Cardiff City sack Malky Mackay
Scotsman loses power struggle with club's controversial Malaysian owner Vincent Tan
Malky Mackay lost a destabilising power struggle with Cardiff’s divisive owner on Friday, becoming the fourth English Premier League soccer manager to be fired this month.
The Scot was dismissed just five days after being told by the club he would remain in charge for the “foreseeable future”.
Despite that assurance, there was a caveat that the former Celtic and Norwich defender had to heal his rift with Vincent Tan, which seemed unlikely given the owner’s apparent refusal to meet him in recent months.
The Malaysian owner and Mackay clashed over the dismissal of head of recruitment Iain Moody in October. And Mackay’s future at the south Wales club seemed to be doomed when he received an ultimatum last week from Tan to resign or be fired in an e-mail that listed grievances against the manager.
[Malky Mackay] will recover, come back fighting and show that he’s the great manager he is
Tan, who bought Cardiff in 2010 and hired Mackay the following year, had already alienated some supporters by changing the club’s colours from blue to red and adopting a new crest.
Now the team is in a struggle to stay in the top division, with a loss to Southampton on Wednesday leaving them only a point above the relegation zone.