Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna guided the Suffolk club to an incredible back-to-back promotion from League One to the Premier League
Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has hailed the work of Kieran McKenna after Ipswich Town were promoted to the Premier League on Saturday.
The Tractor Boys were not expected to be battling at the top end of the Championship this season after McKenna worked wonders to get them out of League One following a bad start. However, Ipswich kept the momentum going and knew just a point would see them pip Leeds United to the second automatic promotion spot.
In the end, a defeat would have still done the job for Ipswich against Huddersfield Town after Leeds lost at home to Southampton on the final day. But goals from Wes Burns and Omari Hutchinson ensured the Suffolk club returned to the top flight in style.
Before moving to Portman Road in 2021, McKenna was an assistant to Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and briefly Ralf Rangnick at United. During that time, he worked closely with the likes of Maguire who sent his former coach a message after their incredible promotion.
The centre-back shared a picture of his TV screen which showed the Ipswich match with the caption: “Kieran McKenna,” accompanied by a wand and clapping emoji. Such success with Ipswich has led to speculation that McKenna could be on Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s radar to replace Erik ten Hag.
Ten Hag is under pressure at Old Trafford after a difficult second season in the Premier League. United will not be returning to the Champions League next season after qualifying in the last campaign and they are at risk of missing out on European football entirely due to inconsistent performances.
MEN Sport understands Ratcliffe is unsure whether Ten Hag is the right man to take the club forward with the likes of McKenna, Thomas Tuchel and Gareth Southgate all linked with replacing him.
Leave a Reply