‘Kieran McKenna could be offered Man United job’ in huge twist
Kieran McKenna could see the Manchester United job as too good to turn down if he’s offered the role in the near future.
Ipswich‘s soon-to-be-confirmed relegation straight back to the Championship hasn’t done McKenna’s stock any harm in Premier League circles, with clubs aplenty keen on poaching the Northern Irishman.
Football Insider revealed on Sunday (11 April) that Brentford or Fulham could turn to McKenna if Thomas Frank or Marco Silva move on respectively this summer, and he’s also been linked with even bigger jobs.
The biggest of all would be for McKenna to seal a return to Manchester United, but former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson has told Football Insider the 38-year-old will be cautious with his next move.
Ruben Amorim’s potential sacking at Man United could give McKenna the chance to step into the top job at Old Trafford, but McKenna may opt against such a significant move so early in his managerial career.
Man United move hardly a ‘stepping stone’ for Kieran McKenna
Old Trafford has long been touted as a destination for McKenna, with Football Insider reporting that both Man United and Chelsea were plotting moves to poach him from Ipswich as far back as last summer.
However, speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Robinson said that moving directly from Portman Road to Old Trafford could do lasting damage to McKenna’s career if he wasn’t able to turn their fortunes around.
“He’s clever enough to be careful with his next move. You look at Ipswich going down, they are going to go down into the Championship”, Robinson told Football Insider.
“And if the right club isn’t there for him, I don’t think he’ll do his stock any harm by staying at Ipswich again for another year or another season and trying to get out of the Championship.
“What he’s done is on his CV; he’s proved himself in League One, in the Championship. Out of the three [teams] that came up, [Ipswich] are the ones that have had the best go, they’ve not been smashed every week.
“If McKenna takes the wrong job at the wrong time, it could all end very quickly. You look at Manchester United, if you take that job at the wrong time – it’s a huge job, it’s a huge football club – [if] you get offered that, it’s very, very hard to turn it down.
“But at the moment, that could probably do you more damage as a young manager than it would do you good, unless you’re going to be one that goes in there and turns it around.
“A Bournemouth, a Fulham, a Brighton, a Brentford – that type of a club would be probably the perfect next stepping stone for him.”
Ipswich to anticipate approaches for Kieran McKenna this summer
Once Ipswich’s immediate return to the second-tier is sealed, plans will begin for the summer transfer window, with 12-goal frontman Liam Delap set to be the main source of attention from top-flight clubs.
However, after Man United, Chelsea, and Brighton all held talks with McKenna last summer, it’s arguable that the star asset who Ipswich don’t want to lose is in fact their manager, rather than their star striker.
Bournemouth, Brentford and Fulham could all be on the hunt for new managers this summer, and though Ipswich will do everything they can to keep hold of McKenna, that will be much easier said than done.