Kieran McKenna has made history with Ipswich - former Man Utd assistant is one to watch for Old Trafford hotseat

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.

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 The Athletic. "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."

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.

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 The Telegraph. "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.

McKenna's parents run a hotel in Northern Ireland and he has inherited their work ethic. He recalled to The Telegraph: "My work-rate was always really high. I was pretty stand-out in that. I had a passionate love of the game. I loved football, genuinely. I love training every day. Some don’t, I loved it. I worked hard, probably was quite curious around the team and why we were doing certain things, tactical things and then was a good team-mate.

"I work all the time. It would be a lie to say anything else and that’s my personality. If I was the club physio I would be the same. If I had any job I would be the same. From being a teenager I was obsessive how I trained and worked hard at everything. It’s in my nature. My parents were the same; my grandfather was the same."

He has tried to instil the same values in his players, encouraging them to constantly think about their game. One way was to do away with showing Sky Sports News in the club canteen and broadcast videos of training instead, a way of encouraging players to perform their best in sessions.

He has also fostered an appetite for coaching. Ten members of his squad are doing their UEFA coaching badges. And he diligently records the key things he has learned over his career.

"I have documents that have evolved over the years and then you take notes with the managers you work with and what you see. You document your sessions, training, your meetings. I have pretty big databases and have all my training sessions from when I was a youth team coach at Tottenham. I have a drill library of practices and work on the grass I can look back on.”

The key question is whether McKenna could build on his remarkable early success and get an elite job down the line. And there is one club he knows very well who could be looking for a new manager very soon.

Erik ten Hag appears to be in the final few weeks of his reign at Manchester United and McKenna's achievements from a low base would certainly appeal to INEOS, who place a high value on young, cerebral coaches such as Graham Potter and Nice boss Francesco Farioli.

McKenna already knows how tough it is to work at United and the demands have made him a much better coach. “Being at Man Utd there was massive pressure," he told The Telegraph.

"Every loss is a disaster and the expectation is really high, the scrutiny is really high and it does develop your resilience, your ability to block out noise, your ability to focus on the things that are important and to control what you can control and not worry about the things outside of that. As a manager at any club that is important. It has helped me a lot.

"Coming in under a legendary manager like Jose was a great experience and a healthy pressure because you want to do well. You want to earn the respect of the manager and the players and make sure the sessions you are taking are ‘on point’. I felt like I was able to do that with every manager I worked under there. Probably one of the biggest things is realising players are not that different whatever level you go to."

It might seem too early on McKenna's coaching journey to throw him back in at the deep end of Old Trafford, where the pressure has eaten away at hugely experienced operators such as Mourinho, Louis van Gaal and Ten Hag. But perhaps United could do with the fresh ideas and energy of a manager on his way up.

Having done the hard work in taking Ipswich back to the big time, McKenna will doubtless be keen to complete the journey with them and try to keep them in the Premier League. But he has proven himself a manager to watch. And United would be well advised to keep a close eye on him.