Malky Mackay is planning to take charge of Cardiff City’s Premier League match at Liverpool today, when he will be a dead man walking. Adamant that he will not quit, the Cardiff manager is resigned to the fact that he will be out of a job by the end of the weekend. It is possible that he will be dismissed before the Liverpool game kicks off.
Vincent Tan, Cardiff’s owner, was due to hold talks with Mehmet Dalman, the club’s chairman, in London last night. Mackay has not received any communication from Tan since the now notorious email that was sent to him by the Malaysian businessman earlier in the week, when the 41-year-old manager was told to resign or face being sacked.
Mackay, due a seven-figure sum in compensation if his contract is terminated, will not be walking away from the job that he has held for two and a half years.
In another remarkable development yesterday, it is understood that the Cardiff striker Craig Bellamy was asked if he would be willing to take charge of the team on a temporary basis, until a permanent manager is appointed.
Bellamy, who has always spoke highly of Mackay, made it clear he was not interested in the position. The process of trying to find a long-term replacement for Mackay is under way. The club are sounding out candidates, with Dalman optimistic that Cardiff can land a high-profile name.
Solskjaer mentioned
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the former Manchester United striker who is in charge of the Norwegian club Molde, is one of the names under consideration. Sven-Goran Eriksson, now working in China, has emerged as another option.
It is believed that Tan is proposing to give the new manager substantial funds when the transfer window reopens, despite telling Mackay this week that “not a single penny” was available.
Mackay was due to attend a press conference at the club’s Vale of Glamorgan training base yesterday morning only for David Kerslake, his assistant, to appear in his place. Otherwise Mackay has prepared as normal for the Liverpool game. He took training, held a team meeting with the players and boarded the flight to Merseyside with the squad and his back room staff. He knows that the end is in sight and it is now just a matter of when, and not if, he will be out of a job.
Kerslake said: “I am here just to talk about the Liverpool game. I came in this morning and was told to come in and do the press. Malky is in the pavilion now as we speak. As far as we are concerned it is just another game in which we face a wonderfully talented team. We have prepared all this week as professionally as always.”
The relationship between Mackay and Tan was beyond repair before the owner sent his email which expressed numerous grievances with the way the manager operated.
The document even compared Mackay's record as Watford manager with how Dave Jones performed in charge of Cardiff at that time. It should make for interesting reading for the League Managers Association.
Guardian Service
