Championship figure tipped with Celtic vacancy as Portsmouth rivals eye Leicester City talent
The latest headlines involving Pompey and their Championship rivals.
Pompey will be looking to return to winning ways this week as they make the trip to face Birmingham City in their first visit to St Andrews in more than 13 years.
After a disappointing three game week, which saw the Blues pick up just one point from their matches against Leicester City, Coventry City and Stoke City.
This has seen John Mousinho’s slip to 18th in the table after the opening 12 matches, but remain above bitter south-coast rivals Southampton, who sit 20th.
Pompey will be boosted by the return of John Swift for this weekend’s contest against Chris Davies’ side having served his one-game suspension, while Josh Murphy will be looking to build-up more minutes as he continues his comeback to full fitness from an ankle injury.
Elsewhere, there is plenty of gossip and speculation doing the rounds across the Championship involving the Blues’ rivals.
Here are the latest headlines.
McKenna in running for Celtic job
Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna is reportedly in the running to replace Brendan Rodgers at Celtic.
The 52-year-old sent shockwaves across the Scottish game after making the surprise decision to hand in his resignation at Celtic Park on Monday, with his final game in charge a 3-1 defeat to league leaders Hearts on Sunday afternoon.
It brought to an end the head coach’s second spell with the Hoops where he claimed 11 domestic trophies out of a possible 13 during both stints.
As the search for his successor begins, a host of names have been tipped with the vacancy, including McKenna, who was also linked with the Rangers role earlier in the month.
The Scottish Sun have claimed the Ipswich boss is admired by the hierarchy of the Scottish Premiership champions, with the 43-year-old said to be on the shortlist.
Joining the former Manchester United coach in the running is ex-Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou, who had a successful two-year stint with Celtic before his 2023 departure. Michael O’Neill has been placed in temporary charge of the Hoops and will be assisted by Shaun Maloney.
McKenna arrived at Portman Road in December 2021 and has since guided Ipswich from League One to the Premier League.
The Tractor Boys have had a difficult start to the new season on their return to the Championship and currently sit 13th in the table.
Pompey fell to a 2-1 defeat with the Suffolk outfit last month, with Jaden Philogene and Goerge Hirst netting against Mousinho’s men.
Blades back for Choudhury
Sheffield United are eyeing a move for Leicester City midfielder Hamza Choudhury, as per reports.
Our sister paper, The Star, have claimed Chris Wilder is hoping to land the 28-year-old once again, having spent the second half of the 2024-25 campaign on loan at Bramall Lane.
The Bangladesh international registered 19 appearances for the Blades, who fell to a last-minute defeat to Sunderland in the play-off final at Wembley in May.
The report claims Sheffield United are looking to strike another temporary deal to land Choudhury, who is out of contract at the King Power Stadium at the end of next season.
The midfielder has already featured against Pompey this term and came off the bench in the 1-1 draw earlier in the month.