Ipswich Town: Simon Grayson on Kieran McKenna and Man Utd

With three games left to play Town are top of the Championship, an against the odds achievement which saw boss Kieran McKenna named Championship manager of the year at the EFL Awards on Sunday night.

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And Grayson, who managed Town's promotion rivals Leeds for four seasons, said McKenna deserved that honour. 

Kieran McKenna was named Championship manager of the season at the EFL Awards (Image: Shutterstock)
"Unbelievable achievement, what Ipswich have done, and great that Kieran got the recognition of being manager of the year," he told Betway.

"It just shows you what can happen when you get a group together that know what they're doing.

"They go with a care-free attitude, they've got a good spirit about them, they know the roles and responsibility within that group, and they're enjoying it.

"It’s such a great achievement for what they've done, but they don't want to be looking back and they don't want to be reminded of being the team that did really well but just missed out."

Against all the odds, Town are top of the Championship (Image: Pagepix)

Of the promotion race, with Town, Leicester, Leeds and even Southampton pushing for the top two automatic spots, Grayson added: "It’s been an incredible season so far, both at the top and bottom of the Championship.

"Leicester flew into a commanding lead and slowly Leeds United have clawed back the deficit and now it’s all to play for.

"Ipswich have always been in the top three all season, but full credit to them for staying in the promotion race.

"In recent weeks, all three teams have slipped up and no one wants to move ahead and get promoted automatically.

"It's probably going to go right down to the last game, if not that far, maybe the second to last game when Leicester have that game in hand against Southampton.

"I went to the Leeds game against Blackburn and it was a game Leeds should have won, but you've got teams fighting for their lives at the bottom end of the table, which is just as fascinating as the top end. You cannot predict anything."

Kieran McKenna has strong links to Manchester United, having been assistant boss at Old Trafford (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)
Inevitably, McKenna's remarkable success has already seen him linked with several jobs in the Premier League.

An obvious future link, given his time as assistant boss at Old Trafford, would see him among the likely favourites to be Manchester United's next manager as they continue to toil under Erik ten Hag. 

But Grayson said that would be too soon for McKenna.

"Looking at McKenna’s next move, the Manchester United job is very likely to be far too early in his managerial career, but he has done no harm in being on their radar as one to follow," Grayson explained. 

"McKenna has done a brilliant job getting Ipswich to the Championship and now to be in real contention for the Premier League, this is a huge achievement.

"But if you get offered that kind of opportunity, you don’t turn it down.

"I would be surprised if he gets an offer for that job because there'll be a lot of other people with vast more experience than him, but you can never say never."