Kieran McKenna's Ipswich success reflects TERRIBLY on Man Utd

Tom Weber

• Updated: 4 May 2024 21:07 BST
• 4 min read

Kieran McKenna has led Ipswich Town to the Premier League just a few years after being the target of a Man Utd dressing room revolt.

The 37-year-old has become something of a coaching prodigy since leaving Man Utd. McKenna took charge of then-League One side Ipswich Town in December 2021 and immediately improved their fortunes for the rest of the campaign.

In 2022/23, his first full season in charge, McKenna led the Tractor Boys back to the Championship and now he has taken them all the way to the Premier League. After beating Huddersfield 2-0 on Saturday, Ipswich returned to England's top flight for the first time in 22 years.

READ MORE: Better than Mudryk! Chelsea loan star fires Ipswich to historic promotion

McKenna had his side playing exciting football and the Suffolk outfit finished the Championship campaign as the team with the most goals scored, having netted an impressive 92 in 46 matches. The Northern Irishman has quickly become one of the hottest coaching properties in football, but just a few years ago, things were looking quite bleak for him.

Man Utd players revolt

Before taking the reins at Ipswich, McKenna was an assistant under several regimes at Man Utd. Having been promoted from the academy to Jose Mourinho's staff in 2018, the 37-year-old also worked with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick before leaving in 2021.

Despite mostly being out of the limelight, McKenna was frequently the subject of criticism at Old Trafford. The complaints, however, didn't come from the media or fans but - allegedly - from the players.

During McKenna's time at the club, it was repeatedly claimed that players were unhappy with his training sessions and overall demeanour and they reportedly questioned whether he had actually merited his promotion. It was alleged that McKenna was 'dry,' 'uninspiring' and 'schoolmasterly,' with high-profile members of the squad believing he was ill-suited to senior football.

READ MORE: Who is Kieran McKenna? Ex-Man Utd coach who led Ipswich to the Premier League

The latest such report surfaced just a month before his eventual departure in late 2021 which makes it highly doubtful that he suddenly did a complete 180 and changed his ways upon taking over at Ipswich. Given that he had an immediate impact and would continue to be successful, it seems his methods aren't actually that bad.

This, then, raises questions about Man Utd's players and general environment. The 'culture' at Carrington and Old Trafford has been the topic of heated debate in recent years and McKenna's success lends credence to the claims that, well, the 'culture' at Man Utd isn't particularly great.

Erik ten Hag, of course, was brought in to change this and he has become the latest coach to fail miserably at this. It is clear that a hard reset is necessary under new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe or else this issue will persist.