Kieran McKenna has raided former club Manchester United to appoint a new head of recruitment at Ipswich Town.
The former assistant manager at Old Trafford was appointed Ipswich boss back in December, replacing Paul Cook, and has seen an impressive turnaround in form. McKenna continues to put his stamp on the club, and has added another member to his backroom staff with Sam Williams.
Williams was the first team recruitment analyst at United, and had been at the club since November 2017, having also worked as an academy scout. But he has now moved into the role of head of recruitment at Portman Road.
Upon his appointment, Williams told the official Ipswich website : "Mark Ashton really sold the club and it’s a really exciting time to be joining. It’s been a privilege to work for Manchester United and I’ve worked with fantastic people, but this was an opportunity I just couldn’t turn down.
"There’s a lot of work to be done between now and the end of the transfer window. I’m looking forward to the challenge and working together closely with Kieran, Martyn [Pert] and Gary [Probert].We’re going to implement a very thorough and methodical process which will help provide the best available players to help us achieve our aims and ambitions, which is getting the Club back up the leagues."
Ipswich's recruitment came under fire from former manager Cook, who complained about the lack of resources when he was given the boot in December. “I’ve just left a football club in Ipswich who didn’t have a recruitment room in the summer, as I’ve left still has no recruitment room,” he said. “How are you supposed to recruit players? How?”
Ipswich chief executive Mark Ashton admitted that the department was "a work in progress" ahead of Williams' appointment on Wednesday night. “It (recruitment) is a work in progress, it’s an area that reports into Gary Probert. The club has appointed a Head of Recruitment that will be announced imminently," he said.
"We’re got technical recruitment and data in place and we have scouts in place but we have been searching far and wide for someone to lead that team. I’m delighted, Martyn Pert’s been really influential in helping us with that, we’ve found that person.”
McKenna has lifted Ipswich from 11th place in League One to ninth, and just three points off Sunderland who occupy the final play-off place in seventh. The Tractor Boys' closest rivals have the advantage of a game in hand though.
