"At this stage" - Exclusive: Sky pundit reacts to Rangers, Kieran McKenna news | OneFootball

Don Goodman has spoken on the links between Kieran McKenna and Rangers.

After the sacking of Russell Martin, Rangers hold an interest in Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna as the Glasgow giants search for a replacement.

Martin's time at Ibrox came to an end last week after a dismal start to the season that left the club sitting eighth in the Scottish Premiership.

McKenna took the reins at Ipswich in 2021 and led the club all the way to the Premier League by 2024, with two successive promotions in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 campaigns.

The future of the former Manchester United assistant has remained a key talking point this year following the club's instant return to the Championship, and TEAMTALK have recently revealed that he is on a shortlist of potential managers to take over at Ibrox.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman has cast doubts over a potential move.

Don Goodman describes interest as "a difficult sell" for Rangers amid McKenna interest

"I can understand why Rangers would want Kieran McKenna," said Goodman when asked whether he could see the 39-year-old wanting to join the club. "But, it's similar to Steven Gerrard, who cited bad timing as a reason for not taking the job this week."

Gerrard won the 2020/21 Scottish Premiership title with Rangers, ending a long wait for league success at Ibrox. However, after an extremely poor start to the campaign, it was always going to be difficult to convince managers to join up with the club, and Goodman echoed similar thoughts when discussing McKenna.

"On the face of it, one of the other reasons would be the state of the playing squad. For Kieran McKenna to give up the possibility of instantly returning to the Premier League with Ipswich - it was always going to be a difficult sell for Rangers to prize him away at this stage in time."

Ipswich's ongoing project - McKenna will surely want to stay

Despite Ipswich's relegation at the end of last term, the Tractor Boys were able to hold on to multiple key players, including the likes of Jaden Philogene and Jack Clarke, who had previously torn apart the Championship for Hull City and Sunderland.

With McKenna remaining at the helm, Ipswich came into the season as red-hot favourites for promotion. And after a slow start to the term, Ipswich are unbeaten in their last five, with a 3-1 win against arch-rivals Norwich putting the icing on the cake before the international break.

The Tractor Boys have not quite hit the same heights as their promotion campaign yet, but the signs are there that McKenna's side are more than worthy promotion contenders once again.

The Premier League proved too much, too soon for Ipswich ultimately. However, the club are in a good place to potentially have a second stab at the top tier again, and the question remains as to why McKenna would want to leave, when this opportunity is present?

The Tractor Boys are preparing to face high-flying Middlesbrough this weekend. Three points would stamp a real mark of authority as Ipswich look to throw themselves among the top sides, fully recovering from an inconsistent start to the season.