Ipswich Town has made their choice. And it’s not Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The club is moving forward with Gary O’Neil to replace Kieran McKenna as head coach, according to David Ornstein of The Athletic. O’Neil is currently at Ligue 1 side Strasbourg, but the deal to bring him to Portman Road is in its final stages. If everything goes as planned, the announcement comes next week.
This is a real blow for Solskjaer. He was genuinely in the mix, Ornstein confirmed. But Ipswich went another direction.
Why O’Neil?
O’Neil, 43, has built a solid reputation across a few stops. Bournemouth. Wolves. Strasbourg. He’s known for getting teams organized and squeezing out results even when the talent gap is obvious. That’s basically the job description for a newly promoted Premier League side.
He’ll likely bring his own staff from France — Tim Jenkins and Neil Critchley are expected to follow him to England.
Ipswich’s talks with BlueCo, the ownership group that controls both Strasbourg and Chelsea, went smoothly. That probably helped speed things up.
What About Solskjaer?
The Norwegian hasn’t managed since his Manchester United exit back in 2021. He’s been waiting for the right opportunity, and this one looked like it could be it. He had the connection with McKenna, who worked under him at United before taking over Ipswich himself. But the club decided O’Neil was a better fit.
So Solskjaer keeps waiting. It’s not clear what’s next for him.
McKenna stepped down just weeks after guiding Ipswich back to the Premier League — their third promotion in four years. He’d signed a contract extension through 2028 last summer, but he wanted out. Said it was the right time to step away, spend more time with his family. He’d been linked to the Fulham job but passed on that too.
Now Ipswich moves forward with O’Neil. They’re betting he can keep them in the Premier League. It’s a tough ask, but the guy has done it before.
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