Kieran McKenna / Ipswich manager
- Thread starter RonaldoVII
- Start date
If Ole was shit then he wouldn’t have got the job mate, it didn’t work out and we kept him too long but it’s ridiculous to say he is shit. Then you say Ralf is shit, a 63 year old world wide respected manager who has a proven track record? He’s been here for 4 weeks and you blame him before you even blame the board who have overseen every poor decision made over the past 15 years.
Maybe you didn’t mean to use the word shit but you can Google Ralfs achievements and Jürgen Klopp and Tuchel reviews of him. McKenna will never ever get praised or respected like that or even get a job as good as Man Utd manager.
I'm fully aware of the average managerial achievements of Ole and part time manager Ralf thanks, as well as the appalling record of our board, not least in picking good managers.
He got the job because he is a United legend, not because of his impressive CV in managing Molde and relegating Cardiff.
Youth coaching at Spurs and Utd to immediately going to Utd first team is a huge jump that 99% of coaches will struggle with, and if the rumours are correct, he was basically the most qualified coach they had who ran the coaching drills, next to novice Carrick and man management heads Solskjaer and Phelan. He could have been good in our setup if he had another experienced coach in there to work with.
Youth coaching at Spurs and Utd to League 1 team head coach is more logical step though.
Hard to turn down a head coach opportunity even if it is leaving Utd for Ipswich and he is still relatively young as a coach. Ipswich is a much less pressure environment even though they’re one of the biggest teams in League 1.
Youth coaching at Spurs and Utd to League 1 team head coach is more logical step though.
Hard to turn down a head coach opportunity even if it is leaving Utd for Ipswich and he is still relatively young as a coach. Ipswich is a much less pressure environment even though they’re one of the biggest teams in League 1.
The former MLS coaches (well, one of them at any rate) wouldn’t be here if McKenna had stayed, which by all accounts Ralf and the club anted him to.
I can’t say I blame him for leaving though. He’s done the right thing getting a fresh start.
We finished 3rd then 2nd under him as head coach. We had a 60% win rate from when Bruno signed until this season began. That’s over 18 months. Objectively he did a good job - his CV is already better than 95% of coaches around and he’s 35 years old. It’s only eejits on here who have an issue with him - I’d imagine he’s still very highly thought of within the game hence why he’s walked into a pretty big club days after RR was appointed.
Surely the thread title can be changed- it’s no longer a question at all is it?
Yeah I agree they both shouldn’t of ever been in a situation where they are Man Utd manager. However, Ole did do some good during his tenure (admittedly mainly before he was made permanent).
Of course we should have replaced Ole after the Europa leave final defeat and got a world class manager. That can’t be changed now though and the season was over before Ralf was even appointed. He has also been given an unhappy squad and is only here for 6 months so I just hope people give him a chance. Hopefully he can bring some much needed standards and new ideas when he moves upstairs.
I don’t dispute that. The board deviated from the plan and made him permanent manager but that’s not Oles fault, he certainly tried his best.
I didn’t want him made permanent at the time but we can all agree he did an amazing job as an interim. To be honest, even his 2nd place finish was way above my expectations of him because I feel the same as you. Even though he of course failed, with hindsight I think he actually did a great job until this season considering his level of coaching expertise.
I agree Ole did some good things, I think he's been our best manager post-Fergie in fact but that's not saying much. And I don't even think he should necessarily have been sacked in the summer, but he certainly should have been before we let Conte go to Spurs. This board are hopeless.
Ipswich fan on the radio said their style of play has changed so quickly, in such a short space of time.
He's still part of coaching team that managed us to finish 2nd in PL. I had no doubt that RR wanted him and Carrick to stay, why wouldn't he? PL proven coaches for 3.5 years.
I would take that with a grain of salt
Why? a couple of players have come out in the press and said how training an style has changed, He's switched the formation from a back four to a back three and they're doing well. So why take the view of an Ipswich fan who watches them with a pinch of salt?
Becuase it’s a fans account. Adding the players have also said that is different, I was just going off a fans account. Imagine if people went off of solo opinions from the cafe
I take issue with that. Yes, we can all agree that he had an amazing start that promptly made the board do a rash decision by giving him the contract, but afterwards we went on a very serious losing streak and ended right back to where Jose left us.
Imagine if someone actually watched Ipswich
Yeah he probably is our best manager post Fergie to be fair. Mourinho is best for trophies won obviously but Ole had us playing the best football for the longest period.
Yeh agree, Conte was a huge miss, I love his passion for the game, brilliant manager. We can only hope that the useless board can get a manager on Contes level or better in the summer.
Yeah I agree with everything you say. I blamed Ole for a long period though and regret it now because I think as you say that it was the boards decision to appoint him. He loves Utd so he was never going to turn down the permanent job, he gave it his best as well, I truly think he did a good job until this season.
It was just such an unambitious, lazy and easy move to make him permanent. I am really concerned about how many staff may have been over promoted, he can’t be the only one. All of our appointments seem to be easy internal promotions (CEO, DOF etc).
6 wins in his first 8 games I believe, doing quite well there. Would be a great achievement if he can get them in promotion places and actually promote.
You don't know what you got until it's gone.
6 in 8 is brilliant. I’m very happy for him.
To be fair this is how it usually goes for Ipswich managers in recent years. A good start then a few injuries, a few draws then the wheels fall off and they end up mid table. They don't have lot of money and small squad with lots of kids.
What are the chances he comes back if Pochettino decides he wants to come here? I believe McKenna was one of the very few decent coaches we had at United under the last regime. I know that him and Carrick did more of the coaching while Ole wasn't as hands on. Would love him back here as an understudy to Pochettino since he has a good idea of our dressing room. Moreover, they should have a good relationship since mckenna once coached at spurs before. However, I am not sure if McKenna would want a more diminished role if he continues to do well at ipswich
Zero?
Damn, would have been a good coaching set up. The players need familiar faces around them that understands them and the new manager would need someone that knows the dressing room. In addition, having more good choices around is always a positive.
Disagree with this. Especially people who were already part of a previous setup unless it was undoubtedly successful in all measures. The footballing world is massive and just like the real world, I think it‘s best to move on and not look back. Plenty of fish in the sea.
In general, I think many people are worried about missing out on great coaches, because they can only compare coaches they have heard of or know. And that‘s usually barely a handful. Coaching isn‘t a hidden secret that is only accessible and understandable a by few chosen ones. Heck, it‘s a massive industry. Our problem is that in the past we don‘t seem to have had a system and/or the scouts in place willing and able to identify our needs and to fill those gaps. The same problem we‘ve had with our squad. Now, we should be (and hopefully are) looking for coaches that are regarded amongst the best of their specific area, which is congruent with part of our (hopefully clearly defined) future style of play.
Our coaches should be specialists. I think McKenna is a generalist, which is why he‘ll do well managing. We‘ll see how far he can grow.
And that's a good reason to have him here?
Understudy? we're not a charity. They're not intern
Why the feck is this thread in the United Forum? 
vibes
He had plenty of time to show us what he could, yet our on field performance never showed it. If I remember correctly Ralf wanted to keep a hold of him, yet he decided to leave.
Ya we were doing super with him here to be fair
Lost one game only since being there.
He’ll be working in the PL again soon.
The Caf Einsteins strike again! Clueless idiots
Poch or EtH or McKenna. Decisions, decisions.
It's almost as though it's not possible to accurately judge an individual coach's impact and ability at a club when they are one of numerous members of the coaching team!
Who would have thought it!
What happened ??
I meant as a coach. He was probably our most qualified coach while he was here. If Ralf coming in has shown us anything it’s that too many of these players are snakes willing to blame anyone except themselves. Oh the coaching isn’t interesting enough? Now its too hard? Feck off out of it!
McKenna has shut the mouths of plenty of CAF armchair managers that he’s actually a pretty good coach & not useless as many would lead you to believe on here. Actually got Ipswich playing some rather good football too