Ipswich Town: Where Kieran McKenna now ranks in the EFL Championship’s longest serving managers list
McKenna has impressed in his time at Portman Road, leaving Premier League clubs on high alert
Kieran McKenna has been a wanted man for quite a while now, but continues to impress at the helm of Ipswich Town.
A number of Premier League clubs have been rumoured to be interested in the 37-year-old, with Crystal Palace, Brentford and West Ham all said to be monitoring the Tractor Boys’ boss.
The former Manchester United assistant made the move to Portman Road in December 2021, and in the 26 months since his arrival he has revolutionised a club that had fallen into the doldrums of the third tier.
McKenna has turned Ipswich Town into a match-winning machine
With just one defeat in his first 14 league matches in charge, the signs were already there that McKenna’s tenure in Suffolk was going to be a good one. After an 11th place finish in the 2021/22 season, his side ripped League One apart in his first full season in charge, notching 101 goals on the way to automatic promotion to the Championship – finishing runners-up to Plymouth Argyle.
That momentum shows no signs of stopping, with the newly promoted side registering one of the best starts to a Championship season in history – with 48 points accrued from their opening 20 games – with only runaway leaders Leicester City being able to better them.
McKenna’s influence on the side has been unequivocal; with the free-flowing attacking football on display at Portman Road a far cry from the mid-table mediocrity on show before he arrived.
With a solid defence to build upon and the relentlessness of Leif Davis and Harry Clarke in the full-back positions, Town have been relentless in their return to the second tier.
Where Kieran McKenna ranks among the Championship’s longest serving managers
Only two managers have been in charge longer than McKenna in English football’s second division, with Mark Robins of Coventry City and Ryan Lowe of Preston North End in their jobs for longer, the latter very narrowly.
Robins will be celebrating his seven-year anniversary in charge of the Sky Blues in a little over a fortnight, having taken over midway through their relegation season in 2016/17, which saw them drop into League Two.
Immediate promotion back to the third tier followed, before winning League One in the COVID-19 affected 2019/20 season to return to the Championship for the first time in nine seasons.
