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Cardif City have sacked manager Malky Mackay in the aftermath of the 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Southampton yesterday. Owner Vincent Tan has decided to dispense with the Scot’s services after a bitter public breakdown of the relationship between the boss and the owner.
After months of uncomfortable tension between manager and owner, the Welsh side have decided to end his time in charge, bringing an end to some of the most bizarre few weeks at a Premier League club.It comes less than 24 hours after yesterday’s 3-0 home defeat against Southampton, which followed fans’ protests against Tan’s running of the club. Last week, Tan sent Mackay an email asking him to resign or be sacked in which he listed a number of grievances.
He is said to have criticized Mackay in a number of areas including signings, transfer budgets, results on the pitch and style of play. The Malaysian businessman also questioned the former Watford manager’s record as a boss. On the same day, a statement issued by Simon Lim revealed Tan was “deeply upset” with Mackay after he told reporters he was targeting three January signings without consulting the club hierarchy first. It followed the removal of Mackay’s head of recruitment Iain Moody in October, over a perceived £15m overspend of the club’s summer transfer budget. All along, Mackay has insisted this was not the case and contended the club was actually £4m under budget in its transfer dealings. Mackay arrived in South Wales on June 17, 2011, after Dave Jones left the club following a comprehensive play-off defeat by Reading. Famously, he had just 10 players at his disposal during his first training session but went onto guide the club to the play-off semi finals and a League Cup final in his first season. They were beaten by West Ham in the play-offs and lost 3-2 to Liverpool on penalties at Wembley but Mackay’s reputation as one of Britian’s brightest young managers was firmly established. The following year, led by Mackay, the Bluebirds romped to the Championship title, winning the league by eight points from second-placed Hull City with 87 points. It was an historic promotion – taking City to the top flight for the first time in 52 years. So far in their debut Premier League appearance, the Bluebirds have amassed 17 points with four wins including famous triumphs over Manchester City and Swansea in the South Wales derby and a home draw against current Champions Manchester United. The relation between the owner and the boss is evident below.
