tallied up in Championship action this season before his big break to Suffolk – McKenna will pray more Villa-style performances are up his sleeve moving forward.

Having Palmer to rely on means it will be easier to shift this Tractor Boys flop very soon, with the flappy alternative to the 28-year-old costing his side dear in many contests before the fresh ‘keeper’s arrival.

McKenna must now sell £35k-p/w Ipswich star

Whilst Palmer only cost a modest £2m to obtain from Tony Mowbray’s side, this dud cost McKenna and Co an extortionate £15m to get in through the door last summer.

It’s safe to say that rash splurge hasn’t worked out for the relegation-threatened outfit whatsoever, as Arijanet Muric has been demoted to the substitutes bench ever since Palmer’s entry into the building.

Arguably, with hindsight on Ipswich’s side, this was always going to be a risky buy, considering the Kosovan ‘keeper already had a relegation to the Championship on his CV with past employers Burnley.

Muric would only feature ten times in the league across the Clarets’ dismal 2023/24 campaign, but from those rare appearances, the ex-Manchester City youth product would pick up zero clean sheets, with these Premier League woes then following him to Suffolk.

Looking at the table above, albeit Muric has been chucked into the deep end of a relegation battle compared to Palmer starring in the division below, it’s obvious why Ipswich will feel they’ve struck gold with the cheap signature of their new 6 foot 3 face, with 11 clean sheets picked up in the second tier among other glowing numbers.

He too has shown he can handle the pressures of the Premier League if his debut is anything to go by, with Muric – who was once lauded as having a “really high” ceiling by his manager – now unfortunately fading into the background, having conceded five more strikes this season in league action compared to his counterpart from 12 fewer clashes.

Not all hope will be lost on Muric’s end, having won himself this move after a bumpy Burnley stay, but it looks likely that the £35k-per-week flop – who has made the joint-most errors leading to a goal in the top-flight this term (five) – will need to be sold on again when the summer window comes around.

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