O'Neil on experience, transfers and 'special' Ipswich

Gary O'Neil has been speaking to the media after being unveiled as the new head coach of Ipswich Town. The 43-year-old, who is the 20th manager in the Blues' 90-year professional history, arrives at Portman Road from French side Strasbourg, signing a three-year deal to the summer of 2029. Here are the key lines from his news conference: O'Neil started by telling reporters that Kieran McKenna did "incredible things", but the next steps are about stabilising Ipswich as a Premier League club. He added the focus is to "get enough points" to stay in the Premier League and he can see that the club's aim is to grow, which is what attracted him to the role. On being at Ipswich: "You can probably tell I'm excited to get going. I'm disappointed we don't start training instantly but the lads need their break so we've given them the next few days to make sure that they're ready. There will be plenty for me to do between now and that moment." The new head coach believes he has the experience to help the club in whichever position they find themselves in: "Whether we get this club to a European semi-final, I've done that before, whether we need to stay in the Premier League, I've done that before." On this role compared to previous ones: "The Premier League is huge of course, and to do it at a club with this history is something new for me. Of course I have had two fantastic opportunities already at Premier League clubs, this one feels very, very special to me." He added: "The last two cracks at the Premier League, it wasn't with teams that were on the up." O'Neil is yet to meet the squad but said "they look like a committed group and they get the backing of the fans because of that", adding: "You can see that the team is together and well coached." On transfers: "We have spent a few hours to go through some bits about the current group and what we think we can help them with, and then what we can supplement from outside, but there will be a lot of work to be done. We will be doing our very best to try and give the club the best chance. I'll have my own thoughts on what we need. The recruitment team look like they're doing a fantastic job and have some good stuff lined up, so let's see what we can do." On his style of play: "At Strasbourg, we were 4-2-3-1 a lot. We rotated a bit with the ball to give us some different shapes. We had a lot of the ball. I like that, that is a preference of mine, but we will have to play Manchester City at the Etihad at some point. Maybe it won't be that [formation] and that's probably about as much as I want to give you at this moment." O'Neil insisted they "need to take this on now" after successful Championship season, adding: "We need to take it on from where it's been. It's been an incredible journey but we haven't had a Premier League season that has ended in success yet for a very long time. That needs to be the aim now." Follow all the latest from O'Neil's unveiling here Got a question about Ipswich? Get in touch here and we'll seek answers from our experts [BBC]