O'Neil only replaced Liam Rosenior at Strasbourg in January. Florencia Tan Jun/Getty ImagesJune 19, 2026 Updated 3:31 pm EDTIpswich Town are working to finalise the appointment of Strasbourg’s Gary O’Neil as their new head coach.A deal to bring in O’Neil, 43, as Kieran McKenna’s replacement is in the final stages and, if all goes to plan, the aim is to announce the Englishman next week.Ipswich’s talks with BlueCo, which owns Strasbourg and fellow Premier League side Chelsea, have been positive. It is likely O’Neil will be bringing close associates Tim Jenkins and Neil Critchley with him from the French side. O’Neil has developed a strong reputation within the industry for his work at Bournemouth, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Strasbourg.O’Neil quickly became established as a strong contender to succeed McKenna after the Northern Irishman confirmed earlier this month he was leaving Portman Road after four and a half years in the role. The 40-year-old led Ipswich to successive promotions in his first two full seasons in charge, and while the team suffered Premier League relegation in 2024-25, McKenna oversaw automatic promotion last term.Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, under whom McKenna had held a first-team coaching role across his near-three years at Manchester United, was also among those considered.O’Neil was appointed Strasbourg head coach in January to succeed Liam Rosenior, who had joined Chelsea to replace Enzo Maresca.Under O’Neil, Strasbourg finished eighth in Ligue 1 — missing out on European qualification — and lost at the semi-final stage in the Coupe de France and Conference League, to Nice and Rayo Vallecano respectively.Former midfielder O’Neil was sacked by Wolves in December 2024 with the side 19th in the Premier League. He held initial talks over returning to Molineux in November 2025 to replace Vitor Pereira but withdrew from the hiring process ahead of the appointment of Rob Edwards.He previously had a year-long spell at Bournemouth in the 2022-23 season, helping the south-coast club avoid relegation before being sacked and replaced by Andoni Iraola.Jun 19, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms