Ipswich Town Considers Solskjaer as McKenna Era Ends

Portman Road is back on the Premier League map, but the man who led Ipswich Town there has already walked away. In the space of a few weeks, the mood has flipped from celebration to uncertainty – and now to intrigue, as the club weigh up a move for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The former Manchester United manager, out of work since leaving Besiktas last summer, is under serious consideration as Ipswich search for a successor to Kieran McKenna. For Solskjaer, it would be a dramatic re-entry into English football. For Ipswich, it would be a bold statement that they intend not just to survive in the top flight, but to carry their momentum into it.

A familiar face from Old Trafford

The link is more than convenient speculation. McKenna served as Solskjaer’s assistant at Old Trafford, part of the staff that dragged United to a second-place finish in the 2020-21 season. The coaching lineage is clear: the departing architect of Ipswich’s rise and the possible heir share a footballing language, a way of working, a history.

That connection gives the story an emotional edge. McKenna is leaving as a modern hero in Suffolk, the man who hauled the club from League One to the Premier League in back-to-back promotions. Solskjaer, if he walks through the door, would inherit not just a team, but a project shaped by someone who once stood at his side in the United dugout.

McKenna’s shock exit

The vacancy itself still feels raw. Ipswich supporters had dreamed of seeing McKenna lead them out on opening day of the Premier League season. Instead, they are digesting his decision to step down just after sealing promotion.

The 40-year-old, heavily linked with Fulham, has been clear that this is not about a quick jump to another job but about stepping back. “I feel this is the right time for me to step aside,” he said in his farewell message. “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 leaves behind a transformed side. From the depths of the third tier to the top division, Ipswich have become the first club since Southampton in 2012 to pull off consecutive promotions from League One to the Premier League. That is the scale of the void – and the opportunity – facing whoever comes next.

Solskjaer’s second act?

For Solskjaer, Ipswich would offer something he has not had since his Manchester United reign ended in 2021: a platform in England away from Old Trafford’s glare. After his departure from United, he stepped away from the frontline before resurfacing briefly in Turkey with Besiktas.

His name has never drifted too far from the rumour mill. He was even reportedly floated as a candidate for a return to United last season, only to see the club go in a different direction with Michael Carrick. Ipswich, by contrast, would be a fresh canvas, a club on the rise rather than one wrestling with its identity.

The Tractor Boys do not need a saviour. They need someone who can handle the speed of their ascent and the weight of expectation that comes with it. Solskjaer’s experience at the very top, his familiarity with McKenna’s methods and his appetite for a new English challenge make him a compelling option.

O’Neil in the frame

Ipswich, though, are not limiting themselves to one big name. Gary O’Neil, currently in charge at Strasbourg, is also high on the list. His stock has risen quickly after eye-catching spells with Bournemouth and Wolves, where he earned a reputation for organisation, clarity and resilience in difficult circumstances.

There is another thread tying him to Suffolk. O’Neil has previously worked with Ipswich chief executive Mark Ashton during their time together at Bristol City, a relationship that carries weight in a search as sensitive as this one.

Strasbourg are understood to be keen to keep O’Neil, who only took over in January. The French club are building under new ownership and do not want to lose their coach just as he is bedding in. Yet the pull of a Premier League return, this time with a newly promoted side carrying huge momentum, is not easy to ignore.

A club at a crossroads

Inside Portman Road, the brief is clear. Ipswich want a manager who can protect and extend what McKenna built, not rip it up. This is a squad that has learned how to win under pressure, how to handle expectation, how to ride the wave of a promotion chase and finish the job.

The next appointment will step into a dressing room full of belief but entering a division where belief alone is not enough. The margins are smaller, the punishments harsher. The romance of the story meets the reality of the Premier League table.

So the choice in front of Ipswich’s hierarchy is stark and fascinating. Do they turn to Solskjaer, the former United manager with history at the very top and a personal link to the man they have just lost? Or do they back O’Neil, the rising English coach with a growing reputation for squeezing the most from limited resources?

What is certain is that this is not a routine managerial change. Ipswich stand on the threshold of their first Premier League campaign in years, armed with a squad that has made a habit of defying gravity. The next man in will not just be managing a team; he will be steering the direction of a club that has rediscovered its ambition and now has to prove it belongs back among the elite.