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Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna has emerged as a potential next manager candidate for Celtic in the wake of Brendan Rodgers’ sensational departure from the Scottish champions. Rodgers and Celtic parted company on Monday, with a communication from the club just before 10pm confirming that the 52-year-old had tendered his resignation. The Northern Irishman’s exit was followed by a stinging statement from major shareholder Dermot Desmond, who accused Rodgers of being “divisive, misleading and self-serving”. Rodgers’ coaching staff of John Kennedy and Adam Sadler are also understood to have left Celtic - with Kennedy’s 27-year association with the club coming to an end. Celtic have moved swiftly to put in place an interim management team. Former boss Martin O’Neill, who had five successful years at Parkhead between 2000 and 2005, has been appointed caretaker manager and will be assisted by Shaun Maloney. They will take charge of Wednesday’s Premiership match against Falkirk. Rodgers leaves Celtic with the defending league champions trailing Hearts by eight points in the league standings after nine rounds of fixtures. His final match was a 3-1 defeat by the league leaders at Tynecastle. Celtic want to appoint a new manager swiftly given their situation in the league. They also have a Premier Sports Cup semi-final against Rangers on Sunday and have five further Europa League ties to navigate. Their former manager Ange Postecoglou, who was earlier this month sacked by Nottingham Forest after a 39-day tenure, is the bookmakers’ favourite to come in. However, The Scotsman understands that McKenna has admirers in the Celtic board room and is one of the early names under consideration. McKenna is currently in the charge of EFL Championship side Ipswich Town. The 39-year-old Northern Irishman has been Ipswich boss since 2021, where he guided the Tractor Boys to back-to-back promotions from League One and then the Championship. Ipswich were relegated from the Premier League at the first time of asking last season, finishing 19th, but McKenna’s stock remains high and he is seen as one of English football’s brightest managerial prospects. A former Manchester United youth coach, McKenna was considered by the Celtic board in the summer of 2023 when Postecoglou moved to Tottenham Hotspur, only for Rodgers to land the job for the second time in his career. Ipswich currently sit 12th in the Championship and defeated West Brom 1-0 at the weekend. They are due to face QPR on Saturday. McKenna’s contract at Ipswich runs until the summer of 2028 and Celtic would be required to pay compensation if they made an approach for him. Other names that have been linked to Celtic early on include Bodo/Glimt manager Kjetil Knutsen, who guided the Norwegian side to the Champions League for the first time in their history. Knutsen, 57, has shown great loyalty to Bodo/Glimt over the past few years and has been at the club since 2018 despite being linked with numerous vacancies - including Celtic. However, his contact with the Eliteserien club is due to expire in December. Bodo/Glimt are one point behind league leaders Viking with five matches to play, although they have a game in hand over the Stavanger side. The Norwegian domestic season is due to conclude at the end of November. Former Borussia Dortmund boss Erin Terzic plus ex-players Scott Brown and Damien Duff also feature on the bookmakers’ early list of candidates.
