McKenna is only the fifth coach to reach the Premier League via back-to-back promotions, but his success is no surprise to those who worked with him
"I love Kieran McKenna and Michael Carrick to bits. Top coaches and they’ll prove it," Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told last year, reflecting on his assistants during his time with Manchester United.
McKenna has certainly vindicated his blessing after leading Ipswich Town back to the Premier League for the first time in 22 years. And the Northern Irishman did not inherit a team destined to return to the top. When he took charge of Ipswich they were in their third season in League One, the third tier of English football, closer to the relegation zone than the play-off picture.
In his first full campaign he secured automatic promotion back to the Championship and after his side beat Huddersfield Town 2-0 to finish second on 96 points, he became only the fifth manager to take a team from the third tier to the Premier League in successive seasons, and the first to do so in 12 years.
Not bad for someone who had never previously been head coach of a senior team and who was forced to abandon their dream of becoming a professional footballer due to injuries, instead enrolling in a university degree in sports science.
Less than three years after departing United, the club he supported growing up in Northern Ireland and which was his home for five years, McKenna will be returning to Old Trafford next season in the opposing dugout. And don't rule him out one day sitting in the home dugout once more, calling the shots…
Getty Fighting off giants to promotion
Ipswich are a historic club in their own right, winning the English First Division title in 1962 with England's future World Cup-winning manager Sir Alf Ramsay. They enjoyed another golden era under Sir Bobby Robson, winning the FA Cup in 1978, finishing runners up in the league in consecutive years and lifting the UEFA Cup, their only European trophy, in 1981.
But they had fallen on hard times ever since they were relegated from the Premier League in 2002, when a hotly-disputed Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty put one of the final nails in their coffin. They sank down to League One in April 2019 and when McKenna was put in charge he became their fourth manager in the space of three-and-a-half years.
After ending a four-year stay in League One few people would have had Ipswich as candidates for promotion. Indeed, Plymouth Argyle and Sheffield Wednesday, who came up alongside them, spent the season fighting against relegation.
But McKenna's side have ended up finishing above two relative giants in Leeds and Southampton, who were bolstered by parachute payments from the Premier League in addition to the wealth they accrued from their years in the top flight.
Local rivals Norwich City had also recently been in the Premier League, as had West Bromwich Albion. They too could not compete with McKenna's Ipswich, who were the highest-scoring team in the league this season.
AdvertisementGetty Solskjaer: 'The most analytical coach'
McKenna left his home in Northern Ireland aged 16 to join Tottenham's youth academy but a persistent hip injury ended his hopes of making it as a professional and he was forced to retire aged 22. He then studied sports science at the renowned Loughborough University, but continued to work with Tottenham as a youth coach.
His first group was a particularly talented one, containing Ryan Mason, Andros Townsend and a striker by the name of Harry Kane. In 2016 he left Spurs to work in United's academy, coaching the Under-18 team.
He rose through the ranks and two years later was chosen by Jose Mourinho to succeed his long-time faithful assistant Rui Faria. He would work with the Portuguese for less than four months but McKenna and Michael Carrick were kept on by Solskjaer.
“Kieran was a surprise to me when I got to United. Michael, I already knew. We’d been coached by Sir Alex, from the old school. Kieran was not," the former United manager told . "He’s the most thorough and analytical, step-by-step, process-driven coach that I’ve worked with. He makes it so easy for the players to see and understand what we wanted from them. He’d do that the day before a game and his memory was also fantastic, his eye for detail too."
Getty Nine games without conceding
At United, McKenna was asked to focus on United's out-of-possession work, while Carrick concentrated on what they did with the ball. McKenna can take some of the credit for United's incredible run of not losing a Premier League away game in the 2020-21 season.
And his Ipswich side also became renowned for their excellent defence, going a club-record nine matches without conceding a goal last season. That reputation has gone in the Championship, with his side letting in 57 goals this season, but it has been compensated for at the other end, with Ipswich scoring 92 times.
Getty Possessional dominance
McKenna favoured a back-three in League One but has reverted to a four-man defence in the Championship. But one constant has been a double-pivot in midfield, allowing his side to dictate games and control them.
"My principles are really, really strong and I don’t think I will ever go away from them,” McKenna told . "I believe in trying to play football a certain way. It’s not just about playing out from the back or pressing high. I want my team to be excellent in all aspects.
"We take a lot of time going through the details that might seem minute but over the course of time will add up to making us a much better team. I am steadfast in my principles. I will always want my team to be pro-active to try and dominate games."
Ipswich have been one of the most entertaining teams in the Championship this season and replays of one of their goals against Coventry in December went viral. It was an eight-pass move beginning with goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky, involving seven players and ending with Wes Burns curling into the top corner with the outside of his boot.