The last few years have been nothing short of remarkable for Ipswich Town.
The Tractor Boys have gone from midtable in League One to just about holding their own in the Premier League, and while there is a long way to go, Kieran McKenna could just work another miracle for the third season on the bounce.
However, to do that, he will need his star players to give that little bit more, as after nine games, the club are still without their first win and currently sit on just four points with a goal difference of negative 11.
There have been some standout performers, such as Liam Delap, but others, like summer signings Omari Hutchinson and Sammie Szmodics, haven’t quite hit the ground running and are being outperformed by a former Ipswich star released for nothing in the summer.
Hutchinson and Szmodics' form this season
So, before we get to the player in question, let’s look at the underwhelming output from Hutchinson and Szmodics so far this season.
Now, before the pitchforks come out, we aren’t saying that the pair have been terrible so far, but given the money they cost and the form they showed last year, it would be fair to say that they haven’t exactly lit the Premier League up thus far.
For example, the club opted to spend up to £11m on the Irish international following his unreal campaign with Blackburn Rovers last year in which he racked up 33 goals and four assists in 48 games, but so far this season, he’s scored just twice in nine games.
Appearances
50
48
Goals
11
33
Assists
6
4
Goal Involvements per Match
0.34
0.77
Appearances
9
9
Goals
0
2
Assists
1
0
Goal Involvements per Match
0.11
0.22
Likewise, the former Chelsea prospect made his move to Portman Road permanent for £20m in the summer after scoring 11 goals and providing six assists in 50 appearances last season, but in nine games this year, he has produced just a single assist, which is a lower return than one of his former teammates who left East Anglia in the summer.
Kayden Jackson's form this season
The former Ipswich star in question is Kayden Jackson, who joined Paul Hurst’s Tractor Boys in the summer of 2018 for around £1m from Accrington Stanley.
It was a record sale for the League Two champions as, during the 17/18 campaign, the Bradford-born poacher racked up a sensational haul of 15 goals and 16 assists in just 49 appearances, equating to an average goal involvement every 1.58 games.
Unfortunately, the Englishman could not maintain that sort of form in the Championship, and he ended his debut campaign with a paltry tally of four goals and two assists in 38 games as the club suffered relegation to the third tier.
However, over the next few years, and especially with the arrival of McKenna, Jackson’s fortunes would start to improve, and by the time he left for Derby County this summer, he was the longest-serving player at the club and had a reasonable record of 28 goals and 23 assists in 199 appearances, of which 99 were from the bench.
He might not have made the jump up to the Premier League with his former teammates, but the 30-year-old is enjoying another promising season in the Championship this year, already scoring three goals and providing two assists in 14 games, meaning he is outperforming Szmodics and Hutchinson as things stand.
Ultimately, while his start to life at Portman Road was far from ideal, Jackson eventually proved to be a useful striker for the club, and we’re sure the Ipswich faithful are happy to see him kicking on at Derby this season.
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