Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna led the Suffolk team to an unbelievable back-to-back promotion from League One to the Premier League.
Manchester United defender Harry Maguire praised Kieran McKenna’s work after Ipswich Town were promoted to the Premier League on Saturday.
The Tractor Boys were not expected to compete at the top of the Championship this season after McKenna worked miracles to lift them from League One after a poor start. However, Ipswich maintained their momentum, knowing that a point would be enough to beat Leeds United into second place for automatic promotion.
In the end, a defeat would have sufficed for Ipswich against Huddersfield Town after Leeds lost at home to Southampton on the penultimate day. However, Wes Burns and Omari Hutchinson’s goals sealed the Suffolk club’s triumphant return to the top flight.
McKenna formerly worked at United as an assistant to Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and, temporarily, Ralf Rangnick. During that time, he worked closely with players such as Maguire, who wrote a letter to his former coach following their stunning promotion.
The centre-back posted a photo of his TV screen, which displayed the Ipswich match, with the comment “Kieran McKenna,” along by a wand and clapping emojis. McKenna’s performance with Ipswich has sparked talk that he could be on Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s shortlist to replace Erik ten Hag.
Ten Hag under pressure at Old Trafford following a tough second season in the Premier League. United will not return to the Champions League next season after qualifying in the previous season, and they risk missing out outright due to uneven results.
MEN Sport understands. Ratcliffe is doubtful whether Ten Hag is the ideal man to lead the team forward, with McKenna, Thomas Tuchel, and Gareth Southgate all mentioned as potential replacements.
