Ashton plans to move Ipswich to a “kamikaze” manager.

Ipswich Town have been rocked by the news that Kieran McKenna has left his role as club manager ahead of the start of pre-season ahead of a return to the Premier League.

The Northern Irish boss led the Tractor Boys to automatic promotion to the top flight for the second time, finishing second again, but will not lead the club in the 2026/27 campaign.

He has decided to take time out from the game to be with his family and won't be returning to management any time soon, despite fans saying he will end up at Fulham.

McKenna won 139 of his 276 games in charge of Ipswich across League One, the Championship and the Premier League, and deserves a big award for his work.

Eventually, the 4-2-3-1 specialist joined the club in League One and left them as a Premier League side, showing the huge impact he had on Suffolk.

Ipswich are considering taking over as Champions League manager

One of the managers who have been associated with this position is Gary O'Neil, who is the head of Strasbourg, who previously managed in the Premier League with Bournemouth and Wolves.

However, he was eventually sacked by both clubs in England due to poor form and both improved, although Wolves didn't last long, after he left.

According to the Daily Mail report, O'Neil is one of the best leaders in this job and is being considered by Ipswich Town as a replacement for McKenna.

However, the report also claims that the Tractor Boys are considering a move to tempt Bodo/Glimt coach Kjetil Knutsen to Portman Road this summer.

Mark Ashton will have to convince the Norwegian coach to give up the chance to manage in the Champions League next term, after leading the Eliteserien side to the competition this season.

The Ipswich chairman recently spoke of his “proud” to give the British manager their first chance in the game, so it remains to be seen whether he is willing to move Knutsen to replace O'Neil.

Why Ipswich should hire Kjetil Knutsen instead of Gary O'Neil

Ashton should push to appoint a Bodo/Glimt tactician before the English manager because he would be the best hire for the team in the short and long term.

At face value, O'Neil kept Bournemouth and Wolves in the Premier League. However, his Cherries side were bottom of the xG table, suggesting they were lucky to stay up, and he was sacked by Wolves after losing 29 of his 54 league games in charge.

The Strasbourg manager has never finished higher than eighth in a season and never finished higher than 14th in a full season as a manager, and is yet to win a trophy in his career, while Knutsen has.

The Bodo/Glimt manager has won four of the last six Eliteserien titles. That might not seem like an achievement, but that's when you consider that Bodo/Glimt had never won a top flight until he led them to the title in the 2020 campaign.

Knutsen, whose former Bodo/Glimt captain Ulrik Saltnes described his playing style as “kamikaze”, has a high ceiling as a manager because he can stop the team from becoming big and competing at the bottom of the table.

You only have to look at Sunderland's achievements this season, finishing seventh, to see what the newly promoted club can achieve if they look beyond just sitting back and forth.

Knutsen is not a one-sided coach who can only manage a top team, as he also led Bodo/Glimt to victories over Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, Inter, and Sporting in the Champions League.

The 4-3-3 manager has won 44 out of 87 games in charge of Bodo/Glimt in European competitions over the years, leading them to the round of 16 in the Champions League, the semi-finals of the Europa League, and the quarter-finals of the Conference League.

His success in Europe shows he can get results against top opposition, which Ipswich will need to do in the Premier League as a newly promoted side.

Therefore, Knutsen would be a better time to be appointed to the Tractor Boys than O'Neil because he has shown quality and adaptability as a coach, rather than a relegation specialist who relies on dropping points.