Kieran McKenna's remarkable achievement in leading Ipswich Town to back-to-back promotions will have surprised many people, but Jose Mourinho will not be one of them.
Mourinho, regarded as one of the best managers of all time, gave McKenna his first big break when he promoted him to the Manchester United first-team coaching staff in 2016.
The Fermanagh native has not looked back since then, and at the age of 37, will be a Premier League manager next season.
McKenna was a Northern Ireland U21 international, and was thought of as a promising player in Tottenham's academy. However, a chronic hip problem forced McKenna to call time on his playing career, aged just 22.
He then decided on a career in coaching, and embarked on his qualifications.
By 2015, McKenna was the coach of the Tottenham U15 team, and Manchester United snapped him up the following year when he was appointed manager of the club's U18 team.
McKenna impressed at Old Trafford and in the summer of 2016, he was promoted to Mourinho's coaching team along with Michael Carrick.
McKenna kept his role under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who worked closely with McKenna and Carrick during his time in the dugout at United.
He stayed on under interim manager Ralf Rangnick, before leaving for his first managerial role with Ipswich in December 2021.
Ipswich were languishing in 12th in League One at the time, and in two and a half seasons in charge, McKenna has transformed their fortunes.
Back-to-back promotions have guided the Tractor Boys to the Premier League for the first time since 2002.
His side plays an attractive brand of attacking football that has won many admirers.
McKenna's Ipswich have scored the most goals in the Championship this season with 92, amassing an impressive 96 points to secure promotion.
"I moved away at 16 to fulfil one dream and had to pivot on that at 22," McKenna said, reflecting on his journey in coaching after Ipswich secured promotion.
"Since then, I’ve had 15 years of work, sacrifice and learning. It’s been an incredible journey, and I am proud of what I’ve achieved. I was coaching in the Premier League and Champions League at 32. You want to test yourself against the best. It will be a great challenge to do that again."
McKenna has been linked with the vacant Republic of Ireland managerial role, but with a Premier League journey now in his immediate future, this seems highly unlikely.
Solskjaer has called McKenna the “most thorough and analytical, step-by-step, process-driven coach that I’ve worked with”.
“I learned from him about defensive shape and how not to concede,” Solskjaer said in an interview with The Athletic.
