KIERAN McKenna, the current manager of Ipswich Town, surfaced as a potential candidate for the Celtic managerial role on Tuesday evening after Ange Postecoglou left the Glasgow side to head for Spurs earlier in the day.

In a recent interview, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer shared his thoughts on Kieran McKenna, providing Celtic fans with a glimpse of what they might expect if the Ipswich Town boss were to take the reins at Parkhead.

Solskjaer, who worked with McKenna during his tenure as Manchester United manager, was particularly impressed with McKenna’s defensive acumen. Martyn Pert, McKenna’s assistant at Portman Road and a former colleague from their Manchester days, is another asset that Solskjaer highlighted.

In a conversation with The Athletic earlier this year, Solskjaer praised McKenna’s meticulous, process-driven approach to coaching, his exceptional memory, and his keen eye for detail.

He also noted that McKenna’s strength in defensive organisation was a significant contribution to their training sessions.

“Kieran was a surprise to me when I got to United. Michael, I already knew. We’d been coached by Sir Alex, from the old school. Kieran was not. He’s the most thorough and analytical, step-by-step, process-driven coach that I’ve worked with. He makes it so easy for the players to see and understand what we wanted from them. He’d do that the day before a game and his memory was also fantastic, his eye for detail too.

“One of his strong points was defensive organisation and I let him be in charge of that in training. I learned from him about defensive shape and how not to concede.

“Kieran would have unit meetings with the players and go through videos. He was more focused on when the team didn’t have possession, whereas Michael (Carrick) was about when the team did have possession. They gave the players the detail I wanted them to have before a game.

“He’s working with Martyn Pert. One of the first things I look for when I take someone on is integrity. Martyn and I did the Pro Licence coaching badge together. When I got the Cardiff job, he was there with Malky Mackay.

“I thought ‘I’d really like to work with Martyn.’ But after a few days, he came to me and said: ‘I can’t do this. I’d love to work with you but my loyalty is with Malky.’ I liked that about him. No bull****. It wasn’t right for him and I respected that.

“So when I had the chance to bring him to United, I did. I never forgot. He’d been around in different levels and in different countries. He speaks several languages so for me to have a coach who could communicate with players in their mother tongue was important.”

Ipswich scored 101 goals and conceded 35 as they finished second in League 1, gaining automatic promotion to the Championship.