Why huge Celtic and Man Utd updates emerging may concern Ipswich Town | OneFootball

Kieran McKenna's future could be up in the air following developments at Man United and Celtic

Ipswich Town will be on high alert following major developments at both Manchester United and Celtic on Monday.

It was confirmed by the Premier League club in the morning that Ruben Amorim has been sacked as head coach, while Wilfried Nancy’s short-lived time at Parkhead came to an end later in the afternoon.

Kieran McKenna has previously been linked with both clubs, so the Tractor Boys will be nervous that speculation could mount on his future again quite quickly.

The Northern Irishman has built a strong reputation as an exciting, young coach, and he has earned excellent results at Portman Road, including back-to-back promotions in 2023 and 2024, bringing the club back to the Premier League for the first time in over 20 years.

While the Suffolk outfit were unable to survive in the top flight, McKenna remains a well-respected figure in the game, and he could be sought after for either of these vacant roles.

Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna concern

It has been reported by journalist Chris Winterburn that Man United retain an interest in McKenna, who previously worked at Old Trafford as U21 manager, as well as a first team coach.

The 39-year-old was also linked with the Celtic job when Brendan Rodgers resigned earlier this season, but Nancy was ultimately chosen for the role.

With both clubs now searching for a new manager, Ipswich will be on high alert as they will want to do everything they can to avoid losing McKenna.

The Tractor Boys are firmly in the mix for automatic promotion from the Championship, and the former Man United coach has shown he knows what it takes to get to the top flight.

When McKenna took over at Portman Road, the club were in League One and looked very far from competing for promotion.

He has been crucial to their rise in stature in the last four years, and losing him would risk a slide back down the pecking order of English football.

But the reality is that turning down Man United or Celtic to stay at Ipswich will be quite difficult, even with Martin O'Neil set to oversee the end of the Scottish Premiership campaign with the latter.

The former are in a battle for qualification for the Champions League next season, while the latter have underperformed massively, so any kind of upswing in form will see him hailed by supporters, making it a very appealing time to move to Glasgow.

While the Bhoys could still seal another league title under O'Neil, there's no doubt that this chaotic season will be one to forget for supporters, and a clean slate in the summer will make for an opportune time to take over the side.

Reason for Kieran McKenna optimism

It was reported by The Athletic that Man United could wait until the summer to make an appointment to replace Amorim, with Darren Fletcher currently in charge on an interim basis.

This could be a very big positive for Ipswich, as it gives the club time to conclude their promotion battle, and being in the Premier League next season would make staying in Suffolk a very appealing option for the manager.

It also means that Man United will have a lot more managers at their disposal as potential options, especially with the World Cup likely seeing coaches like Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino and Julian Nagelsmann on the market.

Meanwhile, Celtic’s issues behind the scenes have become an increasingly big concern.

Supporters have clashed with the hierarchy in recent months, which could be enough to persuade someone like McKenna that the summer is actually a bad time to move to Parkhead.

Ipswich could also use the January window to back the 39-year-old and bolster his first team squad, thus showing once again their commitment to him and his project and to establishing the club as a force in the Premier League.

These two giants of the game in the United Kingdom may not be an immediate threat to Ipswich, but McKenna's medium-term future at the club will be in question so long as they are searching for a new head coach.

Developments at Man United and Celtic will make supporters at the Championship side nervous, but they could be made to wait before finding out their fate.