'We haven't come on a journey - we have built a rocket ship'
- Published
Ipswich Town chairman and chief executive Mark Ashton has told fans to "ignore the noise" surrounding the club and manager Kieran McKenna, as the Tractor Boys continue to try to find their feet in the Premier League after back-to-back promotions.
Speaking in an exclusive interview on BBC Radio Suffolk's The Blue Hour, Ashton said: "We have got a very talented manager, who we worked very hard to re-contract in the summer. I think he made the right choice and the best choice to stay with us.
"He is a friend, a colleague and a top manager who will go and take this football club further.
"My job wasn't really to persuade Kieran to stay - it was to point out the logic as to why we were the best fit for him. It was about focusing on right now and where this football club can be.
"Some will say we are behind the other clubs in this league, but we are only behind them in time.
"Rome wasn't built in a day. We haven't come on a journey - we have built a rocket ship. We still have so much further to go and there are going to be blips in the road. This isn't going to be smooth, we are in the biggest and best league in the world.
"Let's just remember where we were two years ago, when we were kicking off against Morecambe in League One at home with a half-empty stadium.
"We must not forget where we have come from."