KMc to Palace ?

[Bluemike]

Doesn't rule out end of season though which is worrying.

[marko69]

https://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-new ... or-mckenna Thought he would

This quote from him:

“And football can work the other way pretty quickly as well. I’ll just focus on the day-to-day work here."

Ain't that the truth.

[Charnwood]

Doesn't rule out end of season though which is worrying.

I think you’re now thinking along the same lines as me Mike. I was hoping McKenna would be wanting to emulate Bobby Robson and stick with Ipswich and see how far he could take us but unfortunately times have changed over the past 40 years with loyalties between manager and owners far more fragile. Sadly I’ll be amazed if McKenna sees out his current contract with ITFC albeit I’ll be delighted if he does and would rejoice being proved wrong.

[number 9]

Doesn't rule out end of season though which is worrying.

I think you’re now thinking along the same lines as me Mike. I was hoping McKenna would be wanting to emulate Bobby Robson and stick with Ipswich and see how far he could take us but unfortunately times have changed over the past 40 years with loyalties between manager and owners far more fragile. Sadly I’ll be amazed if McKenna sees out his current contract with ITFC albeit I’ll be delighted if he does and would rejoice being proved wrong.

I hope KM sticks it out at least for another season regardless of what happens. However as you say Charny it’s a different world from the Robson days. Money can certainly change people’s minds, and it doesn’t help he’s being linked to London clubs. He could potentially take a managerial position in London without uprooting his family if that was an issue.

[Ricco]

I just think he'd jump in the summer while his stock is high. Imagine if he stayed and then Ipswich finish 14th next season, you could say he'd blown his opportunity.

I would not blame him for being lured to the PL in the summer, at that point it's not about loyalty, and after what he's done here, he'd owe us nothing. It's one reason why we need to aim solidly at going there with him.

[Bluemike]

But Palace ? Jesus christ, and here was me thinking he's ambitious

[hallamblue]

Judging by the article on twtd where the club have “ successfully batted away approaches from Palace”, and McKenna himself saying he’s happy here “ while we’re in with a chance of promotion “, doesn’t fill me with confidence now of us keeping him beyond this season. Oh well there’s nothing we can do . There’s minimal loyalty in the game now, so let it be what it will be. But if he did move to a club such as Palace I wouldn’t say that’s a massive step up by any means….

And as for Town suggesting a sizeable compensation clause of £4m - PAH!! That’s bloody LAUGHABLE!!

[Charnwood]

There’s no doubt whatsoever about his ambition and Palace would actually be a good Premier League first appointment for him. At this stage of his career he almost certainly isn’t going to get the managers job at any EPL club expecting to qualify for Champions League or UEFA Cup although ultimately I expect him to manage at this level after completing his managerial apprenticeship.

Palace now on a 14 year run in the Premier League would be a good stepping stone to prove himself at that level and put himself in the shop window. If he could take them into the top half of the table and keep them there just like Eddie Howe did at Bournemouth playing attractive football it would only be a matter of time before one of the big boys come knocking on his door.

[hallamblue]

I would suggest West Ham and Brighton are FAR better clubs as McKenna’ s stepping stone clubs . They already play the brand of football he likes to play and are established upper PL division clubs. Palace by contrast are waining and quite likely to be championship fodder over the next 2 -3 seasons ( which is why they’re after our manager) . They are not a better “ club” .

[Charnwood]

I would suggest West Ham and Brighton are FAR better clubs as McKenna’ s stepping stone clubs . They already play the brand of football he likes to play and are established upper PL division clubs. Palace by contrast are waining and quite likely to be championship fodder over the next 2 -3 seasons ( which is why they’re after our manager) . They are not a better “ club” .

Who said anything about them ( I assume you’re talking about Palace) being a better club ?
To be honest Liz I don’t think either West Ham or Brighton would appoint McKenna at the moment but only time will tell, and if they already successfully play the McKenna brand of football what would be gained by appointing him ? This said I think you may read in tomorrow’s Guardian Newspaper that West Ham already have Kieran McKenna on their shortlist to possibly replace David Moyes should they decide to part company with him.

Unfortunately the fact Palace are waining at the moment makes the job even more attractive as any improvement would get credited to the new manager just as ITFC’s rapid rise been credited to McKenna. It’s not like Palace are a yo yo club they’ve been there for the past 14 years and are well established.

As for £4m compensation it may not sound much now, but when it was written into his contract at that time it was a huge amount for a rookie manager and made news headlines. Clearly we expected him to be successful and took steps to make it costly for anyone to attempt to prise him away.

I guess the calculation is linked in some way to his rumoured salary of £1.3m pa + bonuses x 3 = Approx £4m.

[Bluemike]

I don't believe McKenna will go anywhere before the end of NEXT season, if we are still in this division then he will almost certainly be gone. If that happens I am confident that Mark Ashton will have a few tricks up his sleeve to replace KM. I honestly think at this stage KM is invested in the project we are currently undertaking and I also think he is a rarity in football these days, genuine.

[hallamblue]

I don’t think we should underestimate the McKenna factor in securing players signatures at Town. If…. When, he leaves that will be a massive loss in my view to future recruitment. Every player that’s come here has said they wanted to work under McKenna. This current speculation also may now have an effect on the squads moral …. We’ll see soon if that’s the case. I know you can’t stop these things happening in the game but I’m feeling TOTALLY GUTTED right now because I know he won’t be here much longer. And I fear all he’s done will start to unravel….

[Bluemike]

The Palace fans are not taking too much notice of the story, seem to dismiss it.

[hallamblue]

Unfortunately they’re not the ones recruiting lol plus it shows how McKenna is largely unknown but his stock is rising quickly .

Lets us now pray

[Bluemike]

Maybe we'll get a replacement who isn't a one trick pony.

[number 9]

Maybe we'll get a replacement who isn't a one trick pony.

[rossi]

At the end of the day, KM is ambitious.

Football Manager is no different from any other profession - ambitious people are always willing to consider new challenges, especially if it would further their long-term career aspirations. I don't think money is a prime motivator for KM - but opportunity definitely is.

Let's face it - he wants us to play in the Premiership style to which he became accustomed whilst he was building his coaching career, and he is hindered somewhat at Ipswich in trying to make this happen with non premiership quality players.
Palace, for example, have been established in the top flight for a number of seasons, so I don't buy the notion that it would be a bad move for him because they are no bigger a club than are we. But KM may well decide to see how things pan out here at Ipswich this season before deciding he might want to go to Palace.

However, if - say - West Ham wanted to speak to him about an immediate appointment, I have absolutely no doubt that he would be there for the discussion as soon as he was able.

[Charnwood]

Maybe we'll get a replacement who isn't a one trick pony.

If you think McKeena is a one trick pony then I think you’re being very naive Mike, or maybe it’s just a sign of being irritated by the prospect of losing him as we all are.

[marko69]

One of my very best mates is a West Ham fan, Born & raised a stones throw from the old Boleyn Ground, (or Upton Park) ….. And he said that he’d want the board sacked if they sacked Moyes for Kieron. In his cockney words, “He’s done f*ck all mate! What, a League One promotion? Sitting top end Championship whilst haemorrhaging goals left, right & centre! No thanks, mucker!”
It’s difficult to discuss football with West Ham Andy.

[Bluemike]

Maybe we'll get a replacement who isn't a one trick pony.

If you think McKeena is a one trick pony then I think you’re being very naive Mike, or maybe it’s just a sign of being irritated by the prospect of losing him as we all are.

I like McKenna Andy, definitely don't want him to go, but,

Same formation every game
Same tactics every game
Same timed substitutions every game
No change of tactics after subs every game.

Sorry but that is about as one trick as it gets and teams have sussed it, hopefully it comes with experience to change it up occasionally.

[Bluemike]

One of my very best mates is a West Ham fan, Born & raised a stones throw from the old Boleyn Ground, (or Upton Park) ….. And he said that he’d want the board sacked if they sacked Moyes for Kieron. In his cockney words, “He’s done f*ck all mate! What, a League One promotion? Sitting top end Championship whilst haemorrhaging goals left, right & centre! No thanks, mucker!”
It’s difficult to discuss football with West Ham Andy.

I bet a lot of neutrals would agree with him though.

[Shed on tour]

Think it could also depend on how we do between now and the end of the season. If we pick up result wise then those clubs rumoured to be interested in KM will no doubt step up their pursuit of him. However, should our dip in form continue and we suddenly drop like a stone then those clubs might start to have doubts about him. Time will tell but should McKenna go I do have confidence that the Ashton and the current owners are more likely to find a suitable replacement than the previous owner.

[number 9]

Guardian article 13/02/24:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... oy-hodgson

[Bluemike]

Think it could also depend on how we do between now and the end of the season. If we pick up result wise then those clubs rumoured to be interested in KM will no doubt step up their pursuit of him. However, should our dip in form continue and we suddenly drop like a stone then those clubs might start to have doubts about him. Time will tell but should McKenna go I do have confidence that the Ashton and the current owners are more likely to find a suitable replacement than the previous owner.

Same here Tony, to be quite honest I would rather lose McKenna than Ashton.

[Charnwood]

Think it could also depend on how we do between now and the end of the season. If we pick up result wise then those clubs rumoured to be interested in KM will no doubt step up their pursuit of him. However, should our dip in form continue and we suddenly drop like a stone then those clubs might start to have doubts about him. Time will tell but should McKenna go I do have confidence that the Ashton and the current owners are more likely to find a suitable replacement than the previous owner.

Same here Tony, to be quite honest I would rather lose McKenna than Ashton.

I’d prefer to keep them both and IF we get promoted this season I still believe that’s possible. McKenna is less than 1yr into his current 4yr contract and he must have considered the possibility of getting us promoted within that period. I’m sure an attractive bonus payment to achieve that will also have been written within the contract and if it happens just imagine how much more his street credibility will increase.

[Charnwood]

Maybe we'll get a replacement who isn't a one trick pony.

If you think McKeena is a one trick pony then I think you’re being very naive Mike, or maybe it’s just a sign of being irritated by the prospect of losing him as we all are.

I like McKenna Andy, definitely don't want him to go, but,

Same formation every game
Same tactics every game
Same timed substitutions every game
No change of tactics after subs every game.

Sorry but that is about as one trick as it gets and teams have sussed it, hopefully it comes with experience to change it up occasionally.

Sorry Mike but I just don’t buy all this one trick pony stuff. If you listen to the pundits on Sky and TownTV inc our very own Matt Holland who I really respect as knowing far more about footie than me, they all to a man rave about how good McKenna is and in particular how good he is and changing things to nullify the opposition tactics. As I see it the only thing we don’t vary much is playing out from the back which put simply is just the way the modern game is played. I guess the big difference between teams is how well it’s executed, and that’s all down to the anbility of the players and the effectiveness of the coaching . Clearly Leicester do it best and we’re not too far behind, but talk to fans any club in the Championship and you realise every club is at it. You say we play the same every game but I don’t think that’s true, sometimes we play down the right through Clarke Burns and Chaplin, sometimes down the left through through Davis and Broadhead and sometimes Morsy and Luongo just drive through the middle. When subs come on especially when it’s a trio with fresh legs our tactics change again, and that obviously differs depending on who the trio are.
Anyway mate, we all see it differently and I guess the one thing we all have in common is that most of us would prefer to see McKenna stay where he is at Portman Road.

[Bluemike]

We do all see it differently and that's fine, and amen to the last paragraph

[Charnwood]

If we get promoted at the end of this season and it is a big if, I think there’s every chance he’ll be happy to stay longer especially if the owners back him financially to bring in the players we’d need to compete at the next level.

[Cabanas Blue]

Understand Crystal Palace have made formal approach to Oliver Glasner in order to replace Roy Hodgson.

Discussions taking place as Glasner has shown interest in #CPFC project with positive, initial feelings.

Frankfurt manager I've seen this in a couple of places.

[Bluemike]

Just heard Simon Jordan speaking about the McKenna to Palace thing, he said... "of course he shouldn't consider it, he has a bloody job to do at Ipswich and just because it's the premier league you don't just take the first offer that comes your way"