Town boss Kieran McKenna would be targeted by Brentford should Thomas Frank depart for Tottenham Hotspur, according to various reports.

Dane Frank is the favourite to replace Ange Postecoglou with the North Londoners, the Australian having parted ways with the club he led to the Europa League on Friday.

Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola, Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner and Marco Silva of Fulham have also been linked but with Frank’s representatives understood to have opened talks with Spurs. There is believed to be a £10 million release clause in Frank’s Brentford contract.

The Bees in turn are widely reported to be eyeing Town manager McKenna as Frank’s potential replacement, despite the Blues’ relegation back to the Championship after one season.

McKenna, who was at last night’s Fabio Wardley fight at Portman Road alongside chairman and CEO Mark Ashton, signed a new Town deal last summer, which runs to the summer of 2028, following talks with Brighton, who he came very close to joining, Chelsea and Manchester United.

The Northern Irishman committed his future to the Blues on a couple of occasions towards the end of the season, but could well be tempted by a swift return to the Premier League, having also been near to taking over at Crystal Palace during Town’s Championship promotion campaign, were a club to make an approach.

Brentford’s head of coaching, Justin Cochrane, who has also been tipped to take over from Frank should he depart, is a close friend of McKenna’s from their time working at Spurs and at Old Trafford.

Having had a nervy summer while McKenna assessed his options last year, Town fans could well have another edgy spell this close season if Frank does move on to Spurs and the Bees look towards the Blues boss.

The 39-year-old took over at Portman Road in December 2021 and led Town to back-to-back promotions from League One and then the Championship before relegation from the Premier League in 2024/25.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters

boroughblue added 13:59 - Jun 8 Here we go again then lads! Hopefully he’ll want to stay, but it’s understandable if he wants another crack at the prem straight away. The next move (should he make it) will be crucial for KMC’s career. Fingers crossed he stays!
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Edmundo added 14:00 - Jun 8 It's a privilege that we have KM here, and shows that he's still a great manager despite last season. If we keep him we have a brilliant chance of getting back, uf not I trust the owners and MA to come up with another gem.
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Sir_Bob added 14:01 - Jun 8 If I owned Brentford, I'd want McKenna. But as I don't own Brentford, I hope their owner looks elsewhere.
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Gforce added 14:03 - Jun 8 Well Brentford can do one.If as predicted they lose their best 3 players this summer, they might well struggle next season. Keiran is better off staying here,we are a bigger club than them anyway.
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Juggsy added 14:11 - Jun 8 If it’s going to happen it’s better done now than close to next season.
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Nottsblue66 added 14:13 - Jun 8 Force how do you make out we are a bigger club than Brentford that are a established premiership club and the owner is a billionaire I feel McKenna will go this time whatever he decides he needs to act now so we can either move on finding another manager or get in with pre-season
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BeattiesBackPocket added 14:30 - Jun 8 Nottsblue force has a point we are a bigger club in stature trophies etc and especially attendance wise? They’re lucky to get 17000 fans in a brand new stadium. Yes they’re an established prem club but as soon as they lose their best three players they will struggle.
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Widj123 added 14:36 - Jun 8 Please please let this be true pity Brentford
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Monkey_Blue added 14:38 - Jun 8 Nottsblue66 It depends on how you define bigger club. I doubt if Brentford could be compared in terms of fan base. Let’s be honest both teams fill their stadium but we don’t have a17,000 capacity and if it were 40,000 we’d probably have filled that this season despite being relegated. Historically you can’t compare Brentford to us success wise and our ownership has significantly more financial muscle than Brentford’s owner. Our ceiling is higher. Brentford are a “bigger club” in the sense they’ve been safely a prem team for a handful of seasons. I can’t think of anything else they have over us and I don’t know that it makes them bigger. Btw. I’m a Bulwell boy originally

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Michael101 added 14:39 - Jun 8 The rumour going around for a few days now is frank to spurs McKenna to Brentford and rohl to Ipswich. Time will tell
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tractorboybig added 14:41 - Jun 8 out of his depth in premier league,
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thevoiceofreason added 14:51 - Jun 8 Regardless of whether McKenna is capable of great things, would he be able to take Brentford any higher than they are now? If not, that would be seen as failure, wouldn’t it? He’d be better off staying at Town as he can still aspire to the more realistic ambition of getting the club established in the Premier League.
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Gforce added 14:51 - Jun 8 @Nottsblue66.......I would have replied to you,but Beattiesbackpocket and Monkeyblue have summed it up nicely for me !
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Mark added 14:54 - Jun 8 There will be lots of these rumours, I wouldn't worry about them. I wonder how much McKenna's release clause is?
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cressi added 14:59 - Jun 8 I actually don't care fed up with it The Yr we got promoted he was talking to Palace and last summer after promotion if he had been given a guarantee of a job he would have left, in my view his career driven and will go if he thinks he has a chance to better himself. There will lots of good managers who want the Ipswich job.
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poet added 15:04 - Jun 8 Will Brentford be a big enough pull for McKenna, I’m not so sure. For instance, despite Spurs finishing much lower than Brentford, it hasn’t dampened Frank’s interest in moving, and he knows the internal affairs of Brentford all too well. If McKenna does go, in my opinion, he’ll be a very difficult act to replace. I sincerely hope he stays.
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PhuketPete added 15:05 - Jun 8 I really rate and respect KMc and hope he stays but if he even thinks about this move after recent shenanigans (not to mention a HUGE pay rise) then I reckon MA may just take matters into his own hands. We know MA was absolutely fuming at last summer’s nonsense which followed the Palace silliness in Jan 24.
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Stato added 15:11 - Jun 8 McKenna has produced a fantastic season getting us out of the Championship but last season he was bang average. He played Hutchinson way too much and he has overplayed Morsy in all 3 seasons he has been here. Why so many of our fans think he is a genius is beyond me. Name me one player who improved under him last season ? A few went backwards but not a single player improved. Even Delap had a much better first half of the season before a less impressive 2nd half. We will be favourites for the title with or without him so I'm not that bothered whether he stays or goes. We are told he is the 6th highest paid manager in the Prem so who says Brentford can even afford him. Most likely he stays, wins the title and then gets a chance to recruit better and learn from previous mistakes as on balance I think both parties could benefit by staying loyal to each other.

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SickParrot added 15:15 - Jun 8 I would like KM to stay and would expect him to honour the lucrative contract that he signed last summer. He's probably fortunate to be Brentford's first choice after the worst season in our history, so I would understand if he felt that he couldn't turn the the job down (especially as it would be possible for him to avoid uprooting his young family). It may come down to whether he really believes that he can get us promoted again mext season. If he does decide to go, at least we have plenty of time to replace him and I'm sure that Mark Ashton has a suitable replacement lined up.

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algy added 15:15 - Jun 8 KMc will make his decision for his career that is best for his family and himself. As he should. Yes he's career driven, that was why he came to the Gamechanger backed club in the first place to get the best opportunity to develop his career. He wouldn't have touched the Evans run club with a bargepole!
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Rimsy added 15:17 - Jun 8 All this last year definitely hampered our preparations for the season. Hope this is completed soon so we can crack on with a new man if necessary.
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Karlosfandangal added 15:18 - Jun 8 I guess KmK release clause will not be a problem if Brentford are getting £10 million for Frank. Brentford will have to brake the bank to match KmK wages. The main problem for Town is how many players would leave the club too. A lot has been said of Delap should have a season in the Championship so he is more ready for the prem so I guess the same could be said for KmK He had a season in the Prem and now has a season to prepare a side to go back to the Prem. If Town can.

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blues1 added 15:18 - Jun 8 Widj123. Please do us all a favour, and go support some1 else. Clearly you have no idea. Or a very short memory. Pep Guardiola wouldn't have kept us up this last season, so why be so disrespectful to the best manager we've had for many years.
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SuffPunch added 15:25 - Jun 8 I think he will go to Brentford. I wouldn't be surprised if we looked at Micheal Carrick if that was the case.
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RobsonWark added 15:36 - Jun 8 Brentford can target McKenna all they want. He is not going anywhere. He has unfinished business at Portman Road. He has more chance of winning the Championship Trophy here than any other trophy at Brentford. RobsonWark added 21:59 - Apr 25 Timmy I don't agree with you on Kieran leaving the club in the summer. He has a lovely house in a nice part of Ipswich with easy access to Portman Road and Playford Road. His children are probably enrolled at Ipswich High School. He is earning £100k or £120k a week (depending on which newspaper you read). I think it was reported that he was the 6th highest paid manager in the Premier League. He has a project at Ipswich with the full support of Mark Ashton and the owners and investors. Everything he has asked for Mark Ashton has delivered. The new training facilities being built at Playford Road is another show of support for him. It takes time to build a great team - not something you can put together overnight (especially with 13 new signings at the start of the season), Why would he give all this up to go to a Premiership club with the possibility of being sacked if he didn't produce the goods by Christmas. And how many clubs are going to better his wages that he has here? Chelsea could, Man Utd could but these clubs would want instant results. Remember him singing in the changing room after promotion "I found a love, for me"?. This is Kieran's club. He'll be here for a few years to come. Please do not bet your mortgage on him leaving in the summer!!

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