Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna breaks silence on Chelsea links amid Pochettino replacement saga
The Championship Manager of the year has spoken out about Chelsea's decision to replace Mauricio Pochettino with him. |☆ football. london
Chelsea are looking at various candidates to fill the void left by Pochettino after his mutual exit on Tuesday. The 52-year-old agreed to leave after just one season in charge despite delivering a sixth-place finish, two trips to Wembley, and qualification for European football next year.
Pochettino and the Chelsea hierarchy, led by co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart as well as co-owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital (fronted by Behdad Eghbali and Jose E Feliciano) ultimately came to the conclusion that they were not aligned in how they wished to move forward. The Boehly-Clearlake led consortium are now looking to appoint their third permanent head coach in under two years.
McKenna, who won promotion to the top flight with Ipswich last season, is one of many young options being pursued. Stuttgart's promising manager Sebastian Hoeness is also admired whilst Thomas Frank is another being eyed by the club.
McKenna on Chelsea links:
Speaking after being named the League Managers Association (LMA) manager of the year on Tuesday - the same time that Pochettino exit was being announced - he kept his feet firmly on the ground. “Look, the club has had such a positive season and has such a positive future ahead,” he told Sky Sports.
“We’ve achieved so much, it’s been an incredible two years. When you have success like that there always comes speculation and things like that, we’ve seen that every summer. But I know how much everyone is looking forward to the season, the club is in a fantastic path and everyone is just really looking forward to the season ahead.”
"Again, when you do well – as a manager or as a player – there’s always going to be speculation.
“I know what we’ve achieved isn’t a normal thing so there’s always going to be speculation. But that’s not where my focus is. Tonight is about what we’ve achieved over the last couple of seasons.
“It’s been a wonderful couple of years so tonight is about celebrating that. I know everyone is looking forward to next season and I know the club is going to be in a really good place going into that season.”
McKenna's statement could probably suggest he isn't considering a new challenge outside Ipswich Town. However, the coming days will decide.
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