Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna offered a peculiar explanation after his side was held to a goalless draw at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, a result that secured the Baggies' Championship safety. The draw left Ipswich's promotion hopes in the balance as they battle for an immediate return to the Premier League.
Match Context
West Brom needed just one point from the game to guarantee mathematical safety heading into the final weekend of the season. They achieved that against the promotion-chasing Tractor Boys, extending their unbeaten run to ten matches under James Morrison. The hosts dominated the first half, creating several clear chances, but Ipswich grew into the game after the interval.
Former Baggies defender Cedric Kipre thought he had given Ipswich the lead in the 70th minute, but his strike was correctly ruled out for offside. Ultimately, both sides settled for a share of the spoils, with Albion the happier of the two.
McKenna's Bizarre Excuse
After the match, McKenna raised eyebrows by attributing his side's inability to convert the draw into a win to two factors: the hot weather and the condition of the Hawthorns pitch. He said: “It was always going to be difficult, it is their last home game, with the news yesterday they needed one more point, the crowd was up. I could list 100 excuses but I am going to list two more. It was the hottest day of the year, and it was a bobbly, really poor surface for this time of the year if I am honest, it was hard to play football on for both teams.”
McKenna added: “The game in this division is small and it was not what we wanted, but you don’t get a clean sheet away from home at a team in form if you are not working hard and doing good things.”
Throwback to Klopp's 2018 Complaint
McKenna's comments drew comparisons to a similar complaint made by former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp in 2018. Back then, Albion were fighting for survival in the Premier League and came from two goals down to snatch a point against Liverpool at The Hawthorns. Klopp famously griped: “I was not happy with the pitch, you can imagine that. It was a difficult game, especially after the pitch got drier and drier. West Brom obviously decided not to water the pitch in half-time again. And it was quite difficult.”
The parallels between the two managers' remarks have not gone unnoticed, with fans and pundits alike poking fun at the recurring theme of pitch complaints at the Hawthorns.
