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

At only 38 he is pretty experienced and has had well rounded career so far. He made his name coaching in youth football and was very successful with that. He was part of a coaching staff at a very high level so knows the day to day demands of being a top team. He’s also been in the trenches of lower league football and shone there too.

I imagine he left OT with glowing reviews and INEOS see him as a manger that would shine if provided with the right structure. Under the Glazers I’d be 100% against this but working alongside Ashworth, Wilcox and Cox, this could be a good appointment.

I also like the fact he understands United DNA. People laugh at it but it’s in the fabric of the club and with so much change going on it will be good to have someone who knows the culture of the club even though he wasn’t here in its heyday.
 
Kaos said:
Yeah I struggle to get behind this. Putting the romantic connotations aside, its hard to forget he was part of the Solskjaer coaching setup that ultimately failed at United, never mind the fact he has no head coaching experience at the top level.

And while his humility and mild temperament is praised, I feel like he'd be torn to shreds by the players and the media.
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Part of the Solskjaer set up to be the only one post Sir Alex who got back to back top 4 finishes (and was also 3rd in the half season when they first came in), and the only ones who had their underlying stats match up that we were in fact one of the top 4 sides in the league while they were here, rather than our "good" seasons always being huge xG overperformances like the other managers had. It wasn't good enough with Ole ultimately and that's why it failed, but also doesn't take away that under Ole it was the clearest what we wanted to be, actually became a good side and kept it up for a while and it wasn't a fluke.

And besides, McKenna isn't Ole, and he's done a ridiculous job at Ipswich.
 
Maluco said:
He really does need the groundwork of selling those senior players that have had 4 managers now. Rashford and Shaw need to go so that he isn’t undermined early doors.

Bruno never stops fighting on the pitch so he would be the one I would take forward. Rashford, Shaw, McTominey, Martial should all go.
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I don’t see the potential undermining from Shaw, he’s only had an issue with Mourinho and rightly so.
 
Swedish_Plumber said:
Some of the babies that complained about his training methods as assistant are still at the club.

Surely after yet another sacked manager we have to clear out the lads that have been here for 3/4 managers now. Can’t give them yet another chance.
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I agree with your 2nd point but there's no way to know the bolded even if the reports were true. All the players that supposedly complained could've already moved.
 
Woodzy said:
The same way Arteta ended up managing Arsenal?
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Come on now it's nowhere near the same. He was a key part of Cities staff they didn't want him to leave and was highly regarded

He was never going to go down and manage a league 1 side

McKenna was Ole's coach coming off the back of a terrible job in which they was widely criticized multiple times
 
Castia said:
Not sure how you go from never managing a single PL game (or similar level) to managing United

Disaster waiting to happen this. Leaks from the dressing room under Ole about how amateur the coaching staff was back then were regular.

Shambles as always
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I wouldn't be as upset but this appointment makes no sense. He has no premier league / major league experience and is expected to build a side to compete in premier league and champions league. It's a tall ask and unfair on McKenna at this stage of his career.

Having said this, the club knows the man so in a better position to make a decision. We shouldn't however jump on this just because Chelsea maybe trying to sign him.
 
Swedish_Plumber said:
Some of the babies that complained about his training methods as assistant are still at the club.

Surely after yet another sacked manager we have to clear out the lads that have been here for 3/4 managers now. Can’t give them yet another chance.
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Do you know it was those players that complained and not the ones that are already gone?
 
ManRed said:
I wouldn't be as upset but this appointment makes no sense. He has no premier league / major league experience and is expected to build a side to compete in premier league and champions league. It's a tall ask and unfair on McKenna at this stage of his career.

Having said this, the club knows the man so in a better position to make a decision. We shouldn't however jump on this just because Chelsea maybe trying to sign him.
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Who's set this expectation? I would suggest he's just expected to improve the squad and finish consistently in the top 4 until we have a squad capable of those things.
 
Castia said:
Come on now it's nowhere near the same. He was a key part of Cities staff they didn't want him to leave and was highly regarded

He was never going to go down and manage a league 1 side

McKenna was Ole's coach coming off the back of a terrible job in which they was widely criticized multiple times
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You don’t rate him for whatever reason. For me, all explanations you gave here are nonsense and illogical. Again, it’s a case people can agree to disagree. Only the realization of the future can tell.
 
A lot of what SJR has said about how he wants to run United is by identifying talent early and not paying over the odds for players at their peak.

I assume if we're going with McKenna then it's the same philosophy, just applied to the manager as well. Let his stock grow further at United rather than having to spend more for the 'finished' article.
 
bosnian_red said:
Part of the Solskjaer set up to be the only one post Sir Alex who got back to back top 4 finishes (and was also 3rd in the half season when they first came in), and the only ones who had their underlying stats match up that we were in fact one of the top 4 sides in the league while they were here, rather than our "good" seasons always being huge xG overperformances like the other managers had. It wasn't good enough with Ole ultimately and that's why it failed, but also doesn't take away that under Ole it was the clearest what we wanted to be, actually became a good side and kept it up for a while and it wasn't a fluke.

And besides, McKenna isn't Ole, and he's done a ridiculous job at Ipswich.
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You could certainly make a case for the Ole setup being the most successful one post Fergie, but I still think you'd struggle to not call it a period of objective failure considering the lack of silverware won, and in context to United's own ambitions where back to back top 4 finishes hardly warrants exceptional praise. Unfortunately McKenna will struggle to shake off those associations, despite his success in the lower leagues.
 
littlepeasoup said:
A lot of what SJR has said about how he wants to run United is by identifying talent early and not paying over the odds for players at their peak.

I assume if we're going with McKenna then it's the same philosophy, just applied to the manager as well. Let his stock grow further at United rather than having to spend more for the 'finished' article.
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You don't scrimp on a manager
 
city-puma said:
You don’t rate him for whatever reason. For me, all explanations you gave here are nonsense and illogical. Again, it’s a case people can agree to disagree. Only the realization of the future can tell.
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He's a manager who has never managed at the top level he's got 2 years experience as manager. He had to take a job in league 1 less than 2 years ago because that was all he could get.

The coaching under Ole was awful, many times it was called into question even in press conferences about the quality of coaching at the club

In what world is McKenna qualified for this job? it's madness. Well done for the 2 promotions but he needs to get more experience at the top level.
 
I'm not convinced that the current manager of Ipswich Town is a better coach than Ten Hag, even if he has led the team to consecutive promotions from League 1. I'm also not convinced that he's a better coach than Tuchel (11 trophies in the past 8 years) or Pochettino. McKenna is a nice, humble guy, a fan of the club who has done a very good job at a young age in lower league management, but this is Manchester United, one of the biggest and most challenging jobs in all of football.
 
bosnian_red said:
Where we are at and where he is as a manager, top 4 isn't the be all and end all. It can't be. We gotta be patient and stick with him a few years minimum, even through a tough run. The same logic is fair for Ten Hag through this season, but he was hired by different guys. McKenna is Ineos' guy, he will be in charge of coaching and working with the structure which I'm sure he's fine with. He's part of the puzzle now and it's a fresh start for all, so will just need patience from all.
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I don’t think the fan base would be as forgiving. Maybe now that the structure is there, there maybe patience, but we will have to see how this whole thing pans out.
 
Castia said:
Not sure how you go from never managing a single PL game (or similar level) to managing United

Disaster waiting to happen this. Leaks from the dressing room under Ole about how amateur the coaching staff was back then were regular.

Shambles as always
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If you get De Zerbi and it goes south there will be leaks about training being too hard and him not having experience at the highest level.

If you get Tuchel and it goes south there will be leaks that Tuchel isn't friendly enough and has lost the dressing room.

If you got bad apples in the team who want the manager out they will target whatever will get headlines. At the end of the day United have had one of the most experienced managers in LVG, a safe pair of hands in Moyes, a novice in Ole, a guaranteed winner in Jose, the new blood in Ten Hag and when its gone south there have been leaks. It's part of the game, it won't be unique or different with Mckenna. The only thing that stops it is progression, success and good squad building.
 
peridigm said:
My concern with McKenna is why couldn’t he and Carrick motivate the players when they were training under Jose, Ole, and Rangnick? Even more so under Rangnick as he was a temp.

It might be better to get someone more experienced to stable the ship for 2-3 years and see how Carrick or McKenna are doing if we’re looking for a long term solution.
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It’s fair and I don’t have an answer but there’s clearly some problem with us and not allowing our players or staff to reach their full potential. They can’t all just be misses. The club is just beyond aimless all the time post Fergie. I think it’s due to lack of leadership beyond the manager, absentee owners, shoddy standards being rewarded etc Give our traditional budget and pull to a team of people with a shared vision of how to actually build a world class team and take it from there. It’s a hard job but in a year or two we should be the second or third best team in the league with a view to knicking a cup and then hopefully kicking on.
 
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Swedish_Plumber said:
Some of the babies that complained about his training methods as assistant are still at the club.

Surely after yet another sacked manager we have to clear out the lads that have been here for 3/4 managers now. Can’t give them yet another chance.
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Of our current players, I think he will have coached Dalot, Maguire, Bruno, AWB, Lindelof, McTominay, Rashford, Shaw, Martial (and Greenwood). I expect the latter two to leave this summer and maybe AWB, but the rest will probably remain.
 
If anyone is looking to see about McKenna’s tactics, Statman Dave had done a decent breakdown of them in YouTube. The vids called.
Kieran McKenna: Man Utd’s ideal man to replace Erik Ten Hag.
It’s a pretty decent breakdown. I’d post the link but I can’t post media.
 
Personally, I think if things are moving now, I would imagine he's going to Chelsea.
 
Pexbo said:
If he goes to Brighton and absolutely smashes it, getting then top four as we linger around 8th-5th would you still think it was a terrible idea for him to come to United?
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No, in fact we should expect / hope for that. But the alternative is also possible. Goes to Brighton, gets found out and almost relegates them. If he's the next big thing all we need to do right now is initiate talks, make him feel wanted and wait. The only problem is if he goes to Chelsea instead of Brighton but that doesn't look like it'll happen.

roonster09 said:
I also wanted him to move to Brighton but taking a step back and thinking with broader mind, what exactly Brighton adds to his profile? Potter had very good stint with them but wasn't ready for Chelsea. RDZ had cracking season, followed by average season. Now teams are looking for managers but not many have them in their top priority list.

On the other hand, by relegating Burnley without being out of relegation zone for more than 3 days Kompany is landing Bayern job. Maybe the experience is overrated and the tactical and ability to manage, ideas on how to set up team is the way to go?
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Its possible but I'd rather play it safe right now. We will inevitably have a downturn in form and probably end up chasing the CL spots next season struggling as we did this year. Then who do you blame? It's so easy to blame the coach and especially a guy like McKenna because he hasn't built up that legitimacy as a top coach. Hasn't seen an actual downtown and had media circling around him.

The kompany thing is a bad example because Bayern are putting their hopes on Alonso next year and giving managers 1 year contracts. A bunch of (competent) people said no to this and Kompany was the best deal they could make. He wasn't anywhere near their first choice.
 
Get ready for Maguire to be in the PL team of the year next season if McKenna is appointed
 
If he comes in, the first move the board must make is to sell the Holy Trinity of Dressing Room Gossip. Rashford, Shaw, and Sancho. They'll kill this project before it gets off the ground. If we take this new direction, he cannot be undermined by the same torpedo that has sunk other managers' boats.
 
altodevil said:
You don't scrimp on a manager
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It's not skimping, Chelsea and Brighton are trying to sign him too, he's highly sought after in a small pool of available managers. Hiring him is ideal given the circumstances.
 
Many on here doesn't seem to want him as manager, good stuff if he joins us then as redcafe usually got no clue.
 
WeePat said:
From I've seen, not really. They don't monopolise possession but they do mostly play a possession based style. @NicolaSacco knows best though.
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I wouldn’t call us tiki-taka at all, I’d say we play a lot of decisive attacks down the wings, but it’s rarely long ball. Our keeper, Hladky, is being picked over a (probably) superior shot stopper Walton because of how good he is on the ball.

I’d call it clever football basically, creating quick over loads and getting a scoring opportunity before the oppo teams realise what’s happening.
 
luke511 said:
It's not skimping, Chelsea and Brighton are trying to sign him too, he's highly sought after in a small pool of available managers. Hiring him is ideal given the circumstances.
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He's never managed at the top level comments like this are breaking my brain.

The one chance he had at a big club was coaching at united in which he was widely criticized and delivered our lowest ever points total
 
tomaldinho1 said:
A bold claim
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He's still the same player he was at Leicester and here during Ole's two full seasons. Also an availability freak. I really believe he would be one of the first names on the team sheet for most elite level managers, be that McKenna, Tuchel, etc. Pep wanted him for a reason as well back in 2019. Very similar profile and strengths to Dias and de Ligt for example, both of whom are considered to be world class CBs. I think there's a few good years left in Maguire and he could be back in contention under a new manager.
 
Castia said:
He's never managed at the top level comments like this are breaking my brain.

The one chance he had at a big club was coaching at united in which he was widely criticized and delivered our lowest ever points total
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Who is your alternative? He left the club in December that season, it was Chris Armas at that point.
 
Rojofiam said:
You're a bit uninformed, aren't you
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Right, you can’t name any. So the Ole-McKenna comparison you made to bitch about other fans’ criticisms of Ole was a poor one to make. Just compare the results of their managerial experiences and which clubs are keen on signing who.
 
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