Cardiff City sack Malky Mackay

[thinktank]

Malky Mackay: Cardiff City sack manager
Malky Mackay has been sacked as Cardiff City manager after a meeting of the club's board of directors.

Billionaire Malaysian owner Vincent Tan said the dismissal was "regretfully" necessary to be fair to the club and its fans.

In a statement, Tan said: "Far too much dirty linen has been exposed to the public gaze but, I stress, not by me."

"It has been an unbelievable few weeks.

"First of all you had the statement by Simon Lim (Cardiff's chief executive), quoting Vincent Tan being openly critical of Malky Mackay.

"I think Vincent Tan thought the Southampton defeat was the last straw.

"The search has started for a new manager and I would suggest Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, managing in Norway the moment, would be a pretty firm favourite for the job."

The move comes a day after a 3-0 home defeat by Southampton left Cardiff only one point above the relegation zone.

Mackay's removal follows a public row with Tan, who wrote to Mackay on 16 December asking him to resign or be sacked.

Tan also accused Mackay of overspending in the transfer market and announced the manager would have nothing to spend in the January window.

The 41-year-old Scotsman refused to resign, and subsequently led the team in Premier League matches against Liverpool and Southampton before his dismissal.

Mackay's assistant David Kerslake is expected to be in charge for the home match against Sunderland on Saturday.

Mackay, who is the sixth Premier League boss to lose his job this season, had been in charge at Cardiff for two-and-a-half years after taking over from Dave Jones in June 2011.

He guided the club back to the top flight of English football after a 52-year absence when they won the Championship in April.

Tan claimed in a statement that Mackay's dismissal was necessary for the good of the club.

Malky Mackay's final interview as Cardiff boss

"There has been a good deal of publicity generated by, and about, Mr Malky Mackay for the last few months," it read.

"I have deliberately not responded to this, hoping that the club can be judged on its football rather than personalised arguments about who said what to whom.

"I have, however, regretfully concluded that it is no longer fair to the club, its players, its fans and the public more generally for this uncomfortable state of affairs to continue.

"Cardiff City Football Club means far too much to us all for it to be distracted by this."

The first signs of a problem between the owner and the manager emerged in October 2013 when the club's director of recruitment Iain Moody was removed from his post.

Moody, a long-term friend and colleague of Mackay who worked with him at Watford, was replaced by 23-year-old Kazakh Alisher Apsalamov, a friend of Tan's son.

Mackay's record at Cardiff City
Played: 125 games

Won: 54

Drawn: 37

Lost: 34

Success rate: 43%

Moody played a major role in the recruitment of summer signings Gary Medel and Steven Caulker and the decision to remove him upset Mackay, who described his colleague as "a class act".

No official reason was given for Moody's departure, but it emerged in December that Tan felt he was responsible for an alleged overspend of £15m on the club's transfer budget.

Tan claimed the club had spent £50m on transfers following their promotion to the Premier League after being given a budget of £35m.

Moody and Mackay both denied there had been an overspend.

The latest row was sparked by Mackay's comments after Cardiff's 1-0 win over West Brom on 14 December that he would like to recruit three players in January.

The comments prompted a strident response from Tan, with many observers surprised that Mackay was still in charge for the game at Anfield on 21 December.

 

[Drexl]

If Cardiff didn't have so many vile supporters i would feel sorry for them having a fruitcake like Tan in charge

He has to be the biggest idiot that has run a UK football club, makes the Venky's and Romanov of Hearts seem sane

Changing colours to red, asking Liverpool and Man Utd to not wear red shirts when they are playing Cardiff at Anfield/Old Trafford

Expressing his anger that the GOALKEEPER didn't score any goals last season

 

[Misfit]

Good. Fuck them. I still remember the trip to Ninian Park. Fucking scum, every single one of them.

 

[LSUY]

I hear Phil Brown is favourite for the job as he has already worked in the Premier League with a ridiculous Tan.

 

[Misfit]

Niiiiice.

 

[tiger666]

Did he really ask why the keeper wasn't scoring?

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Did he really ask why the keeper wasn't scoring?

See the "Resign or Be Sacked" post.

 

[tiger666]

See the "Resign or Be Sacked" post.

I see it. Good grief..

 

[AW?]

Who the fuck would want that job? Only a lesser manager i'd surmise.

 

[THFCSPURS19]

Apparentely Tan has offered the new manager plently of money in January despite the whole fucking situation starting with Tan getting pissed off with Mackay saying that he wanted 3 more players. Tan says he Mackay wouldn't get a penny and now he is supposedly going to splash the cash again with the new manager.

What a twat. ****.

 

[UncleBuck]

I heard Ericsson has been lined up.....CCCC...Cardiff City Comedy Club

 

[robbiek]

I heard Ericsson has been lined up.....CCCC...Cardiff City Comedy Club

Not much greater a joke than us right now.

 

[Davo99]

Not much greater a joke than us right now.

Oh but yes they fucking are.

 

[Tott66]

Tan the merciless

 

[muppetman]

Tan allegedly booing his own team today :

https://vine.co/v/h9xAp0FgpVB

How do you embed stuff?

 

[sim0n]

Looks like he'll most likely be the new WBA manager now...