The welcome drinks had barely been topped up at the League Managers' Association awards when news broke that Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea had ended their relationship. One of the delegations present braced itself immediately for what would come next. Ipswich Town know they have English football's hottest property in Kieran McKenna and the interest from Stamford Bridge, which has bubbled away for several weeks, would now crash into the wider consciousness.
Hours later McKenna was named the country's outstanding manager of this season and it speaks volumes that, since 2000, only three others have won that accolade for work outside the Premier League. McKenna will manage in the top flight from August onwards but, with the merry-go-round gearing up for overdrive before 2023-24 has breathed its last, doubts continue to swirl over around where it might be.
Brighton have courted the 38-year-old for some time and that has accelerated since Roberto De Zerbi's departure. Should Erik ten Hag depart Manchester United then McKenna, who was an assistant coach before moving to Suffolk in December 2021, would be among the candidates to make sense of the Old Trafford basket case too. Things are hardly any less chaotic at Chelsea but there is a sense their vacancy, and genuine willingness to entertain luring McKenna from Ipswich, has accelerated the race to secure him.
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