Gary ONeil is in the final stages of becoming Ipswich Town’s new head coach. Mark Ashton says the move is imminent, with the club aiming to announce the appointment next week.
O’Neil, 43, would replace Kieran McKenna after his exit from Ipswich Town on 11 June. McKenna spent four and a half years in charge, leading the club to successive promotions in his first two full seasons and automatic promotion last term.
Ashton moves the process on
Ashton said the appointment was “imminent” and added, “I’m as comfortable as I can be, so I think that appointment is now imminent,” speaking to the. He also said, “There’s still a lot to do. It’s going to be tough, but we are definitely more robust as a club this time around. We’ll be ready,” as Ipswich Town prepare for the Premier League in 2024-25 aftermath and the next step in their rebuild.
That rebuild is not only about the dugout. Ashton said there would be “a big change of players” and that the club would need to bring in “Premier League-ready players imminently.” He added, “This time you’ve got a new manager who’s obviously going to want maybe a different type or a different individual than last time [when Ipswich were promoted in 2024],” which points to a wider reshaping around the incoming head coach.
O’Neil’s recent record
The appointment would give Ipswich Town a coach with recent top-flight experience. O’Neil was appointed Strasbourg head coach in January, replacing Liam Rosenior, and finished eighth in Ligue 1 with that side. Strasbourg missed out on European qualification, losing in the Coupe de France semi-final to Nice and the Conference League semi-final to Rayo Vallecano.
His background also includes a year at Bournemouth in the 2022-23 season, when he helped the club avoid relegation before being sacked. Before that, Wolves sacked him in December 2024 while they were 19th in the Premier League.
Why Ipswich picked now
O’Neil’s path to Portman Road has not been straightforward. He held initial talks over returning to Molineux in November 2025 to replace Vitor Pereira, then withdrew before Rob Edwards was appointed. Ipswich’s move now puts him in line for a very different job: taking over from a manager who delivered successive promotions and then left after four and a half years.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was among those considered for the Ipswich Town job, but the club has settled on O’Neil as the preferred option. If the plan holds, next week should bring the announcement that closes the search and opens the summer work around the new head coach.
