Kieran McKenna has emerged as the frontrunner to replace Brendan Rodgers and become the new Celtic manager.
The Ipswich Town manager is the odds-on favourite to become the long-term successor after 73-year-old Martin O’Neill was appointed interim boss on Tuesday.
Other names on the shortlist include Ferencvaros manager Robbie Keane and former boss Ange Postecoglou.
However, as O’Neill revealed on talkSPORT, the Celtic hierarchy are likely to pursue a young manager with fresh ideas who already has a successful CV under his belt.
McKenna, who turned 39 this year, seemingly ticks all the boxes.
Kieran McKenna’s foundations as a manager
McKenna’s forced early retirement as a footballer because of a hip injury has played a major part in his success as a manager.
At the age of 22, when he was forced to hang up his boots, he started a career in coaching while studying a sports science degree at Loughborough.
Following his degree, he was employed by his former club, Tottenham as the Head of Academy Performance Analysis and worked his way up through the youth ranks. He was later appointed the Under-18 manager before joining the academy set-up at Manchester United.
A promotion to the first team followed before eventually becoming assistant to Jose Mourinho in the 2018-19 campaign. He remained at United as a first-team coach during their managerial changes, including Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.
Kieran McKenna success at Ipswich
In December 2021, McKenna was offered his first job in management with Ipswich as they sat mid-table in League One.
He instantly became a hit, winning the first seven out of 10 matches in charge, including seven clean sheets in the process.
McKenna helped instil belief and consistency and it wasn’t until the next campaign that the fruits of his labour began to pay dividends.
A second-place finish achieved promotion, having ended the campaign on 98 points – three behind Plymouth. During that dominant campaign, they finished with a plus-66 goal difference.
McKenna remarkably maintained the momentum into the Championship and became the first club since 2012 to achieve back-to-back promotions.
The way they achieved top-flight status was mightily impressive, with a blend of free-scoring, free-flowing and full-throttle football at the heart of McKenna’s tactics.
While remaining in the Premier League was a step too far, Ipswich earned plenty of plaudits along the way with victories away at Tottenham and at home to Chelsea.
It would cost Celtic upwards of £5m for Kieran McKenna and his backroom team-the most ever paid by a Scottish club.
This comes as the Scottish side search for a replacement for Brendan Rodgers who left on Sunday.
(Via: @Daily_Record) pic.twitter.com/XiAciiJjNJ
— Second Tier podcast (@secondtierpod) October 29, 2025
The numbers behind his success
194 – The number of points Ipswich accrued over their back-to-back promotions
193 – The number of goals scored across two seasons en route to the Premier League
22 – The number of years Ipswich spent exiled from the top flight before McKenna
12 – The years since a team achieved back-to-back promotions from League One and the Championship
1.66 – The average points per game picked up during McKenna’s managerial reign
46.4 – McKenna’s win percentage as Ipswich manager
331 – the number of goals scored (1.78 average per game)
95 – Ipswich’s positive goal difference under McKenna
€8.15m – The amount of money spent on transfers to achieve back-to-back promotions
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