Kieran McKenna given clear message on leaving Ipswich Town - Celtic is "a bit of a boring job" | OneFootball

The Tractor Boys’ manager has been linked with a move to Celtic after Brendan Rodgers’ departure

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna is one of the potential candidates to take over the vacancy at Scottish club Celtic.

The Bhoys are on the search for their next boss after outgoing boss Brendan Rodgers handed in his resignation at the start of this week, and McKenna is thought to be in the frame, according to a report from Sky Sports.

It follows the Glasgow outfit slipping eight points behind league leaders Hearts.

We asked our Ipswich fan pundit, Adam Wilkin, whether he’s worried that the Tractor Boys’ head coach could be tempted.

Celtic does not match Kieran McKenna’s ambition

Speaking to Football League World, Adam said: “I think Celtic is a safe job, but potentially a bit of a boring job.

“The Scottish league isn't overly competitive, and I don't think that really matches with McKenna's philosophy and how he wants to test himself. He wants to test himself against the best.

“I think he's very settled in Ipswich, and at the club, and I can't see Celtic appealing to him, moving that far away from where he's settled his family.

“I guess it would be a good stepping stone for a Premier League job, but I think that he believes that, number one, he can prove his worth at Ipswich Town still, and get them into the Premier League and stabilise them in the Premier League.

“I feel like that will be his game, his goal, and then once he's achieved that, I feel he'll then have enough confidence and back himself enough to think that he would get a job at one of the very, very top clubs, and I feel the same.”

A move to Celtic seems to make little sense for Kieran McKenna now

Celtic, by their own standards, are in a difficult spot right now; sitting eight points behind a team that isn’t Rangers is not a position they’re used to being in, in a league they tend to dominate.

That means that, naturally, the mood around the club is at its lowest, and if McKenna walked into that environment, anything other than absolute perfection would come in for scrutiny.

That’s a difficult position for any manager to be, as they adjust to a new league, new players and a new environment, and the upside for McKenna would not be all that great.

Yes, he would get to manage in the Europa League, an honour he has not yet had as a permanent head coach, but in terms of progression, getting Ipswich back out of the Championship would likely be viewed as more of an achievement to the outside world than winning the Scottish Premiership with Celtic.

That being said, it is a route taken by Ange Postecoglou – in the frame to return to Celtic Park, according to Sky Sports – who ended up at Tottenham Hotspur, but the market of available managers who wanted that gig at the time was not especially big.

If McKenna is looking to put himself in the shop window for a top Premier League side, he is already in a good spot to do so, and as already, in the past, attracted the attention of his former side, Manchester United, through his exploits at Ipswich, proof that he will get noticed if he achieves.

Thanks to his back-to-back promotions, McKenna enjoys a reputation and a level of control that he simply will not have in a new job, so moving to Celtic, which, European football aside, is not a massive upgrade, makes little sense.