McKenna's meteoric rise not unnoticed

Kieran McKenna has enjoyed a stellar rise through the coaching ladder in English football, but now things are about to be come a whole lot more difficult.

He has to stick or twist.

The affable Fermanagh native, who has his playing career cut short by injury, is the subject of interest from several Premier League clubs as they eye up a new manager. Brighton, Chelsea and Manchester United are all believed to be courting the 38-year-old, as he basks in the glory of guiding his Ipswich Town side to the Premier League via a second placed finish in the Championship. Remarkably, their latest promotion comes just 12 months after their last one from League One, also under McKenna’s stewardship.

Just last week, he scooped the League Manager’s Association Manager of the Year award.

McKenna is just the third manager since 2000 outside of the Premier League to be handed the prestigious gong.

His stock has been rising steadily over the last number of years, particularly since he joined the first team coaching staff at Manchester United, where he was promoted to become part of Jose Mourinho’s backroom team. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign brought an even more prominent position for McKenna on the sideline, after he had started out as part of the Tottenham academy before moving north to Manchester to get involved with the under-18 side.

Even during the ill-fated spells of Mourinho and Solskjaer, when the toxic dressing room culture there led to numerous leaks to the media about the discontent behind the scenes, McKenna emerged with credit. In spite of some negative commentary, he was thrust in at the deep end at Ipswich, a club that hadn’t been in the Premier League since 2002 and had experienced several false dawns since then, including a punt on Roy Keane over a decade ago.

His achievement in bringing the club back to the big time in nothing short of extraordinary, especially considering the cut-throat nature of the Championship and the big budgets of clubs at the upper end of the spectrum.

Even more remarkably, their fine run this season hasn’t been as a result of heavy investment or parachuting in big-name players - there have been some minor adjustments, but by and large it’s been the same team.

When you compare the final day of the League One season against Fleetwood Town on May 7 last year and their outing against Huddersfield Town on the final day of the Championship season on May 4 this year, seven of the same players started both matches. That’s a reflection of good coaching and consistent improvement.

The by-product of all of that good work - especially in an era when clubs appear quite happy to discard managers as often as you take out the bins - is that McKenna is on the radar for several clubs.

He is also helped by the dearth of talent when it comes to managers in world football right now.

Take a look around. Bayern Munich, the German giants, have just turned to Vincent Kompany to take over from Thomas Tuchel. This season, Kompany’s Burnley side won five of their 38 matches in the Premier League and finished second from bottom.

Several other of Europe’s top clubs - Barcelona and AC Milan among them - are heralding managerial change this summer and the Euros will also inevitably see the end for a number of international managers. It’s a fluid market, more so than it has ever been.

So what should McKenna do? It appears United will be his first choice, given his allegiance as a supporter growing up and his previous connection to the club in recent years. He knows the place and will know some faces and personalities in the dressing room, which could be invaluable.

But it’s hard to escape the reality - United are in dire straits. Speaking of the dressing room, it looks totally devoid of any sense of togetherness or spirit. Managers have been undermined to a large degree, but they too must take responsibility for recruitment.

Antony has been an expensive blunder for Erik ten Hag and, while he might not admit it publicly, you’d imagine Ole Gunnar Solskjaer regrets Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford in 2021.

Jim Ratcliffe, Manchester United’s new co-owner, has reportedly been shocked by the state of disrepair Old Trafford has fallen into and indeed the club’s training ground at Carrington. But he has talked a big game. That’s all fine, but it’s harder to implement. And a manager - as Jurgen Klopp showed at Liverpool - is generally the key player in driving a club forward.

So United’s next step, presuming Erik ten Hag is shown the exit door as reports suggest at time of writing despite Saturday’s FA Cup final triumph, is important.

So too is McKenna’s. His stock is high now - and may never get higher - but honeymoon periods tend to come to an end pretty quickly when you’re thrust into the limelight at a club like United.

Consider the way Graham Potter’s stock plummeted when he took on the Chelsea job after a stellar spell at Brighton - he hasn’t worked since.

Mauricio Pochettino, often lauded as one of the top coaches in the game after his productive spell at Tottenham, has failed to make any credible impact at either PSG or Chelsea. Antonio Conte failed miserably as Spurs and spells at United has proved a grim time in the managerial journeys of Mourinho, David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick. McKenna must choose wisely or face a similar plight.

It’s interesting to note that Xabi Alonso, who is four years older than McKenna at 42, chose to stay put at Bayer Leverkusen than take on the unenviable task of succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. Perhaps, though, Alonso is more comfortable in his assessment that he will get the chance at a big job again.

Now is the time for the young man from Fermanagh to make his decision - the next move will likely dictate his entire managerial future.