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KIER STAYER
Kieran McKenna would be mad to take Chelsea job and would think twice about Brighton – but couldn’t turn down dream role
Tractor Boys chief will be the cream of the crop at one stage but might prefer to be patient
KIERAN McKENNA is the hottest managerial property but I would be gobsmacked if he quits Ipswich this summer.
UNLESS … Manchester United come knocking.
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There is a gut feeling around Portman Road he would be unable to turn them down.
I’ve met and spoken to McKenna on a number of occasions, talked to his players, some of those who work alongside him and watched his team’s incredible journey from League One mid-table fodder to the Premier League.
And it is no surprise he is being linked with the current vacancies at Chelsea and Brighton. He was already getting touted for top-flight jobs LAST SUMMER such is the high regard he is held in elite football circles.
Crystal Palace approached him before opting for Oliver Glasner when Roy Hodgson left.
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Yet — knowing the way McKenna operates and works — he would think twice about making what is effectively a side-step move to the Sussex coast after everything he has built in Suffolk.
Yes, Brighton are more advanced in their journey and now an established Premier League club that has just had a season in the Europa League — but McKenna firmly believes Ipswich can reach that level too.
And he would be stark raving mad to walk into what is effectively a snake pit at Stamford Bridge. Talk of him suddenly pitching up at Chelsea — especially after what happened to Graham Potter — is for the birds.
A few defeats there and he would be out of a job and his reputation could be tarnished.
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However keeping Ipswich up would only enhance his standing in the game — while going down would not harm it at all. Although Ipswich are already a better side than the likes of Luton and Nottingham Forest.
McKenna has a long-term strategy of where he wants to head. That is to manage in the Champions League and competing for trophies. Clearly that is something that is unlikely to happen at Ipswich.
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But, he understands that he is only two-and-a-half years into his own frontline management journey.
McKenna is genuinely excited to be leading Ipswich into the Premier League and has no desire to walk away for anyone.
He has completely invested himself into Ipswich and when I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago he was adamant he wanted to write another glorious chapter in his Portman Road story.
And that is what he is most likely to do before inevitably leaving for one of the big guns.
But I understand Manchester United would be too huge an opportunity and personally special for him to turn down if they decide to give Erik ten Hag the tin tat after this Saturday’s FA Cup final against Manchester City.
McKenna understands United inside out — running their academy and working as an assistant and first-team coach under the likes of Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solsksjaer.
He always speaks highly of his time there and his fondness for United as a club and is still popular and in touch with many of the backroom staff he worked with during his five years there.
It was apt he received his LMA manager of the year award from Sir Alex Ferguson and there is a gut instinct at Ipswich that they would struggle to keep him if SIr Jim Ratcliffe did call him up.
Ipswich CEO Mark Ashton, who was with McKenna, certainly is not worried about losing McKenna and is confident that quadrupling his annual salary to £5million-a-year in a new four-year deal is proof they mean business and are not just going into the top flight to make up the numbers.
Having worked at United, he knows how to handle big-name players. You will struggle to find a single one who has anything but the highest praise.
McKenna’s biggest assets are his calmness under pressure, his meticulous attention to detail, attacking mindset and loyalty to those he has enjoyed working with.
When Ipswich won promotion to the Championship, players at Portman Road were openly talking at the start of the season about having a tilt for Premier League football.
Leif Davis — who McKenna signed from Leeds two years ago and has helped make him the best left-back in the Championship last season — told me the manager spoke only about going for promotion rather than consolidating.
And that is typical of McKenna — he doesn’t see any point in setting the bar low. His bar is always raised high. Anyone who has played for him or worked with him will tell you exactly that.
He is always bold when making substitutes. The amount of games that have been won thanks to McKenna switches usually around the hour mark has been nothing short of remarkable.
Just when teams feel they have had Ipswich’s measure he has brought on impact players such as Omari Hutchinson and Jeremy Sarmiento in particular to power to victory.
Having worked at United, he knows how to handle big-name players and egos. You will struggle to find a single one of them who has anything but the highest praise for McKenna.
Even Solskjaer believes McKenna is destined for the top - and he is. But not right now.
Another manager being touted for a switch this summer after leading his club to promotion is Leicester’s Enzo Maresca.
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The Foxes boss, who worked as Pep Guardiola’s assistant, won the Championship title, pipping Ipswich by a point.
Chelsea are said to have spoken with him.
There is little doubt that the Italian has transformed the way Leicester play — and at times this season were the Man City of the Championship.
But Leicester fans started to get restless with him for what they perceived as painstakingly slow football at times.
Maresca was unhappy when details came out that Leicester could face a points deduction in the Premier League for breaking profit and sustainability rules.
When I spoke with him after they wrapped up the Championship title at Preston, he was seeking assurances going forward that the club were not in any danger of being punished this coming season.
Although he did a pretty good job at the King Power, he surely needs to earn his stripes in the top-flight before he can be seriously considered for the Stamford Bridge job.
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As good as he has been, he is not as strong a candidate at McKenna.
The Ipswich boss is destined for a top job soon — but the jury is still out on Maresca.
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