Ipswich Town have announced that Strasbourg manager Gary O’Neil has been appointed as their new manager after the recent departure of Kieran McKenna, who left the club to take a step away from football.
O’Neil has been in charge of the French side since January, with him achieving a 48% win rate and guiding the club to a respectable eighth-place finish in Ligue 1 as well as reaching the UEFA Conference League semi-finals, where they lost to Rayo Vallecano.
The 43-year-old also has Premier League pedigree, as he was manager of both Bournemouth and, most recently, Wolverhampton Wanderers until December 2024.
Ipswich Make O’Neil Their New Manager
Ipswich Town have officially announced that Gary O’Neil will become their new manager ahead of the 2026/27 Premier League season.
The Tractor Boys earned promotion from the Championship last campaign under Kieran McKenna, who chose to step away from football to spend more time with his family, opening the door for O’Neil to become manager.
The 43-year-old will be set the task of avoiding relegation, a fate that his predecessor could not avoid the last time the Portman Road side were in the top flight.
The Right Man for the Job?
The appointment of O’Neil will certainly be one that brings uncertainty to Ipswich Town fans, with his record in his previous jobs, especially during his time at Wolves, not being all too impressive.
At both Molineux and his earlier role at Bournemouth, he led both sides to fairly average seasons, with his tenures not lasting more than a season and a half at each club.
Despite this, he is a manager who has experience at the Premier League level with clubs that, at the time, were struggling towards the bottom end of the table.
This is vital for a club who are desperate to consolidate themselves as a Premier League side, as he knows what it takes to keep a club from being relegated from this level.
Overall, O’Neil is a fairly safe appointment for the Tractor Boys, but some fans may feel that the club should have been slightly more ambitious in their choice of manager.
