Kieran McKenna | Close to signing long term deal to stay at Ipswich

I'm not too sure that Brighton is a good place for a progressive manager. The club seem to be in the the business of recruiting players and then selling them on for a big profit. Success is a mid-table finish & four players sold.
 
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He’d be a mug to go there. Prove yourself with Ipswich in the Prem first.
 
Thing is Ipswich are guaranteed to go down next season so it all comes down to whether McKenna is arsed about having that on his CV and if he feels confident that the club will see the bigger picture and stick by him. Like what Luton have done with Edwards.
 
Tom Van Persie said:
Thing is Ipswich are guaranteed to go down next season so it all comes down to whether McKenna is arsed about having that on his CV and if he feels confident that the club will see the bigger picture and stick by him. Like what Luton have done with Edwards.
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Never any guarantees in the Premier league. Relegation with Ipswich wont hurt his CV because most people are expecting it. The reverse is if he keeps them up he will be golden. Win/Win for me.
 
jeff gurr said:
Never any guarantees in the Premier league. Relegation with Ipswich wont hurt his CV because most people are expecting it. The reverse is if he keeps them up he will be golden. Win/Win for me.
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Nah, people will still hold it against him if he gets relegated. Ole got relegated with Cardiff who were in hopeless position when he took over mid-season and you have people constantly bringing this up, it will be the same with McKenna. He may still get offers from some PL clubs but his pathway to top jobs will be much longer.

Brighton is a good job for him. He won’t get relegated with them and no one has any real expectations towards them, aside from playing entertaining football and putting up a decent show against a top team every now and again.
 
Tom Van Persie said:
Thing is Ipswich are guaranteed to go down next season so it all comes down to whether McKenna is arsed about having that on his CV and if he feels confident that the club will see the bigger picture and stick by him. Like what Luton have done with Edwards.
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Ipswich were guaranteed not to be promoted by many this season yet here they are. That aside, I don't think he will be bothered if that does happen. He's a fledgling in management and Ipswich will have a long term plan for him whether he stays or goes.

Sarni said:
Nah, people will still hold it against him if he gets relegated. Ole got relegated with Cardiff who were in hopeless position when he took over mid-season and you have people constantly bringing this up, it will be the same with McKenna. He may still get offers from some PL clubs but his pathway to top jobs will be much longer.

Brighton is a good job for him. He won’t get relegated with them and no one has any real expectations towards them, aside from playing entertaining football and putting up a decent show against a top team every now and again.
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Think he's above mid table mediocrity. He won't go to a club without aspirations to match his own.
 
Sarni said:
Nah, people will still hold it against him if he gets relegated. Ole got relegated with Cardiff who were in hopeless position when he took over mid-season and you have people constantly bringing this up, it will be the same with McKenna. He may still get offers from some PL clubs but his pathway to top jobs will be much longer.

Brighton is a good job for him. He won’t get relegated with them and no one has any real expectations towards them, aside from playing entertaining football and putting up a decent show against a top team every now and again.
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Brighton is a a waste of time for any manager with aspirations. Their main concern is to develop players for profit & remain mid table. De Zerbi bailed once he realized there was no real ambition at the club. McKenna wants to win and Brighton's lack of ambition will not appeal to him.
 
Offside said:
He’d be a mug to go there. Prove yourself with Ipswich in the Prem first.
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Prove what with Ipswich? They're going to be battered regardless of the manager. He's right to jump ship now and "prove himself" with a team at which he has a fighting chance of doing well.

Although I do agree that following RDZ at Brighton might not be the best idea. I'd probably try to go to a team that has underperformed so I had a good chance of improving them... maybe Wolves, Forest or Brentford.

Just a note of caution about those wanting him here now... Keane looked great at Sunderland with promotion as champions at one point...
 
The Urban Goose said:
Prove what with Ipswich? They're going to be battered regardless of the manager.
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Hardly a guarantee. Nobody would have predicted them going straight up from the Championship. The fact they did is the reason his stock is so high. Maybe him keeping them up or not getting battered every week would be proving himself more at Ipswich? If you put the bar so low then it’s an even bigger incentive to stay.
 
Offside said:
Hardly a guarantee. Nobody would have predicted them going straight up from the Championship. The fact they did is the reason his stock is so high. Maybe him keeping them up or not getting battered every week would be proving himself more at Ipswich? If you put the bar so low then it’s an even bigger incentive to stay.
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Not true at all.

“Town are also joint-fourth favourites to be promoted at 4/1, again tied with Norwich, Watford and West Brom.“
 
Samid said:
Not true at all.

“Town are also joint-fourth favourites to be promoted at 4/1, again tied with Norwich, Watford and West Brom.“
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They were 7th favourites with much longer odds than the relegated 3. Although that is different to what I said saying “nobody would’ve predicted” it still is more a case of people lumping on the surprise package rather than being hotly tipped for the automatics. My point still stands.
 
brother ant said:
I think it would be a good next step. Brighton should give him some time to adapt and he will certainly have less pressure. Going to any top club bar United could see him in trouble if he does not hit the ground running.

For sure there is a chance he takes Brighton backwards but I think it’s a safer bet than staying with Ipswich. They will be favourites for relegation and even if he avoids that will his stock still be as high?

The only top club that might give him more time is United at the moment. INEOS will want to give their new man time and after the last few years the supporters rightly or wrongly are fed up with most of the current players and will quickly point to the players.
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Brighton have been a bottom half club since their promotion to the top league. Despite a couple of good seasons where they finished in the top 10, rest have been in the bottom half, more than half of them in the last 1/4th of the table. I don't believe it is that big of an upgrade. There have been other clubs like Brighton who have come up and "beaten football" for a few years and then gone swiftly down. At one time Swansea that came up with Rodgers and then continued with Laudrup were a model to be emulated. Also, Bournemoth with Howe were destined for bigger things.

I would rather he stay with Ipswich if the owners there are willing to spend good money on getting him the players he wants for survival. Or join a top club where he would have resources to prove whether he has it in him to become a top manager or not.
 
Would be dumb of him to take the Chelsea job. Be smart Kieran. Take Brighton for a few years than come to United...
 
Have a feeling he will go there. The lure of a top club is too big.

Wish we would go for him and give him a chance
 
I don’t think you can turn down a club of Chelsea’s size if you are an up-and-coming coach like McKenna. His stock is sky-high at present and, as we’ve seen with Kompany this year, it can deteriorate quickly when trying to survive in the league on a shoe-string budget and playing with players more suited to the division below.

I think it’s worth the punt for him as it’s win-win: either impress there and your reputation further burgeons, or get the sack like their last ten (often) world-class managers did. Nobody really discredits you and you’ll still get good offers afterwards.
 
Tom Van Persie said:
Thing is Ipswich are guaranteed to go down next season so it all comes down to whether McKenna is arsed about having that on his CV and if he feels confident that the club will see the bigger picture and stick by him. Like what Luton have done with Edwards.
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Are they? It will be very tough but I think they'll give it more of a go than any of this season's promoted clubs have. If they get over 30 points they've got a decent chance of getting 17th.

Think they'll be back him in the transfer market with all these rumours.
 
Buchan said:
I don’t think you can turn down a club of Chelsea’s size if you are an up-and-coming coach like McKenna. His stock is sky-high at present and, as we’ve seen with Kompany this year, it can deteriorate quickly when trying to survive in the league on a shoe-string budget and playing with players more suited to the division below.

I think it’s worth the punt for him as it’s win-win: either impress there and your reputation further burgeons, or get the sack like their last ten (often) world-class managers did. Nobody really discredits you and you’ll still get good offers afterwards.
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There's a big difference between Burnley and Brighton though. And disagree, Lampard and Graham Potter's stock has fallen quite a bit.

With Brighton, as long as the quality of football is at a high level and they are top half of the table, it will be seen as a positive.
 
FootballHQ said:
Are they? It will be very tough but I think they'll give it more of a go than any of this season's promoted clubs have. If they get over 30 points they've got a decent chance of getting 17th.

Think they'll be back him in the transfer market with all these rumours.
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It would be a miracle if he kept them up. I've watched a lot of Ipswich over the last year or so and they're definitely an impressive side especially going forward but the defense wasn't that good even at Championship level. How many signings can they realistically make this summer?
 
I think Brighton is a reasonable step up for him. Established PL club with a good structure. I am sure they’ll back him with some smart recruitment this summer too. 2-3 year at Brighton, and he does well, he will cement his reputation and will get a shot at a top job. He’s so young. Might even be United.

If he goes to Chelsea, the odds are better than not, that he gets fired within 12 months, and then I think the road back is harder. Though not overwhelming. If he stays at Ipswich and gets immediately relegated, and worse, they concede a ton, the perception of him will change considerably I think. If he stays with Ipswich, he really needs to either stay up, or put up a really good fight and in several metrics perform way above expectations - even if not in points.

Chelsea have had 4 managers in 2 years and are clearly all over the shop. I wouldn’t go there if I was him. Not at all. Although if he does, and he succeeds, his career will take off in a massive way. I guess it’s all about weighing the risk vs reward.
 
FootballHQ said:
Are they? It will be very tough but I think they'll give it more of a go than any of this season's promoted clubs have. If they get over 30 points they've got a decent chance of getting 17th.

Think they'll be back him in the transfer market with all these rumours.
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Problem is he's going to have to completely change their style to have a chance of staying up. Playing expansive, easy on the eye stuff as a newly promoted side pretty much never works and gets you stuff like Burnley this season.

I think he'd be wise to go to Brighton. Good structure, good foundation of a squad with bright young players that are all used to playing modern stuff in the PL already. If he can get them into Europa it would be a great move.
 
Hope McKenna chooses Brighton. I think Chelsea would be a disaster for him tbh. He might really struggle to find a good job if their season goes the way I suspect it will.
 
MyOnlySolskjaer said:
There's a big difference between Burnley and Brighton though. And disagree, Lampard and Graham Potter's stock has fallen quite a bit.

With Brighton, as long as the quality of football is at a high level and they are top half of the table, it will be seen as a positive.
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Lampard got the Everton job and Potter just turned down Ajax they both either got jobs or offered decent jobs after, one in the top league albeit for a struggling club and the other for a top team in their league
 
He'll likely get sacked at either job within the next 3 years anyway.

Promoted clubs never stick with the manager who brings them up if they don't excel in the league, no explanation needed for why I think he won't last at Chelsea.

He may as well go to Chelsea and get that massive payout.
 
Buchan said:
I don’t think you can turn down a club of Chelsea’s size if you are an up-and-coming coach like McKenna. His stock is sky-high at present and, as we’ve seen with Kompany this year, it can deteriorate quickly when trying to survive in the league on a shoe-string budget and playing with players more suited to the division below.

I think it’s worth the punt for him as it’s win-win: either impress there and your reputation further burgeons, or get the sack like their last ten (often) world-class managers did. Nobody really discredits you and you’ll still get good offers afterwards.
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Kompany is on Bayern's shortlist tbf - I don't think many will hold the relegation against him and I reckon he'll get a crack in the prem again.
 
best move for him is brighton. If he does well there for 2 years a top club wont deem him such a risk. Chelsea a disaster, as happened Potter.
 
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