Ipswich Town Considers Solskjaer as McKenna Departs
Ipswich Town’s whirlwind rise back to the Premier League has taken a sharp, unexpected twist. The architect of their revival, Kieran McKenna, is gone. In his place, the club are weighing up a strikingly symbolic successor: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
According to the BBC, Ipswich are considering a move for the former Manchester United manager as they plot their first season back in the top flight in over two decades. It would be a bold appointment, and a deeply personal one for the club’s recent history.
McKenna, the man who dragged Ipswich from League One to the Premier League in the space of two seasons, learned much of his trade alongside Solskjaer at Old Trafford. Assistant and manager then; departing hero and potential heir now. The lineage is impossible to ignore.
McKenna walks away on his own terms
For Ipswich supporters, the vacancy at Portman Road still feels raw. McKenna, just 40, chose to step down only weeks after sealing back-to-back promotions, a feat not seen since Southampton’s surge from the third tier to the Premier League in 2012.
His exit landed hard. Fans had imagined him leading the Tractor Boys out on opening day, the culmination of a journey from the depths of League One to the top division’s glare.
McKenna moved to cool talk of a swift jump to another Premier League dugout, including strong links to Fulham. Instead, he framed his decision as a personal reset rather than a stepping stone.
“I feel this is the right time for me to step aside. I do so with great pride at the incredible progress we have made and with huge hope and optimism for the future of the club,” he said in his farewell statement.
He leaves behind a club transformed, a squad hardened by pressure and accustomed to winning when it matters. The void is significant. So is the opportunity.
Solskjaer’s second English act?
For Solskjaer, Ipswich would represent something very different from the cauldron of Old Trafford. His three-year spell in charge of Manchester United peaked with a second-place finish in the 2020-21 season, but ended under the familiar heat that consumes almost every manager there.
Since leaving United in 2021, he has largely stayed out of the limelight, save for a brief stint at Besiktas last season. The noise, the scrutiny, the constant swirl of politics that defined his time at United have been replaced by distance and reflection.
A return to England with Ipswich would offer a new stage, away from the weight of United’s past and the never-ending comparisons with Sir Alex Ferguson. Here, the task would be more straightforward and more ruthless: keep a newly promoted club punching above its weight in a league that shows no mercy.
There were whispers last season that United even considered bringing Solskjaer back in some capacity, before turning instead to Michael Carrick as they searched for a different direction. Those doors closed. Ipswich’s have opened.
O’Neil in the frame
Solskjaer is not the only name on the table. Ipswich’s hierarchy are also looking closely at Gary O’Neil, currently in charge at Strasbourg and building a reputation as one of the sharpest young managers in the game.
O’Neil’s work at Bournemouth and Wolves earned widespread respect: organised sides, clear ideas, and an ability to steady clubs under strain. At Ipswich, there is an extra layer. He already knows chief executive Mark Ashton from their time together at Bristol City, a relationship that naturally carries weight in a decision of this scale.
Strasbourg, who only appointed O’Neil in January, are keen to keep him. They see him as a long-term project leader, not a short-term stopgap. The problem for them is obvious. The pull of the Premier League rarely fades, and the chance to lead one of its most intriguing newly promoted sides may be hard to refuse.
A club riding a wave – and guarding it
Ipswich’s owners and board know exactly what is at stake. Under McKenna, the club didn’t just win; it rediscovered its identity. Back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League have rekindled a fanbase and restored Portman Road’s sense of purpose.
That momentum is fragile. Appoint the wrong successor and the energy of the last two seasons can evaporate by Christmas. Choose well and Ipswich could become the season’s surprise package, a side that arrives from the Championship and refuses to play the grateful guest.
Solskjaer would bring name recognition, Premier League experience and a direct connection to the McKenna era. O’Neil offers a more understated profile but a recent track record of navigating survival battles and mid-table pushes in England’s top flight.
Both men would inherit a squad that already knows how to handle pressure and ride surges of form, a group that has been tested in promotion races rather than relegation scraps. The challenge now changes: same resilience, different battlefield.
Ipswich have fought too hard to get back to the Premier League just to make up the numbers. The next appointment will decide whether this return becomes a brief visit or the start of something far more enduring.
