Why Rangers may struggle to lure Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna to Ibrox - Sky journalist | OneFootball

Kieran McKenna is one of several names linked with a potential move to Ibrox

Sky Sports journalist Gordon Duncan has issued an update on Rangers' potential appointment of Kieran McKenna as the Northern Irishman, once again, sees himself linked with an exit away from current employers, Ipswich Town.

The Northern Irishman has become one of British football's most sought-after head managers in recent years, which is, in no small part, down to the success he has enjoyed with the Tractor Boys ever since taking over the reins from Paul Cook back in December 2021, at a time when Ipswich were in the midst of a four-season long stint in League One.

Since then, the former Manchester United assistant has completely transformed fortunes at Portman Road, including a first season of Premier League football since 2002 in Suffolk last campaign, with his stock still remaining extremely high despite the fact Town were relegated on a tally of just 22 points - some 16 behind Tottenham Hotspur, who finished 17th whilst also winning the UEFA Europa League under former Celtic boss, Ange Postecoglou.

Both Rangers and Ipswich had endured extremely sluggish starts to the current season up until recent weeks, with the East Anglian side becoming one of the Championship's form sides, as a total of 11 points from the last 15 available saw them shoot up to ninth in the table, with McKenna subsequently scooping the division's 'Manager of the Month' award for September ahead of the likes of Julien Stephan and Frank Lampard - the latter of whom has also been linked with the Ibrox vacancy.

As such, Duncan issued his latest update regarding the Light Blues' managerial search, and it did include those aforementioned updates.

McKenna has been linked with an array of high-profile managerial vacancies in recent times as a result of his Portman Road exploits, which included back-to-back promotions between 2023 and 2024.

It has been a beyond disastrous start to the SPFL and European campaigns for Rangers, though, who parted company with Russell Martin last week following a 1-1 draw at Falkirk - a result which left the Glasgow side in eighth, some 11 points behind league leaders, Hearts.

Amid reports that ex-Gers boss, Steven Gerrard, had turned down the vacancy for a second time, it was claimed by the Herald that McKenna had been identified as a possible replacement for the former Southampton boss alongside Raphael Wicky, Danny Rohl and Michael Carrick.

Speaking on Sky Sports at approximately 1:05PM on Sunday afternoon, the aforementioned Duncan issued his latest understanding on developments, which included the 39-year-old Town manager.

“Other names that are being linked with the job currently, Carrick, former Middlesbrough boss, of course, available. It would be an interesting one to perhaps keep an eye on," he said.

“McKenna, the current manager of Ipswich. Won the Championship manager of the month, didn’t he? So maybe tempting him away could prove to be a challenge if indeed Rangers wanted to," Duncan claimed.

It remains to be seen how deep the aforementioned links between McKenna and the SPFL giants will be, with the Ipswich boss among a plethora of highly-rated managers and head coaches that could take the reins.

Supporters at Ibrox would certainly be excited by the prospects of an approach. However, Ipswich supporters will hope that the London-born figure isn't lured by the potential of managing in European competition in the short-term, instead focusing on what can be achieved in the long-term in Suffolk.

Despite losing high-profile names such as Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson, Mark Ashton and co. continued to back the Town boss in the summer transfer window, and that has certainly paid dividends in recent weeks as his side marched up the standings.

McKenna's connection to supporters was exemplified once again last time out, as Ipswich defeated bitter rivals, Norwich City, for the first time since April 2009, as they are now just six points off the top of the table with 37 matches still to play.