Kieran McKenna | Close to signing long term deal to stay at Ipswich

Pickle85

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What is McKenna's type of football? Ten Hag had a clear way of playing at Ajax, and he never got to implement that here. McKenna's only way of success is if all the big players are gone and we play with highly motivated players. No other chance.

I'm totally for De Zerbi. His style of play is clear and with better players he should thrive.
What are you basing this on, besides the fact that he's never had the opportunity to manage a high profile club?

De Zerbi's managerial record to date has a good number of question marks too. Decent season at Brighton then an average season at Brighton. Beyond that, what's he done?
 

crossy1686

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The manager talked about counter press when losing the ball and a video clip goes around showing him ambling around vs Luton with absolutely no intention of closing anyone down and a week later we are greeted with a PR article suggesting not to question his commitment to the club. What is it, if not both self serving and at the same time creating a dissonance from the managers demands?
Well you’re considering those things all to be linked and not circumstantial. He was getting flak regarding his application for weeks and in response he put out a statement. What the manager chose to say and what clips people decided to highlight on social media aren’t linked to Rashfords statement defending himself against what he feels are unfair claims from United fans.

If he truly was undermining the manager, the manager would have dropped him or shipped him out to Dortmund like Sancho.
 

roonster09

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Yup.

Either way it's not binary. The club not wanting to get rid of Martial was at the stage where Jose was heading fast towards a brick wall, it wasn't an isolated event where we somehow stripped Mourinho of all authority and put him a path towards failure. The vast majority of his signings were failing and he wanted to replace them with even more expensive signings that were available for feck all when he decided the best course of action was signing Bailly and Lindelof. We made Sanchez the best paid player in the league and allowed Mourinho to completely derail the season that Rashford and Martial were having competing for the left wing spot, whereas Sanchez turned out to be an utter disaster of a signing.
Exactly. This Jose was undermined was good PR stunt and even today Luckhurst carries that.

Anyways that's for Jose thread, enough virus already in this thread by mentioning that name :D
 

Pass and Move

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I’m team McKenna based on the potential for enjoying watching us play for the next couple of seasons vs the other options being touted.
We’ve all been crying out for changes to the hierarchy at the club, and now that that is happening I think we just have to trust their decisions over then next managerial appointment. Either they’ll go for Tuchel with a distinct plan to stabilise the squad before replacing him with someone more suited to building long term success, or they’ll go for McKenna immediately with the acknowledgement that he’ll need the sort of support Artera has received.

I’d have been inclined to allow ETH more time if it weren’t for his curious in-game management which leads me to think he’s out of his depth despite any off-field issues that may have also affected his chances of success here.
 

pocco

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“Name and shame” is a weird internet-only thing but ok seems like I struck a nerve

Yes, playing two at the base of midfield is more defensive than playing one at the base of midfield when you’re playing a back four in both scenarios.

Don’t recall ever explicitly saying you can’t be progressive with a double-pivot but you’re certainly opting for incremental protection who you sit two deep vs one.

Any other insight I can share?
Whether it was 'more defensive' wasn't the point. You said that opting for a double pivot is wild if you want to play progressive football, and that's simply not true. At the time your argument was to stick with this setup as it is exposing the players and that it is a setup that other top teams employ. I don't disagree, it is a system some top teams employ. But as was my point at the time, playing a double pivot doesn't mean the football can't be progressive and is used by even some top teams.

No more 'insight' required, thanks.

Edit: One important thing about your post. You say “other top teams”. We aren’t a top team right now and we don’t have personnel to be called a top team. This is very important because teams that are playing progressive football with a double pivot have players capable in possession, retain the ball, and allow the midfield to push further forward.
Yes I mention other 'top teams' because this is what we are striving to be and it shows that you can play progressive football with a double pivot. I'm not attacking you here, but at the time you seemed dismissive of being able to play a double pivot in modern football almost, but you do at least recognise that isn't true.
 

pocco

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I think people are getting carried away with the McKenna stuff. I do think it is true that we have spoken to him, but there have been reports that we have also spoken with Tuchel and RDZ. I think we'll meet with Poch too no doubt. Sounds like ETH is gone, but no decision made on a replacement yet.
 

pocco

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What is McKenna's type of football? Ten Hag had a clear way of playing at Ajax, and he never got to implement that here. McKenna's only way of success is if all the big players are gone and we play with highly motivated players. No other chance.

I'm totally for De Zerbi. His style of play is clear and with better players he should thrive.
He didn't even try. I doubt the club were telling him not to play the Ajax way, and I would argue that actually we do play a lot like them with the transitional football. The issue is that this isn't Eredivisie, and clubs are better coached than us, with managers who find holes in what we do. But even Wilcox has come in and told him to play a different way, so I would expect ETH played the football he wanted.
 

Someone

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I'm unsure about this, it could be exciting, but at the same time he isn't someone who's going to impress a dressing room at that level. Personality plays a huge part at big clubs. We've also seen a lot of managers in the past do a great job at the Championship level just to disappear in the premier league later, so this is a big risk. I'd rather someone like Iraola who did a good job in the premier league on limited resources, and it'd still be a risk.
 

matherto

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None of the other options are anything we don't know and tbh, none of them are exciting.

Why not just take a chance?
 

Lee565

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I still think carrick would be a more successful appointment over mckenna as he would instantly earn respect from players due to his status as a player for the club.

With mckenna, it could turn into moyes situation unless the club clear all players that could potentially undermine him or not buy into his ways
 

aeh1991

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I still think carrick would be a more successful appointment over mckenna as he would instantly earn respect from players due to his status as a player for the club.

With mckenna, it could turn into moyes situation unless the club clear all players that could potentially undermine him or not buy into his ways
I think that won't be a big problem. On one side we already got rid of those players (Pogba, Cristiano, etc.) and on the other hand, if a manager shows competence, the players will listen to him. And I trust in INEOS that they'd sell players if they cause trouble.
 

Woodzy

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I still think carrick would be a more successful appointment over mckenna as he would instantly earn respect from players due to his status as a player for the club.

With mckenna, it could turn into moyes situation unless the club clear all players that could potentially undermine him or not buy into his ways
The difference is that we had a team of elite players that had won trophies under the world’s best manager.

Now we have a team that have won next to nothing. We have very few in our team that would even come close to having the sort of profile that could undermine him.

Also, while the new structure may not be up and running yet it‘s worth noting that it’s no longer the manager vs. players. Think the Arteta/Aubamayang situation where the club made a decision to let him go.
 

VP89

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I still think carrick would be a more successful appointment over mckenna as he would instantly earn respect from players due to his status as a player for the club.

With mckenna, it could turn into moyes situation unless the club clear all players that could potentially undermine him or not buy into his ways
It's very difficult to tell.

I suspect we are all falling into some bias with McKenna's 'look' in assuming he's going to be some vanilla and uncharismatic coach. He may well have grown leaps and bounds since his United stint and picked up a lot more in the soft skills department.

What we know for sure is he's extremely detailed and thorough, this was seen in briefs while he was a coach here, and in his managerial stint with Ipswich, and even by his own admission timestamped below (good vid on him generally but very long):


Yes, he's more of a thinker and a methodical guy than an extroverted manager, but I don't think that's going to be a bad thing if he can make up for it with his preparation and ability to drill the team to play like more than a sum of its parts.

We should also remember he's 38. Leapt into management around the same age as Arteta and has arguably picked up a tremendous amount of growth all the same. Maybe its the unknown ceiling factor but I'm more excited to give McKenna a post than Tuchel where you always feel an implosion may be 6 months away.
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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I hope we get him or De Zerbi.

I'd happily give them time if we're building towards something with each passing season.
 

Woodzy

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I hope we get him or De Zerbi.

I'd happily give them time if we're building towards something with each passing season.
This is the thing. Someone like Tuchel or Poch feels just like a sidewards step - i'm not saying they won't do a good job, but I don't feel like they would offer much more than sticking with ETH would.

The other two feels like a chance to press the reset button, especially now that our best players are some of the kids it becomes a chance to start building again. It's a gamble, but with the mess we are in can it really get any worse?
 

saivet

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This is the thing. Someone like Tuchel or Poch feels just like a sidewards step - i'm not saying they won't do a good job, but I don't feel like they would offer much more than sticking with ETH would.

The other two feels like a chance to press the reset button, especially now that our best players are some of the kids it becomes a chance to start building again. It's a gamble, but with the mess we are in can it really get any worse?
It can always get worse. Chelsea finished 12th last season for example.

I do understand the sentiment, with Poch and Tuchel, there's a good chance they steady the ship and perhaps makes is a reliable top 4 side, but I don't see us competing for the league and our highs would probably be similar to what we've seen under previous manager, domestic cup or lower European cup success/finals.
 

Malone_Post

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I bet Ten Hag is loving all these leaks the day before the cup final.
It’s LVG all over again. This club just goes round in circles. Proper Groundhog Day stuff.

This is exactly why the club (Ineos) should have either come out and publicly backed ETH with a new contact or sacked him/announced he was leaving. All this speculation and uncertainly leading up to a cup final, especially against a team as good as City, can’t be helpful. To have any chance tomorrow we need to be fully focused & switched on. These distractions won’t help.

And if they are waiting to see how the cup final goes before making their decision then there’s no hope.
 

padzilla

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to be honest, if he does not think he'll get the sack after our 19th defeat that's on him
I would like to think that the decision has been made one way or another already and it won't come down to us winning or losing one match.

If Ineos is betting it all on winning or losing on Saturday then there are bigger problems at foot.
 

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I would like to think that the decision has been made one way or another already and it won't come down to us winning or losing one match.

If Ineos is betting it all on winning or losing on Saturday then there are bigger problems at foot.
There's absolutely no chance that the decision rests on the outcome of the final. It will have been made weeks or possibly months ago. If they are planning to sack him then winning the final makes their PR strategy slightly more challenging, but it won't impact the decision.
 

Raven

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I still think carrick would be a more successful appointment over mckenna as he would instantly earn respect from players due to his status as a player for the club.

With mckenna, it could turn into moyes situation unless the club clear all players that could potentially undermine him or not buy into his ways
Except Carrick is not the same calibre of coach by the looks of things.
 

Stobzilla

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Except Carrick is not the same calibre of coach by the looks of things.
I wouldn't be so sure, he's clearly done a very good job whilst having to overhaul the playing staff at Boro last season. I would expect them to be regularly challenging towards the top end from next year.
 

peridigm

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None of the other options are anything we don't know and tbh, none of them are exciting.

Why not just take a chance?
Moyes was a chance. Ole was a chance. ETH was a chance. LVG and Jose were experienced but played outdated football. We're not in a position to continue taking chances on unproven managers. If you want to take more chances, we might as well continue with ETH.
 

GreatDane

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We wont know if he's good enough until he's actually here, but saying the club will devour him is foolish.
Most of the 'bad eggs' are out already and our new structure will serve to help both him and the club. He's has both managerial experience and experience guiding young players, which would serve our rebuild well.
If anything the timing to take a gamble on a truly rising star has never been better.
 

matherto

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Moyes was a chance. Ole was a chance. ETH was a chance. LVG and Jose were experienced but played outdated football. We're not in a position to continue taking chances on unproven managers. If you want to take more chances, we might as well continue with ETH.
Yeah but the managers that are 'proven' have proven to not be good enough and/or toxic so you can't win there either.