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Ipswich Town chairman and CEO, Mark Ashton, is confident the club can keep hold of manager Kieran McKenna ahead of a return to the Premier League.
McKenna left his role as Manchester United assistant boss to take on the big job at Portman Road in 2021 and it’s been a remarkable ride since.
During his first four full seasons as a first team manager, the 39-year-old has overseen back-to-back automatic promotions from League One to the Premier League, an instant relegation followed by another automatic promotion.
The Blues boss is understood to have been offered the Crystal Palace job back in February 2024 and was strongly linked to likes of Brighton, Manchester United and Chelsea that summer. Ultimately, however, Ipswich managed to tie him down to a lucrative contract that runs until 2028.
Kieran McKenna has overseen three automatic promotions in four years at Ipswich Town. (Image: Steve Waller)
McKenna was linked to the Bournemouth job recently when Adoni Iraola announced he would be leaving at the end of the campaign, but the Cherries have appointed Marco Rose as their boss for 2026/27.
Both Manchester United (Michael Carrick) and Chelsea (Calum McFarlane) currently have interim bosses, there will be a vacancy to fill at Palace this summer when Oliver Glasner steps down, while Marco Silva looks set to leave Fulham too.
Quizzed about McKenna’s future, Ashton told the EADT and Ipswich Star: “Success brings challenges. Kieran’s written his name into the history books of this football club and so he should be associated with jobs.
“There will be noise around staff and players this summer – there always is. But we look after our people well. Kieran is contracted. I was with all of the owners over the weekend and they were very, very very clear with, ‘Give us a plan and we’ll support it’.”
Kieran McKenna, pictured with his family after another promotion was secured. (Image: Steve Waller)
On his relationship with McKenna, Ashton added: “I love him to bits. Somebody sent me a really magical picture of the two of us celebrating together on Saturday – me leaning over the directors’ box, him reaching up to me.
“First of all he’s a friend. I spend time with him every single day. He’s one of the calmest most considered people I’ve ever met and he gives me a hand on the shoulder at times. I’m immensely proud of him.
“I’ve still got the emails and letters when I first appointed him saying, ‘No, you shouldn’t do this, this is not right for this club’. I think he’s proved one or two people wrong there. He’s an incredibly talented manager.”
In a further interview on talkSPORT, Ashton was pressed on whether McKenna would be the man to lead Ipswich back into the Premier League.
He replied: “In my mind, yes [he’ll be staying]. I’ve got no reason to tell you anything different, We’re already starting to make plans.”
Speaking after promotion was secured, McKenna said he felt the club was in a ‘much, much, much stronger position in pretty much every department’ compared to the last time it stepped up to the Premier League.
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