I was Manchester United's secret weapon as a coach – now I might become their manager

Loughborough University football team's players were celebrating after winning a game.

They entered the dressing room in high spirits and began to hit the showers, but a passionate Kieran McKenna was trailing behind one player and following into the inner sanctum.

McKenna couldn't wait to speak to the player and give him feedback. He wanted to discuss something he'd spotted and stood alongside him as he showered, fully dressed, while the recipient of his message gratefully nodded along and listened carefully to the information.

"It was a Tuesday night, we'd won and Kieran was standing next to the guy in the shower and coaching him," Professor Chris Cushion tells the Manchester Evening News.

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"He said something like 'maybe next time, drop off a little bit'. The lad was washing his hair, going 'that's really helpful, thanks boss.' That just shows you his intensity and desire.

"Kieran was compelled to tell the player that information and it could have probably waited, but he went clothed into the shower to tell him how to improve next time. To be fair, the players never told him to naff off, they always thought it was really helpful and were thankful."

Some 10 years have now passed since McKenna graduated from Loughborough. This season, he secured a second successive promotion with Ipswich Town, into the Premier League as he further enhanced his reputation as one of the game's most exciting and tactically brilliant young coaches.

The Loughborough coaching alumni included McKenna, former United coach Eric Ramsay and Matt Prestridge, who has been a