I think it's the right decision for McKenna. You've got Ipswich from league 1 to the PL, why not stay on and give that a crack?
Kieran McKenna | Close to signing long term deal to stay at Ipswich
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I don't know why people even bother with all those wierd Twitter accounts. If it's not a well known and well proven journalist, there's just no point. There are tons of bullshitters.
I'd have been disappointed if he went for another big club, but this way he gets to gain some PL experience and we can still appoint him in the future.
15 years of coaching is good, but he's only been a manager for a couple of years. It's different.
makes perfect sense for him to get that PL experience with a team and environment he's settled in
if he performs well and wants the United job he will get his chance
if he performs well and wants the United job he will get his chance
i think so, a sensible decision, i think a year at least in the EPL with Ipswich would be set him up well for the future. At only 38 he has plenty of time. INEOS are right to keep tabs on him for the medium/long term too though, but not for next season for me.
Good for him
Take it from the horses mouth. Mind you, this gentleman hand a blank check book with everyone at out club goodwill wise. Look at his reaction when the reporter implies that there is no pressure here.
The only teams that don't have pressure are midtable teams that are expected to play pretty footy and not challenge for everything i.e. Brighton.
Unlike McKenna, Carrick did manage United for a couple of games so there is that. And unlike McKenna, Carrick did spend most of his careers with world class players and managed by a GOAT manager. The man knows what it takes to manage a room full of egos and how to get the best out of them. There is a reason that people like Ancelotti look like a bang average manager at Everton, and then wins trophy after trophy with Real. In order to manage big clubs, you need a bit more than just tactics.
And Carrick is doing pretty well himself in the championship. Everyone expected Boro to be relegated this season, but at one point he was even pushing for a play off spot with them. So I'm not understanding why the idea of Carrick being a better fit for us is a controversial one.
Welp there goes my McKenna theory then. Fair play to him for staying loyal to Ipswich.
This to me points to United keeping ten hag to be honest
Good to see, nice to see some loyalty and it's smart after what happened with Kompany.
I hope Ipswich back him though. They spent £5m last season. Their current squad is much worse than what Luton had to fight with
I hope Ipswich back him though. They spent £5m last season. Their current squad is much worse than what Luton had to fight with
Good decision for him. He should include a favorable release clause if United goes back for him in the next 2-3 years
A pretty good sign that ten Hag is staying
The field is so poor right now it feels like we’ve missed out. Pochettino, Tuchel and De Zerbi are such yawn choices and I don’t how ETH is the man we need.
Comes across as a bit of a wanker to me but I'm open to being wrong. I doubt he's any better than ETH, I'd actually rather keep the baldy than take on Tuchel.
Interesting to know how things transpired here. Met a number of clubs and reports of those clubs being keen initially. Is he not that charismatic/impressive a person?
Thank you!
Suppose none of the clubs really wanted him then if he’s signing a contract.
The appointment of Poch looms large.
Good choice. Far too early for the Manchester United job, both for him and for the club.
It's probably right for McKenna and for us to wait and see how things play out before making that move. Part of me would've liked to see it though. While Tuchel is the safest option, I'm not massively excited for it.
Yep, interesting question for people - let's say he has a Sheffield United-esque season, bearing in mind he has some League 1 players mixed in although no doubt they will spend a bit, does that rule him out immediately or is it more about if they play entertaining football?
It's going to turn out to be a terrible decision for him. I doubt they can compete in the Premier League. This was his chance to join a competitive team with his stock still high, unless none offered him the job of course.
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I think the reality of the situation is the majority of our fans won't have him if he gets a relegation on his CV, either way. That might be harsh given that it'll be an almighty job to keep Ipswich up as things stand, but I think that's what it'll take to convince some that he has the credentials to make it here. Even that may not be enough.
That's why I think the Brighton move would've been sensible for him if he has ambitions of managing a top 6 side. The structure is in place for the coach there and it's easier to play progressive football with a team who have better players, but not the weight of expectation that comes with managing a side playing in Europe, or fighting relegation. I hope it goes well for him with Ipswich in the Premier League but there's a decent chance his prospects of a top 6 job fade after next season.
I thought the exact same as you, and had an almost word for word conversation with a mate about McKenna last week.
But then bloody Bayern Munich hired Vincent Kompany so what do we know!
Poch it is then.
Only if we assume that McKenna is/was United's first choice replacement.
Ya the media have been very generous to ETH this season . They haven’t put him under any sort of pressure
Which probably means us and Chelsea had other preferences and he realised Brighton are on their way down rather than up. Don't think he'd have 'entered talks' to then turn others down. Probably the right move anyway though.
Not really. Maybe McKenna has his head screwed on and realises staying with Ipswich is the better career decision
My theory is that on Friday McKenna was going to be our new head coach. Us winning the FA Cup forced INEOS hand to stick with ETH. So they came back to McKenna and said: stay at Ipswich when we decide to sack ETH you are our first choice. I bet McKennas new contract will have a low release clause
Kompany speaks German though (and French) so he has a better situation looking abroad, like even if Bayern hadn't gone for him, maybe he ends up at Dortmund or Lyon.
If McKenna's team goes down, and I'm assuming they will due to their squad lacking quality, he might have to settle for a team like West Ham or Everton, though maybe something like Newcastle or England becomes available.
That would be very weak from Ineos, and I doubt Ratcliffe, and all the 'best in class' people he has making the decisions will be as fickle as this, I really hope not anyway.
If they wanted Ten Hag out before the FA Cup final, then they'll want him out now, and as has been said you can't just keep him on the contract he is on now and see how it goes, you need to back him completely if he's staying, and that means a new deal.
And even in that scenario, he'd still be only 39-40yrs old. He's got many years left in him. It might not hurt for him to join another club or two?
Yeah it's so hard to know. I think it'll be obvious if he's good tactically - Brighton seems a good seat although I think he's paid more at Ipswich, Bloom is a tight git! Would genuinely love to see him take a seat in a European league, somewhere he could get CL football, he was linked with Ajax a fair bit I remember.
Yeah, I mean at his age he's fine. We have no idea what the offers were, and really we don't even know - or at least I don't - how many Ipswich players can be in the - at minimum - 15-16 decent players you need to survive the Prem and what Ipswich can do in the transfer market. They barely spent to get promoted and McKenna should be an attractive manager for big teams with a young players to loan out (Chelsea were interested and sent him Hutchison and they should have some extra players), so maybe 17th is possible, but you wouldn't bet on it.
There's definitely a stigma against guys who suffer a relegation in England though, compared to certain other countries, even if the squad is the main reason why a team goes down. Might cost him the England job for instance.
He knows he would struggle at United, everyone does. Same with Chelsea. And why go to Brighton and fight for a top 10 spot when you can stay and make a miracle at Ipswich. He can go to Brighton or similar if he gets relegated too
Looks like every manager Sky have has us linked with is being offered contract extensions, Emery is reported to have signed a new deal at Villa.
Looks like our options are narrowing down fast to two.
ETH or Tuchel
Looks like our options are narrowing down fast to two.
ETH or Tuchel
Rumours he’s turned Chelsea and Brighton down. Gotta say, that’s an incredibly smart and loyal decision from him. Can’t wait to see how he fares with his Ipswich team in the prem.
It’s basically briefs and counter briefs at this point. The story out of Chelsea this afternoon was that they spoke to him and considered him but decided against going with him. The counter brief this evening is that McKenna turned Chelsea down.