Fans react as Ipswich Town get set to appoint Gary O’Neil as their new head coach, as a replacement for Kieran McKenna.
David Ornstein reported that the club are working to finalise the appointment after holding positive talks with the 43 year old and BlueCo.
Ipswich, who had also considered Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Carlos Corberán, would need to pay compensation for O’Neil. It’s possible than an announcement could come early next week.
He is thought to be well regarded for work at Bournemouth, Wolverhampton Wanderers and RC Strasbourg, who who lost in the Conference League semi final to Rayo Vallecano, and finished 8th in Ligue 1.
Ornstein also states that he will bring Tim Jenkins and Neil Critchley with him at Ipswich.
🚨 Ipswich Town working to finalise appointment of Gary O’Neil as head coach. #ITFC in positive talks with 43yo + BlueCo; possible announcement early next. Well regarded for work at #AFCB #WWFC #RCSA. Would bring Tim Jenkins + Neil Critchley @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/xneQ5qNpPV
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) June 19, 2026
Ipswich are closing in on the appointment of Strasbourg head coach Gary O’Neil as their new manager. Former Wolves and Bournemouth boss O’Neil has emerged as the leading contender to succeed Kieran McKenna. #itfc #RCSA pic.twitter.com/f5HMn7RvpW
— Pete O’Rourke (@SportsPeteO) June 19, 2026
Fans react as Ipswich get set to appoint Gary O’Neil as their new head coach…
@YamYamKally: Underwhelming. I’ll back him, but guess Ashton doesn’t have the sway he thought, cos you can’t tell me he was the first choice. Going from McKenna to O’Neil feels like a massive downgrade, like when Man Utd went from Fergie to Moyes or when Chelsea went from Jose to Grant #itfc
@NW1Stephen: TBF we can all prob pick a manager who we would prefer over GON, but they would all prob be wildly different, and with them some might work some wont, the club has one pick and they like it or not need someone who give us the best chance to survive not on hope but proof #itfc
@JenJoITFC: Like it or not, Gary O’Neil actually has experience in keeping teams up in the Premier League. Lets not write him off before the season has even begun. He’s not my choice but Ashton knows what he’s doing #itfc
@HarveyMillerr:Don’t understand the negativity on O’Neil.
Kept Bournemouth Up ✅
Kept Wolves up initially ✅
Plays a back 3 or 4, Adaptable ✅
Prem experience ✅
Worked with thin squads and less resources ✅
Most logical appointment out of the options that are realistically available 🤷
#itfc
@garyslade1987: Was a terrible time for McKenna to quit, the pool of available managers is pretty barren. Not a “sexy” appointment but guess his CV with Bournemouth and part of Wolves is the draw for Ashton. Either way, lot of early work to be done. Uppa Towen! #itfc
@ConnorMcCarth10: People already writing off O’Neil because he’s not the “sexy” appointment. Ole had 1 good stint turning united from dismal to meeting expectations and doesn’t have McKenna or carrick… O’Neil seems to be very hands on and has two premier league survivals on his cv 🤨 #itfc
@xLuke17x: I genuinely hate our fans the majority are so entitled. Anyone that knows anything about GON would know he’s got an excellent idea on the league, and knows exactly what needs to be done. Some fancy foreign fella wouldn’t have a clue and it would be a guess! #itfc
@hannahdarbysh: Hard to believe that half of our fans doesn’t want a Manager that managed to keep both Bournemouth and Wolves up . They probably expecting Pep or Solt #itfc
@_kieranbl: Nothing like writing off a potential manager before he’s even announced. Long live this fan base😍 #itfc
@lawseyitfc: I’ll always get behind a new manager, but he would have gone down with a whimper at Wolves with a much better squad than ours now had he not been sacked. Is he worth whatever compensation package he has? #ITFC
@S_BaileyITFC: At the end of the day we don’t have any control over who’s appointed, and he has to have our support. Let’s see what he has to say when it’s confirmed. Ashton gets stick from some but he’s no mug, have to trust his judgement on this. #COYB #ITFC
@g_neller: I can’t believe we’re going to spend the best part of £150m on a squad rebuild led by Gary fucking O’Neil. So short sighted and ridiculous that anyone is ok with this appointment. One thing this managerial saga has proven is that all Ipswich Town ITK accounts know fuck all. The amount of bollocks I’ve read from ‘trusted’ accounts the past week is crazy #itfc
@TownITFC: If it’s Gary O’Neil I’ll back him. Wouldn’t mind it being a short-term 1-2 year deal, If he can steady the ship with recruitments I can see us keeping our options open to replacing him end of the season if we stay up… #itfc
@Minnsy1984: It’s hard to imagine anyone following McKenna but it’s happening. Whoever is appointed they’ll get my backing and they should get the backing of every #itfc fan. We’re all going to need to pull in the same direction if we want to keep this club in this league. Up the Ipswich 💙
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