Rangers told to target Kieran McKenna as next manager amid impressive Ipswich Town run
Kieran McKenna should be included in the race to be the next Rangers manager based on the job he is doing at Ipswich Town, according to Andy Halliday.
The Hearts player and former Gers man said on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard on 4 October that he’d “like to see” the Northern Irishman linked with the Ibrox hot seat, and is unconvinced over the wisdom of potentially appointing one of the main names in Frank Lampard.
McKenna, 37, got the Tractor Boys promoted from League One in England last season in his first full campaign in charge, and is currently hunting consecutive promotions as he already has his side second in the Championship behind high-flying Leicester City.
Halliday said of Lampard (1h 24m 50s): “I don’t think he has huge success as a manager, but its’ always a funny one because you are never guaranteed success by appointing a manager.
“Every single one is a risk, you can only tell if they are a success by the time they leave the club. Whoever it may be they will be fully backed by the supporters and the players and hopefully it’s a success. Always it’s fair to say some names are more exciting than others.
“Pascal Jansen is certainly one of them because at AZ [Alkmaar] with a lot less budget than some of their competitors, sitting second in the Eredivisie, a lot spoken about the style of football that they’re playing.
“Kevin Muscat’s obviously been mentioned, following up the job that Ange Postecolou’s done in Melbourne and Yokohama, so I think there’s a lot of interesting names.
“One that has not been mentioned is Kieran McKenna, with the job he is doing at Ipswich this season. He’s another name I would like to see linked with the job.”
Widen the net
In terms of is recent track record it isn’t difficult to see why Halliday has suggested McKenna, and if he continues the way he is going the former Manchester United assistant is sure to be in line for a big job before long.
But, rightly or wrongly, for a manager of his age and with less than two years as a number one it would be a gamble to hand him the reins at Ibrox, especially when Rangers risked it with an inexperienced manager from the Championship with Michael Beale and got burned.
That said, it would also be a gamble to give the job to Lampard, who is unproven himself despite four jobs in management, so if the board are seriously considering that move then figures like McKenna may as well be in the conversation instead.
As with players, if you are good enough you are old enough, so what will be crucial is some sort of evidence that the next person in charge of the Light Blues is the former.
There was ultimately no evidence yet that Beale was good enough as a manager, whatever his reputation as a coach, and Lampard hasn’t noticeably improved a club’s standing between arriving and leaving at Derby, Chelsea or Everton.
McKenna can point to a major lift in Ipswich’s fortunes in less than two years but whether a second placed finish in the English third tier is enough to truly get him in the frame for a job the size of Rangers already is no doubt something that would come under plenty of scrutiny.
In other Rangers news, another highly-experienced former Premier League manager is now “keen” on the job and “hopeful” to get a shot.