Football’s best up-and-coming managers: Kieran McKenna, a relentless entertainer

This is the second article in a six-part series looking at some of European football’s most innovative up-and-coming managers. Part one, on Thiago Motta, is here.

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Football is about winning, and Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna knows plenty about that.

Since the start of last season, no manager in English football’s top four leagues has won more points than the Northern Irishman as the Suffolk side chase back-to-back promotions.

But what makes McKenna, 37, such an impressive manager is that Ipswich are winning while playing entertaining football. There are goals at the death, dramatic fightbacks and the surging attacks that define his brand of football.

To exist on a knife edge in so many games over the past two seasons and finish sunny side up as often as Ipswich have is no fluke.

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.@IpswichTown too hot to handle 🔥#EFL | #SkyBetChampionship pic.twitter.com/ID4zG1sEom

— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) March 17, 2024

They thrive on chaos and the electric atmosphere at Portman Road which is experiencing a revitalisation that few could have predicted when McKenna, then 35, left Ralf Rangnick’s backroom team at Manchester United to take up the Ipswich job — his first in management — in December 2021.

The expected goals graphic below shows how underwhelming the club’s play was at the end of Paul Lambert’s time as manager and throughout most of Paul Cook’s spell at the club. McKenna, in contrast, hit the ground running and has not seen his Ipswich slow down, even as they have competed in a higher division this season.

Last season in League One, in a three-way race for automatic promotion with Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth Argyle, Ipswich won 98 points and scored 101 goals. This season against the parachute-payment-flush sides of Leicester City, Leeds United and Southampton, Ipswich have stayed in the fight for promotion longer than many would have predicted, with 81 points on the board and 80 goals scored with eight games to go.

McKenna is arguably the most exciting young manager in England for his ability to win matches with a style that gets fans out of their seats.

If he does not take Ipswich up to the Premier League this season, it would not be a surprise to see him in the top division next year anyway. He has the special blend of being able to make a team stronger than the sum of its parts and an attention to detail that has made a difference in Ipswich’s promotion push.

There are small things, such as moving the first team pitches to pitches closer to the main building at the club’s training ground to make day-to-day operations simpler and remove any detachment between the senior team and the rest of the club. His players speak of how effective he is in explaining tactics, each one clear on their role and that of their team-mates.

That understanding between players becomes clear when watching any of Ipswich’s numerous and thrilling defence-to-attack goals that are so typical of McKenna’s style of play.

Few teams can progress the ball as quickly from the goalkeeper through to attack, leaving the opposition chasing shadows. That type of synchronisation and chemistry between players does not happen if they work as individuals.

Training is intense with plenty of attention paid to video analysis and personal improvement, even for the older members of McKenna’s squad. Established EFL players such as captain Sam Morsy and Massimo Luongo, aged 32 and 31 respectively, have spoken of the satisfaction of being challenged to find new dimensions to their game in their crucial roles at the anchor of the Ipswich midfield. The fact that McKenna is close in age to senior members of the squad has also been important in building personal relationships.

McKenna’s background in youth football, working in the academies at Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City and Manchester United among others means he has the skillset to develop young players while creating a cohesive unit. The progress of wing-back Leif Davis (signed from Leeds United in July 2022), Nathan Broadhead (signed from Everton in January 2023) and Harry Clarke (signed from Arsenal in January 2023) are some of the success stories central to the team’s progress.

They also represent saleable assets should Ipswich want to tap into that as a source of revenue.

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🙌 Watch back the reactions to all six of Town’s goals. ⤵️

— Ipswich Town (@IpswichTown) March 17, 2024

Davis’ 14 assists last season and 14 (10 from open play) so far in 2023-24 reflect the way Ipswich use wide players to get crosses in, with Conor Chaplin an attacking threat at No 10 and Wes Burns another asset out wide. Few of the names in the Ipswich squad hold the same glamour as those of recently relegated teams but they will cut a defence open with just the same effectiveness.

Only Phil Parkinson at Wrexham has won more points in the last season and a half than McKenna of teams across the top four tiers — although the gulf in quality between Wrexham and some of the teams they were playing in the National League last season is a mitigating factor. While Ipswich have played more league games than Manchester City, Arsenal or Liverpool, McKenna’s points-per-game average still places him in the top three managers in the country.

Ipswich have conceded the most goals in the top five in the Championship this season but they have also been involved in entertaining 4-3 wins over Blackburn Rovers and Rotherham United and a recent 3-2 win over Bristol City. The 2-1 defeat to sixth-tier Maidstone United in the FA Cup fourth round in January is a rare blot in an otherwise thrilling season which has seen McKenna become a local hero only outshone by Ed Sheeran in Suffolk.

Appointing McKenna was a risk that has paid off handsomely for Ipswich and will either see them return to the top flight for the first time since 2002 or scooping a healthy compensation package should he move on to a Premier League side before they get there.

Interest from Crystal Palace after the departure of Roy Hodgson in February is unlikely to be the last enquiry for his services — McKenna has shown he is capable of taking a mid-table team and making them one of the best sides in the country. Not bad for a 37-year-old.

(Header photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)