How Kieran McKenna guided Ipswich Town to 100 wins in record time

McKenna was appointed manager of the Blues when they were in League One and struggling in their third consecutive season in the third tier of English football.

He had been a promising young player at Tottenham, but a hip injury caused him to quit playing at the age of 22, and he moved into coaching as well as studying for a sports science degree at Loughborough University.

McKenna worked as an academy coach at Tottenham and Manchester United before moving up to assistant manager during José Mourinho’s tenure at Old Trafford.

He remained in post during Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s time at the helm and then when interim boss Ralf Rangnick took over.

But the Northern Irishman was still relatively unknown when appointed as Ipswich manager and the club’s supporters were somewhat divided yet cautiously optimistic over the level of success he would bring to the club.

Lifelong Blues follower Tim Kenny said: “I’d never heard of him when he arrived and I honestly didn’t know enough about him to form an opinion.

“But I always use this as my starting point; the people running the club, Kieran, and the players – they all know more about football than I do.”