Louis Saha believes Kieran McKenna would be a popular choice at Man United | OneFootball

Former Manchester United forward Louis Saha has claimed that Kieran McKenna would be a popular choice amongst fans, were he to replace Erik ten Hag as manager at the end of the season.

After a successful debut campaign, Ten Hag has seriously failed to live up to expectations this year, as his side finished eighth in the league and an FA Cup final appearance has been the only bright side.

Fabrizio Romano has claimed that the manager’s future depends on the FA Cup final but others are much more certain that the decision has already been taken to dismiss the former Ajax coach.

As to be expected, numerous managers have been linked to the position, with Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Tuchel and Gareth Southgate regularly rumoured to be of interest to the club.

Yesterday it was also reported that Roberto De Zerbi dreams of the Old Trafford job.

Former coach in the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer tenure, Kieran McKenna, has also been recently linked to his former side.

The Northern Irishman has guided Ipswich Town to back-to-back promotions to the Premier League and has done so playing an attractive, attacking brand of football.

It was relayed here yesterday that McKenna is to reject Ipswich’s lucrative new contract offer as he is of interest to clubs such as Brighton and Hove Albion, Chelsea and of course United.

Speaking to Betfred, former forward Saha has claimed that McKenna’s appointment would go down well with United supporters, despite the risks attached.

“Kieran knows the club and it’s an appointment that could be well received,” Saha said. “However, he would provide doubts because he’s never managed in the Premier League before and has never held a job as big as the Manchester United manager’s job.”

“We know about his qualities as a manager and how good he is tactically, but being the manager of Manchester United is very intense and can be tiring if you don’t have the right infrastructure. Hopefully under INEOS, Kieran would be protected and have less responsibility on his shoulders if he gets the job. I still believe the appointment would be a gamble though.”

The Frenchman did warn McKenna about the dangers of taking up the Chelsea job, as the club surprisingly parted ways with Pochettino despite a significantly improved ending to the season which saw them jump to sixth in the league.

“Going to a club that moves around their managers a lot means the job comes with a lot of tension. It’s a very challenging environment and not very settled. If you feel as if you can be sacked from the odd decision then that’s very daunting and Chelsea and Manchester United are two clubs that have a huge level of interest from the media and that just adds to the pressure.”

“It’s very hard to develop a new style or philosophy and be given the time to implement it.”

The managerial merry-go-round is certainly in full swing right now and with numerous famous managers and clubs involved, it will be fascinating to see what INEOS finally decide to do with Ten Hag after the cup final on Saturday, to see if United will get themselves involved in the managerial tussle that will unfold this summer.

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