Despite his friendships at Old Trafford, Ipswich’s manager is plotting a harsh awakening for Ruben Amorim’s first match.
Kieran McKenna easily recalls his first Manchester United game. He was about to turn eight when his father took him to Old Trafford in May 1994, and while a goalless draw with Coventry may not have seemed exciting at first, there was the added advantage of seeing Sir Alex Ferguson’s side celebrate their title victory. Growing up in County Fermanagh, you either supported United or Liverpool; the young McKenna chose United, and those links lasted for the next three decades.
On Sunday, however, United will face McKenna’s excellent Ipswich team. Ruben Amorim will face a fiery baptism at Portman Road, and if it hadn’t been the Portuguese’s long-awaited debut, the tale would have been told from the home dugout. McKenna has never felt the need to disguise his feelings for United, and leaving their coaching staff for a struggling League One club nearly three years ago appeared to be a gamble. But now he can face them with the genuine hope of a happy outcome, which is some measure of how far he and Ipswich have come.
“A great moment, a nice little landmark in our journey and my journey,” he said on Friday, lightheartedly disputing invites to go down memory lane without resisting every piece of temptation. In a parallel universe, his double promotion at Ipswich, both earned in convincing style, could have led him straight back to United. McKenna was on their list of candidates while they debated replacing Erik ten Hag in May; a move never came close, but it said a lot that he was in the running, and there were better opportunities to leave, all passed up, during a frenzied period of speculation that threatened to dampen Ipswich’s celebrations.
Brighton and Chelsea both expressed greater interest than United. McKenna might have left, and he has never disputed it. “Every season I have been here I’ve had opportunities to leave for a club that was higher in the table,” stated the midfielder. “I decided that putting this team back to the Premier League was the most important thing for me. We don’t believe we’ve realized our full potential here by any means.”
There will almost certainly be more eyes on this fixture than any other held at Ipswich’s home. McKenna framed the occasion as a justification for his resolve to stay. “One of the reasons I wanted to be here this season is days like this, which are really special and fantastic to be part of,” he said.
At each turn, the setups form close bonds. Axel Tuanzebe of Ipswich, who appears to be one of the division’s top defensive right-backs and is finally fulfilling his early-career promise, was mentored by McKenna at both the youth and first-team levels at United. Martyn Pert, McKenna’s assistant, was a member of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad, and offensive coach Lee Grant spent four years as a backup goalkeeper there. Ten of United’s current players, including Kobbie Mainoo, have worked with McKenna in some manner. Members of both camps communicate often, and the positive vibe will last into the weekend.
“There are some great people there, really good relationships, and I’ve had lots of nice messages over the last couple of years as we’ve had our landmarks and successes, right up to last weekend [when Ipswich won at Tottenham on 10 November],” McKenna told the BBC. Former teammates Solskjaer and Michael Carrick remain close friends, but there are a few secret Ipswich fans in the current United squad as well.
Bruno Fernandes, who has remained particularly close to Pert and Grant, is among them. “A top, top professional and a really good human being,” McKenna described the United skipper. “I know he’s been closely following our growth over the previous few years. It is not often possible to leave a club with such pleasant memories of the players and personnel. I’ll gladly visit him on Sunday, but only after the game. It’s all eyes on preventing him from performing at his peak effectiveness.”
Many of the instruments that will be used for this purpose were honed at United. McKenna was promoted to the first team by José Mourinho, where he developed alongside Solskjaer and briefly adopted Ralf Rangnick’s Red Bull methodology. He mentioned them all, as well as the current Middlesbrough head coach, Carrick, as important influences on his path and mindset. Ipswich cannot be pigeonholed. While they are well-known for being front-footed, they can also have a tougher, more pragmatic edge than some casual onlookers realize.
That may give them a chance to change the narrative once Amorim has stepped out into the spotlight. Ferguson praised the Portman Road crowd’s effect in 2000, after newly promoted Ipswich held United to a 1-1 draw. United’s newest member will receive his own Suffolk welcome, planned by a colleague who many believe would look right at home in his position.
“We’ve worked so hard to get a game like this,” McKenna remarked. “We certainly don’t intend to go into it with a whole lot of fear and restraint.” The child who praised Ferguson’s heroes in the mid-1990s will be less impressed this time.
