Goodbye Mackay!

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is Vincent Tan’s top target to become the next manager of Cardiff City after Malky Mackay’s sacking on Friday.
As revealed by Mail Online, Tan has identified the former Manchester United striker as the kind of young and dynamic manager he needs to keep Cardiff in the Barclays Premier League.
Solskjaer has impressed in his first spell in management, winning two league titles and the Norwegian Cup in his homeland with Molde.

Option: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is interestied in managing in the Premier League and could be next at Cardiff

Centre of attention: Malky Mackay has been sacked by Cardiff after days of speculation

Controversial: Cardiff owner Vincent Tan has courted controversy for his attitude towards Mackay, who is now favourite for the Baggies position

VINCENT TAN'S STATEMENT

'There has been a good deal of publicity generated by and about Mr Malky Mackay over the last few months. Indeed far too much dirty linen has been exposed to the public gaze.
'But, I stress, not by me. Indeed, 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, or 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.'

However, the 40-year-old is understood to have some reservations about the post, which Cardiff’s chairman Mehmet Dalman will attempt to overcome with the promise of a hefty January transfer budget.
A source close to Tan told Sportsmail: ‘Solskjaer is the first choice for the job and there will be a lot of money to spend in January — enough to make sure Cardiff stay up. The owner wants a young, hungry and dynamic manager to come in.’
That is a far cry from one of the messages that pre-empted Mackay’s exit. In an extraordinary statement released 12 days ago, Tan, via the club’s chief executive Simon Lim, told Mackay he would not get a ‘single penny’ to spend in January.
It was Lim, with whom Mackay has had a difficult relationship, who broke the news to the Scot in Cardiff that he had been sacked.

Not a fan of Tan: This Cardiff supporter turned up at the stadium after Mackay was axed

Mackay: No meeting scheduled with Vincent Tan

TIMELINE OF A CRISIS

April 16: Cardiff City are promoted to the Barclays Premier League. Vincent Tan initially promises a cash injection of £25million for new players but that sum is later increased to £35m.
October 8: Mackay's head of recruitment, Iain Moody, who worked with him at Watford, is placed on gardening leave and then sacked. He is replaced by 23-year-old Alisher Apsalyamov, who attended the same Swiss school as one of Tan’s sons. Overspending in the summer is later given as the reason.
October 31: Kazakhstani Apsalyamov, who earlier in the summer had been painting parts of the stadium, stands down from his position as he did not have the correct visa.
December 16: Tan, via Cardiff CEO Simon Lim, releases a statement slamming Mackay for saying after a win over West Brom that, in an ideal world, he would three new signings in January. Lim says Tan is upset and that Mackay will not get a ‘single penny’ to spend. Lim says Cardiff overspent by £15m in the summer.
December 16: Tan sends Mackay a long email criticising his signings, results and the team’s performances. It is understood this email made 27 points, culminating in an ultimatum: resign or be sacked. Mackay replied: ‘No, thank you.’
December 21: Mackay reiterates after losing to Liverpool that he will not resign from his job. He later revealed he expected to be sacked that weekend.
December 22: Chairman Mehmet Dalman, seen as a peace-broker in the saga, issues a club statement that says Mackay will stay as manager for the ‘foreseeable future’ after postponing a holiday to hold an emergency meeting with Tan in London.
December 27: Mackay is sacked.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI

Tan, meanwhile, was in London, where he met Dalman for a final discussion before confirming his intention to axe the 41-year-old.
Mackay’s assistant, David Kerslake, and first-team coach Joe McBride will take temporary charge for Saturday’s clash against Sunderland.
The club are understood to be keen to make an appointment quickly, with fixtures against Arsenal, Newcastle, Manchester City and Manchester United in the next month. Solskjaer is out of contract in the summer.
Controversial former owner Sam Hammam, who is now Cardiff’s life president and  a confidante of Tan’s, gave his backing to Solskjaer but ruled out a move for former England boss Sven Goran Eriksson.
He said: ‘It is not like Vincent Tan woke up one day and said, “What shall I do? I will sack Malky”. This has been going on for months, after we had bought all those players. We could tell it wasn’t working between those two.
‘If you look at why they reached the Premier League it is two things — Malky’s ability and also, far more importantly, Vincent Tan’s money. But all the accolades went to Malky.
‘I hope the new manager, it is not someone like Eriksson. We need hungry people, people who put their foot on the brake when spending money.’
Referring to Solskjaer, Hammam added: ‘From my point of view he is in line with the profile Cardiff want. I have known him since he was a young kid and I tried to buy him when I was owner of Wimbledon.
‘He had a good grounding at Manchester United and now he is manager at Molde, he will have a good grounding.’
Sources close to Turkish veteran Yilmaz Vural, who has managed 22 clubs in Turkey, have claimed Cardiff have been in regular contact this week, while Blackpool manager Paul Ince is understood to have an outside chance.
Earlier on Friday, Vural's agent had mischievously tweeted that 'explosive' events lay ahead at Cardiff.
Muzzi Ozcan tweeted: 'The story is coming to a End in Wales and a new story will be born ... The next 48 hours will be explosive!'

Up next? Sven Goran Eriksson has been linked to the Cardiff manager's job

Interesting fellow: Yilmaz Vural is a journeyman who has taken charge of several sides in Turkey

Waving goodbye: Mackay has been ditched despite fan support

Meanwhile, the Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust were left frustrated when owner Tan called off a planned meeting.
Chairman Tim Hartley said: 'We are very disappointed that this meeting has been postponed at a time of great instability at the club. We’ve been told that Mr Tan will meet the Trust when the new manager is appointed and we now look forward to that meeting.
'Given the recent off the field debacle, we believe it is more important than ever that Mr Tan engages with supporter groups and the fans generally. This meeting provided Mr Tan with an immediate opportunity to start building bridges with fans and that opportunity has been missed.
'There are many questions the fans still want answered, around corporate governance and transparency, the club’s financial future and the rebranding. We will put these to Mr Tan at our rearranged meeting which needs to be held as soon as possible.'
The move to sack Mackay is the culmination of a saga that appeared to start in October, when Iain Moody was sacked as head of recruitment and replaced by Alisher Apsalyamov, a 23-year-old friend of the owner's son.
Apsalyamov had been painting the stadium in the summer and has since stood down, as the Kazakhstani did not have the correct visa.

Anger: The fans are unhappy with Tan's treatment of manager Mackay and the decision to change the colour of the strip from blue to red

Tensions have escalated and reached a boiling point, when Tan sent Mackay an email listing reasons why he had not performed well in his role.
They included criticisms of his signings, not least the price paid for certain players, as well as results and tactics. It ended with an ultimatum: resign or be sacked.
Mackay replied succinctly: 'No, thank you.'
Much of the way the issue has been handled has drawn criticism from supporters, with 'Tan Out' shouted at matches.
His decision in 2012 to switch the club's colours to red from blue also caused significant aggravation and several hundred fans protested against him before the Boxing Day home defeat by Southampton.

Protests: Cardiff fans held a large protest on Boxing Day, and at Liverpool last week

Support: Mackay was backed to the hilt by the Cardiff fans but find himself out of work

Thumbs up: Mackay (right) and Tan in happier times and (below) with the Championship trophy

Questions can be fairly asked of his tactics. More often than not, he has played a defensive five-man midfield and relied on set-pieces and counter-attacks.
They were positive in beating Clarke’s West Brom and initially against Southampton, where he fielded two up front, but those are among the exceptions.
There have been negative tactics and some of the signings have not justified their outlay. Andreas Cornelius cost roughly £8m and is one acquisition, in particular, that Tan is understood to have questioned.
He has struggled with injuries and Thursday’s appearance off the bench was only his sixth in the league, none of which have been starts.
Then there’s John Brayford. He cost £1.5m and hasn’t had a game outside of the League Cup. Of course, Steve Caulker has been excellent for £9m, as has Gary Medel for £11m, even though the latter is understood to have been touted around Europe for a lesser price earlier in the summer.

Share or comment on this article