McKenna or Tuchel?

He was the PE teachers assistant a large portion of people on here wanted gone not long ago!

Seriously though, it's not the right time for him. We need to get the setup right first and we will probably go through a couple of managers before it clicks into place. If he came here now, the second we hit a bad patch people would be calling for his head and questioning the logic of hiring a Championship manager.

Give him a season or two (hopefully) in the PL with Ipswich to see how he can handle the pressure and the increased scrutiny.
 
McKenna would be my choice. Getting those journeymen from League 1 to PL, without spending much, is just insanely impressive.

but i’d be excited too if Tuchel get the job.
 
I mean, in Ole's final year the players were leaking to the media that the coaching sessions were not up to standard of a top club, Carrick and Mckenna were simply not rated by the players from what we read at the time. And there was nothing on the pitch during his time here that suggested we were a well coached side, on here there was years of moaning that we're a poorly coached side.

And now we want to bring that coach back, as manager? With a load of the same players still here?

It doesn't make any sense for me. Taking chances on a rookie manager from the championship is the move of a lower half premier league side, not Manchester United. We are one of the most pressurised jobs in world football, this place will likely swallow him up.

Bringing back Mckenna as manager feels like a return of the sentimental "United way" approach that has caused so much failure for us over the last 11 years. First it was we must appoint a British manager which lumped us with Moyes, then filling our staff with ex United players like Giggs, Neville, Butt, Fletcher, then it was giving Ole the job because he's an ex player and bringing back Phelan to recreate the Fergie days, then it was trying to build a "best of British" team which resulted in us spunking money up the wall on Maguire, AWB and Dan James.

I'm not sure what Mckenna's credentials are that make him a candidate, other than he used to work here. And he didn't even work here during a successful reign.

But hey, Arteta has done well for Arsenal eventually, so taking random risks can work out. I don't think that's a particularly wise strategy though.
 
Dominos said:
I mean, in Ole's final year the players were leaking to the media that the coaching sessions were not up to standard of a top club, Carrick and Mckenna were simply not rated by the players from what we read at the time. And there was nothing on the pitch during his time here that suggested we were a well coached side, on here there was years of moaning that we're a poorly coached side.

And now we want to bring that coach back, as manager? With a load of the same players still here?

It doesn't make any sense for me. Taking chances on a rookie manager from the championship is the move of a lower half premier league side, not Manchester United. We are one of the most pressurised jobs in world football, this place will likely swallow him up.

Bringing back Mckenna as manager feels like a return of the sentimental "United way" approach that has caused so much failure for us over the last 11 years. First it was we must appoint a British manager which lumped us with Moyes, then filling our staff with ex United players like Giggs, Neville, Butt, Fletcher, then it was giving Ole the job because he's an ex player and bringing back Phelan to recreate the Fergie days, then it was trying to build a "best of British" team which resulted in us spunking money up the wall on Maguire, AWB and Dan James.

I'm not sure what Mckenna's credentials are that make him a candidate, other than he used to work here. And he didn't even work here during a successful reign.

But hey, Arteta has done well for Arsenal eventually, so taking random risks can work out. I don't think that's a particularly wise strategy though.
Click to expand...
Very good post. We have to gut the place and if Mckenna is doing his shit then that's a different discussion.
 
Dominos said:
I mean, in Ole's final year the players were leaking to the media that the coaching sessions were not up to standard of a top club, Carrick and Mckenna were simply not rated by the players from what we read at the time. And there was nothing on the pitch during his time here that suggested we were a well coached side, on here there was years of moaning that we're a poorly coached side.

And now we want to bring that coach back, as manager? With a load of the same players still here?

It doesn't make any sense for me. Taking chances on a rookie manager from the championship is the move of a lower half premier league side, not Manchester United. We are one of the most pressurised jobs in world football, this place will likely swallow him up.

Bringing back Mckenna as manager feels like a return of the sentimental "United way" approach that has caused so much failure for us over the last 11 years. First it was we must appoint a British manager which lumped us with Moyes, then filling our staff with ex United players like Giggs, Neville, Butt, Fletcher, then it was giving Ole the job because he's an ex player and bringing back Phelan to recreate the Fergie days, then it was trying to build a "best of British" team which resulted in us spunking money up the wall on Maguire, AWB and Dan James.

I'm not sure what Mckenna's credentials are that make him a candidate, other than he used to work here. And he didn't even work here during a successful reign.

But hey, Arteta has done well for Arsenal eventually, so taking random risks can work out. I don't think that's a particularly wise strategy though.
Click to expand...

To put it simply.

1) Give any manager even Pep and Klopp, the budget McKenna had for League 1.

2) Tell them to use this tiny budget to get double promotion in a row from League 1 to Championship to PL, in 2 years.

3) Tell them it will be largely the same set of players you get in League 1 to achieve promotion to PL due to budget constraints.

No sane manager will agree to that or able to achieve that. It's almost impossible tasks. Hence, many are saying what McKenna has done is a miracle and deserve a gamble for Man Utd jobs. What he has done was so extraordinary that it even surpassed by far whatever credentials ETH, Arreta had before they get their big job.
 
Last edited:
Isotope said:
McKenna would be my choice. Getting those journeymen from League 1 to PL, without spending much, is just insanely impressive.

but i’d be excited too if Tuchel get the job.
Click to expand...
I know it’s different as he’s young and has experience at United, but currently this achievement is no better than Nigel Adkins or Paul Lambert. Unreal achievement but not enough for the United job, nowhere near.
 
Mckenna without a doubt. Tuchel is a good cup manager but that’s about it. Mckenna would be more of a risk but it’s better to take a risk that to take a guaranteed failure.
 
432JuanMata said:
He’s right though, McKenna is doing a great job but like countless managers that have done well and went to a bigger club and then you find out the job is too big for them.
Potter 2 years ago was thrown around here a lot and look what happened at Chelsea, Moyes being another example. McKenna should be nowhere near an option for us at this point in his career
Click to expand...
Potter didn't get a fair shake at Chelsea, and Moyes is one example. Arteta and Pep are other examples.

Besides, it doesn't mean someone's not a United fan just because they want to give a young, promising manager a go in light of a barren market for managerial options, that's pretty stupid.
 
Folks writing McKenna need to get their heads checked.
 
Dominos said:
I mean, in Ole's final year the players were leaking to the media that the coaching sessions were not up to standard of a top club, Carrick and Mckenna were simply not rated by the players from what we read at the time. And there was nothing on the pitch during his time here that suggested we were a well coached side, on here there was years of moaning that we're a poorly coached side.

And now we want to bring that coach back, as manager? With a load of the same players still here?

It doesn't make any sense for me. Taking chances on a rookie manager from the championship is the move of a lower half premier league side, not Manchester United. We are one of the most pressurised jobs in world football, this place will likely swallow him up.

Bringing back Mckenna as manager feels like a return of the sentimental "United way" approach that has caused so much failure for us over the last 11 years. First it was we must appoint a British manager which lumped us with Moyes, then filling our staff with ex United players like Giggs, Neville, Butt, Fletcher, then it was giving Ole the job because he's an ex player and bringing back Phelan to recreate the Fergie days, then it was trying to build a "best of British" team which resulted in us spunking money up the wall on Maguire, AWB and Dan James.

I'm not sure what Mckenna's credentials are that make him a candidate, other than he used to work here. And he didn't even work here during a successful reign.

But hey, Arteta has done well for Arsenal eventually, so taking random risks can work out. I don't think that's a particularly wise strategy though.
Click to expand...
It's not just Arteta though. It happened with Barca twice, Real Madrid, and Leverkusen too. I feel like you're making this out to be a bigger risk than what it really is. Ole didn't have all that much more experience, and he was able to get United stable for 2-3 seasons.

Whether a manager is ready, it's been proven that experience doesn't matter as much as you think. What matters more is their ability. It's not like we're just putting someone dense in there like Ryan Giggs. McKenna was highly thought of in the youth ranks, so United brought him to United as a youth coach. He did well and was then promoted. The only blip in his career has been him being an assistant coach where he doesn't get to bring all of his ideas to the team because he has to work within the confines of what Mourinho and Ole wanted. He didn't get to dictate to them his ideas and so the bad product was credit to him. That's exactly what I was trying to tell posters on here a few years ago. We've already seen that his football differs from theirs as he wants to play out from the back more. Even just that 1 simple fact points out that his "blip" was more so working around what the other managers wanted. Which is consistent with his time as a youth coach where he tried to play attacking football.
 
Not in the same league McKenna is nowhere near ready to manage United

When Ipswich are bottom of the league and his job is in trouble come December there will be a lot of silly posts in this thread.
 
Dominos said:
And there was nothing on the pitch during his time here that suggested we were a well coached side, on here there was years of moaning that we're a poorly coached side
Click to expand...

A stretch? We came 2nd after signing Donny and Telles. Looking back, we did not have a great side or squad. We also had the best underlying stats we have had under any manager post-Ferguson. Below is just one example of that.

https://x.com/markrstats/status/1787587788361347230?s=46&t=PpPpypuCtInaVafXQaMxHQ

I’m not sure any manager or coach would have done great with the recruitment of the past ten years.

Talking to a young coach who was integral to our period the past decade, and who have done great since he left, seems wise. Ineos should probably also try to identify where he think they failed back then, and what he wanted to do differently then and what he realize now that they should have done differently.
 
Offside said:
I know it’s different as he’s young and has experience at United, but currently this achievement is no better than Nigel Adkins or Paul Lambert. Unreal achievement but not enough for the United job, nowhere near.
Click to expand...

Jose Mourinho multiple champions league winners, multiple Cup winner and multiple league winner failed at United, this works both ways
 
Castia said:
Not in the same league McKenna is nowhere near ready to manage United

When Ipswich are bottom of the league and his job is in trouble come December there will be a lot of silly posts in this thread.
Click to expand...
I think it's wierd to judge him based on Ipswich's performance in the league next season. If by December Ipswich are not dead last, it would be impressive and if he manages to avoid relegation with that crop of players, it would be even more impressive than the back to back promotion. Let's not forget he is bringing league 1 level players to the premier league.

I personally would prefer Tuchel but let's not pretend McKenna next season will be make or break for McKenna at Ipswich. As a matter of fact if Bayern get RDZ Brighton might take him and it won't surprise me if he impresses there as well.
 
I don't see the risk in McKenna personally.

The whole point of putting a proper structure in-place is that the manager (head coach) is disposable.

You identify young and talented coaches who you believe can play football the way the club wants to play. You give them 12 months and if it doesn't work, you move them on.

We're very old fashioned as a fanbase. We seem to expect a return to the days of Ferguson, Wenger, Clough etc...when the manager ran the show.

McKenna won't be running the club. He won't be choosing how we want to play. He won't be choosing the players. That will all be dictated to him by Ashcroft and Wilcox (obviously its a democracy - he'll have input).

His job will be simple - can he improve players? Can he get us functioning as a team? I think he's proven at Ipswich that he's a very strong coach, so I'm not worried.

If I'm wrong...so what? Shouldn't matter - because he won't have been allowed to completely change our style and bring in 6 lads from Ipswich. Sack him, try again.
 
STYLOISRED said:
I think it's wierd to judge him based on Ipswich's performance in the league next season. If by December Ipswich are not dead last, it would be impressive and if he manages to avoid relegation with that crop of players, it would be even more impressive than the back to back promotion. Let's not forget he is bringing league 1 level players to the premier league.

I personally would prefer Tuchel but let's not pretend McKenna next season will be make or break for McKenna at Ipswich. As a matter of fact if Bayern get RDZ Brighton might take him and it won't surprise me if he impresses there as well.
Click to expand...

I think Brighton have established a pattern of hiring managers who promote posession-based football. McKenna's Ipswich side are much more direct than Potter or De Zerbi's Brighton sides. If they were looking to hire a Championship manager, they'd probably be more likely to look at Maresca, former City EDS manager, City assistant manager and Pep disciple.
 
Give it to Tuchel for two years. After this two years keep Tuchel if he does well or give it to McKenna after hopefully two years managing in the Premier League.
 
I’d rather just stick with Ten Hag personally.

His attacking football is at times entertaining compared to Tuchel and he’s done good work bringing through youngsters this season.

We just need to get the defence sorted and we’ll be okay.
 
Gavinb33 said:
Jose Mourinho multiple champions league winners, multiple Cup winner and multiple league winner failed at United, this works both ways
Click to expand...
Irrelevant. It’s like saying just because the 40 years experienced new CEO didn’t work out you should instead promote a Graduate.
 
Offside said:
Irrelevant. It’s like saying just because the 40 years experienced new CEO didn’t work out you should instead promote a Graduate.
Click to expand...

Experience should be last on things you look for in a manager/head coach, imagine Barcelona went for an experienced manager over Pep or Real over Zidane or Leverkusen over Alonso.

Klopp was relegated with Mainz before Dortmund took him, imagine the uproar if we took a manager who got relegated.
 
Last edited:
Amsterdam Devil said:
Give it to Tuchel for two years. After this two years keep Tuchel if he does well or give it to McKenna after hopefully two years managing in the Premier League.
Click to expand...
No way will McKenna get the UTD job fighting relegation with Ipswich in the PL.
 
Tuchel for three years whilst Ashworth and Wilcox assess the internal situation because if he is doing well then why change and the external market because if he is struggling we need to be ahead of the curve in identifying and luring a replacement. Suppose Tuchel comes in and matches Ole's initial achievements, 3rd and 2nd place, he will deserve a 3rd season to see if he can build on that platform.

I have a feeling that for McKenna it's a now or never situation so I am a bit conflicted. Chances are he could be relegated at the first attempt because, from what I gather, the quality in his side is still low level as their rise to the PL was so quick that the majority of their team are still League 2 standard. That could be ruthlessly exposed in the PL if they don't make a few smart moves. If he survives and takes them up to top ten I the three years Tuchel would be here then he would be in the conversation.
 
Purely football wise, he has done miracle. It was no easy feat to take largely League 1 players to win promotion to PL in 2 years with attacking football to boot.

The gamble are more on the side of man management and pressure at big club. In United he will need to manage superstars with big ego and some players have won more and far bigger profile than himself. Also, the pressure in United will be far surpassed what he has ever experienced in Ipswich.

Hope he has the charisma to rise to the occasion.
 
Dominos said:
I mean, in Ole's final year the players were leaking to the media that the coaching sessions were not up to standard of a top club, Carrick and Mckenna were simply not rated by the players from what we read at the time. And there was nothing on the pitch during his time here that suggested we were a well coached side, on here there was years of moaning that we're a poorly coached side.

And now we want to bring that coach back, as manager? With a load of the same players still here?

It doesn't make any sense for me. Taking chances on a rookie manager from the championship is the move of a lower half premier league side, not Manchester United. We are one of the most pressurised jobs in world football, this place will likely swallow him up.

Bringing back Mckenna as manager feels like a return of the sentimental "United way" approach that has caused so much failure for us over the last 11 years. First it was we must appoint a British manager which lumped us with Moyes, then filling our staff with ex United players like Giggs, Neville, Butt, Fletcher, then it was giving Ole the job because he's an ex player and bringing back Phelan to recreate the Fergie days, then it was trying to build a "best of British" team which resulted in us spunking money up the wall on Maguire, AWB and Dan James.

I'm not sure what Mckenna's credentials are that make him a candidate, other than he used to work here. And he didn't even work here during a successful reign.

But hey, Arteta has done well for Arsenal eventually, so taking random risks can work out. I don't think that's a particularly wise strategy though.
Click to expand...

Well we have tried Mourinho, Rangnick and ETH who had zero connection to the United-way, they certainly didn't do better. McKenna was extremely highly rated when we picked him up - and when you see what he has accomplished with Ipswich, it's quite clearly he is something out of the ordinary. I am not saying that he can cope with a bunch of big egos -but look at this....

Ipswich ended 11th and 9th in 19/20 and 20/21 - their first 2 seasons in League 1

21/22 started as a disaster season for Ipswich - until McKenna took charge. 7 wins, 8 draws and 8 defeats from the first 22 games. After McKenna took charge, they lost 4 out of the next 24 games (just once with more than 1 goal)
So without McKenna - 29 points in 22 games - with McKenna 41 points in 24 games - so from 1.3 points pr game to 1.7 points

22/23 - while spending peanuts - he turned Ipswich into a formidable side who picked up 98 points in 46 matches - scored 101 goals - twice won by 6 goals - and not once lost a game by more than 1 goal (4 defeats in total)

23/24 - once again - hardly spent any money. A few free transfers, a few loan and a few youngsters signed for small fees. In 46 games - they lost 6 matches. 96 points and 92 goals scored. One game they lost 4-0 to Leeds, the only game McKennas team has lost by more than 2 goals in 2.5 seasons.

McKenna has in 116 games league games - lost 12 times and as earlier mentioned, only once lost big. He has on both full seasons scored an average of over 2 goals pr game

This is what he has done with which players ?

Leif Davies - a Leeds-reject
Luke Woolfenden - a League 1-player
Cam Burgess - picked up from Accrington Stanley
Harry Clarke - Arsenal-reject
Jack Taylor - from Petersboro
Nathan Broadhead - Everton-reject
Wes Burns - from Fleetwood
etc etc

In my opinion - those credentials are pretty impressive. Oh yeah - if we had played Ipswich away right now - they would have beaten us
 
STYLOISRED said:
I think it's wierd to judge him based on Ipswich's performance in the league next season. If by December Ipswich are not dead last, it would be impressive and if he manages to avoid relegation with that crop of players, it would be even more impressive than the back to back promotion. Let's not forget he is bringing league 1 level players to the premier league.

I personally would prefer Tuchel but let's not pretend McKenna next season will be make or break for McKenna at Ipswich. As a matter of fact if Bayern get RDZ Brighton might take him and it won't surprise me if he impresses there as well.
Click to expand...

But that's exactly my point he's done well and would do well to keep a side in the PL.....its a completely different world managing United. This squad would eat him alive
 
Castia said:
But that's exactly my point he's done well and would do well to keep a side in the PL.....its a completely different world managing United. This squad would eat him alive
Click to expand...
What's with the obsession of McKenna getting "eaten alive"? :lol: Which players will be doing the eating?
 
Lentwood said:
I don't see the risk in McKenna personally.

The whole point of putting a proper structure in-place is that the manager (head coach) is disposable.

You identify young and talented coaches who you believe can play football the way the club wants to play. You give them 12 months and if it doesn't work, you move them on.

We're very old fashioned as a fanbase. We seem to expect a return to the days of Ferguson, Wenger, Clough etc...when the manager ran the show.

McKenna won't be running the club. He won't be choosing how we want to play. He won't be choosing the players. That will all be dictated to him by Ashcroft and Wilcox (obviously its a democracy - he'll have input).

His job will be simple - can he improve players? Can he get us functioning as a team? I think he's proven at Ipswich that he's a very strong coach, so I'm not worried.

If I'm wrong...so what? Shouldn't matter - because he won't have been allowed to completely change our style and bring in 6 lads from Ipswich. Sack him, try again.
Click to expand...

This post is spot on. It's why, should we keep Ten Hag, the transfer plan assumes he won't be around in 12 months. Maybe we will get another Fergie one day, but they'll need five or six years of brilliance before they're indulged to the degree recent managers have been
 
When McKenna was here, everyone reckoned he and Carrick were a big part of the problem. Roll on a few years and he's being talked about as the man to save us.
Football is an incredible sport at times.
 
Salford_Red83 said:
People saying McKenna :lol:

Classic CAF
Click to expand...

Exactly. 2-3 years ago - this guy knows nothing, why is he our coach etc. And now, with not 1 game premier league management experience, they want him to step into the most demanding job of them all.
 
Yakuza_devils said:
To put it simply.

1) Give any manager even Pep and Klopp, the budget McKenna had for League 1.

2) Tell them to use this tiny budget to get double promotion in a row from League 1 to Championship to PL, in 2 years.

3) Tell them it will be largely the same set of players you get in League 1 to achieve promotion to PL due to budget constraints.

No sane manager will agree to that or able to achieve that. It's almost impossible tasks. Hence, many are saying what McKenna has done is a miracle and deserve a gamble for Man Utd jobs. What he has done was so extraordinary that it even surpassed by far whatever credentials ETH, Arreta had before they get their big job.
Click to expand...

And Alonso surpassed that.

IMO we should be all in for Alonso and if we can't get him., keep Ten Hag and try again next year
 
McKenna was Jose & Ole’s assistant was he not? All I remember him doing at games was staring at his iPad.
No denying his impact at Ipswich.Its not just under ETH that Utd appeared to be a poorly coached team but under Ole as well.
When things weren’t going well, when we endured McFred week after week did he stay silent or was he in favour as well?
I’d rather a completely fresh coaching lineup with new ideas. The fact that McKenna has worked at Utd previously and could therefore be reluctant to change what may be regarded as tried and trusted coaching methods would concern me.
So I would lean towards Tuchel.
 
Sandikan said:
Exactly. 2-3 years ago - this guy knows nothing, why is he our coach etc. And now, with not 1 game premier league management experience, they want him to step into the most demanding job of them all.
Click to expand...
Well Pep had zero, PL management experience, neither did Arteta or Klopp, so why is it a prerequiste for attaining the United job?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.