When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer became Manchester United manager, he placed Kieran McKenna in charge of organising the back line because the Northern Irishman was more thorough than any other coach he had come across.
Now, less than six years on, McKenna has guided Ipswich Town back to the top flight, sealing back-to-back promotions courtesy of a front-footed style that has produced a series of devastatingly beautiful goals.
In an interview last year, Solskjaer described McKenna as the “most thorough and analytical, step-by-step, process-driven coach that I’ve worked with” as the former United manager explained why he put him in charge of the team’s work off the ball. “I learned from him about defensive shape and how not to concede.”
But so much for the defensive savant. On six occasions they have conceded three or more goals having appeared to embrace an ethos of outscoring opponents.
Only League Two’s runaway winners Stockport County have found the net more often across the top four divisions but it has been the manner in which the Tractor Boys have broken rivals’ hearts that has stood out.
There has been plenty of late drama - see Rotherham and Southampton at home - but it has been the back to front, one-touch, blur of movement goals that has stood out most.
Ever present goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky has become accustomed to starting off moves leading to goals, with Conor Chaplin against Hull and Wes Burns versus Coventry striking examples of their pass and move style. There have been a selection of long-range bangers too but it has been those team efforts that has won admiration from afar.
In the rough and tumble of League One they were proof that a style of play perceived to be for a higher level can succeed a couple of steps down the ladder. The front-foot approach has simply been refined and taken up a gear in the Championship, with spectacular results.
"Of course there's a difference between working with players at Manchester United to working at this level,” McKenna told Sky Sports last season. “But it's a misconception in my opinion that you can't implement a certain style at this level or that you can't do certain things.”
Beyond tactics or automatisms, Ipswich may be the finest present example of a collective being more successful than the sum of its parts.
"If you give trust to the players and improve their understanding of what they're capable of, the level you can get is usually higher than what they believe of themselves,” McKenna said.
Nineteen different players have scored in the league, with only Conor Chaplin and Nathan Broadhead in double figures.
The only member of the opening weekend squad to have spent sustained time in the Premier League is veteran forward Sone Aluko and several have earned their corn in non-League.
But their recruitment has been very smart, with loan signings such as Omari Hutchinson and, since January, Kieffer Moore and Jeremy Sarmiento playing significant roles. Brandon Williams dropped off after a promising start, while Dane Scarlett failed to make a real impression, but the fact they spent less than £4m on permanent signings is a cause for admiration.
Much greater investment will be required to provide McKenna with the tools to thrive in the top flight but do not expect a diversion from the philosophy that has brought them back to the pinnacle for the first time in two decades.
A big summer is in store in Suffolk but for now Ipswich should take a moment to enjoy a season like no other.
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