Trouble Ahead at Cardiff City? MacKay Sacked *Cardiff Crazy Stuff Here*

Paully D

The owner, Vincent Tan, has sacked the clubs head of recruitment and replaced him with a 23 year old who's only experience of football comes from Football Manager and is a friend of the Tan's son.

Also, it appears that Tan asked Mackay to resign in a meeting yesterday, but Mackay refused.

Strange.

Source below:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/future-of-cardiff-city-manager-malky-mackay-uncertain-after-backroom-shakeup-that-triggers-fears-the-club-is-heading-for-calamity-8868928.html

Cardiff City today denied that the club’s owner Vincent Tan has asked manager Malky Mackay to resign, after the owner’s decision to replace the club’s head of recruitment with a 23-year-old friend of his son left the Scot’s future looking deeply uncertain.

Several sources have told The Independent that Tan asked Mackay to quit, during a tense meeting with senior members of club staff on Tuesday, and that the Scot – who is determined to carry on at the south Wales club - had categorically refused. But Mackay’s relationship with Tan, whose unusual perspective on football leads him to believe that Cardiff were promoted to the Premier League because of the “lucky red” strip he introduced, is now deeply damaged.

The Malaysian is understood to believe that Cardiff have overspent, should be in the Premier League top four and that their start to the season – which includes victory over Manchester City – is not good enough, after his own investment of £11m plus £70m in loans.

In the most extraordinary move yet of his controversial three-year tenure, Tan has replaced Iain Moody - the club’s head of recruitment, with whom Mackay first worked at Watford and to whom he is close, with 23-year-old Kazakhstani Alisher Apsalyamov. It is the clearest sign yet that the Welsh club’s ascent to the Premier League under the Malaysian may be heading towards calamity.

Apsalyamov, whose experience of football appears to be limited to computer games, attended the same Swiss finishing school as Tan’s own son. It is understood that his first job at the Premier League club entailed painting walls at the club’s stadium. But The Independent understands that he has also been shadowing Moody in the last six months, with the general impression being that Apsalyamov’s own father – a multi-millionaire – may be about to invest in a club where the 23-year-old might also play some kind of professional role.

Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan celebrates his team’s promotion to the Premier League Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan celebrates his team’s promotion to the Premier League

But after working alongside Moody – who was Mackay’s right-hand man – Apsalyamov was often seen watching Cardiff games on a laptop. The situation finally came to a head when Moody received a letter, explaining at some length why he was being removed from his position. The letter was withdrawn last night, when Tan received legal advice telling him that he was unable to suspend Moody. Instead, Moody was place on gardening leave until the end of the season.

Cardiff said today that they were “unable to comment due to the sensitivity of the issue” though privately refuted the idea of Tan demanding that the popular Scot, who has managed the South Wales club through the most successful period in their history, should go.

Kristopherus

It stinks of Nepotism.:eek:

sReq | uTeK

Madness, Bellamy bye bye

Rayne Wooney

What?? I bet he's shít at FM....It's a pity United turned down my Football Manager CV application.

GLaDOS

Pissed all over the Cardiff City FC traditions to make them more marketable and generally doesn't appear to have a clue about realistic expectations for a newly promoted club.

Isn't there a fit and proper person test or something?

Owen_S

The worrying thing is that Football Manager now allows you to hire a director of football to handle transfers. It is possible that he only has experience in hiring somebody to hire players in a computer game.

BOHtox

They were threatening to ban fans who refuse to sit as well.

Against modern football!

IvySlayer

Who would touch that job with that owner?

GLaDOS

IvySlayer wrote: »

Who would touch that job with that owner?

I'm sure his son has other friends, who were even better at FM.

SantryRed

I hope they crash and burn. Changing their kit from blue to red. **** off.

grenache

Far eastern owners in general seem to be nuts and have no proper understanding of European football or how it works. Think of Shinawatra at City or that nutcase at Birmingham. Now it's these loons at Cardiff.

Middle Eastern owners seem relatively sane in comparison.

CSF

ScienceNerd wrote: »

Pissed all over the Cardiff City FC traditions to make them more marketable and generally doesn't appear to have a clue about realistic expectations for a newly promoted club.

Isn't there a fit and proper person test or something?

I agree and all, but with this said, he has been the only chairman able to get them up to the Premiership.

Dempsey

Cardiff City fans should be boycotting the club at this stage

Richard Hillman

BOHtox wrote: »

They were threatening to ban fans who refuse to sit as well.

Against modern football!

1. Cringe
2. Because giving your mates son a job didnt happen when shorts were so long they were around your ankles and everybody had mutton chops.

BOHtox

Richard Hillman wrote: »

1. Cringe
2. Because giving your mates son a job didnt happen when shorts were so long they were around your ankles and everybody had mutton chops.

Why did you bother quoting me? I never said anything to the contrary. In fact, I didn't give an opinion at all on the matter in the OP. I said their fans were threatened with bans as a 'btw'.

As has already been mentioned, pissing away club traditions to be marketed in a place far away and fans not being able to stand at matches are very much parts of modern football that are to be despised!

kryogen

Trouble ahead? Yes.

kryogen

Owen_S wrote: »

The worrying thing is that Football Manager now allows you to hire a director of football to handle transfers. It is possible that he only has experience in hiring somebody to hire players in a computer game.

I may be drunk, but he could do worse then pick who he buys based on FM

I am drunk

Chris Martin

I'm a Blackburn Rovers fan, and if it is true, I feel your pain...
Hope it's resolved ASAP as I can't wish the consequences on any fan.
Watching your club slowly become the laughing stop of a league, a guaranteed 3 points home or away, rinsing through managers like there's no tomorrow, falling out with players, staff and fans of the club, the people coming in week after week buying tickets, giving them money...
I can count the amount of good decisions the Venkys have made to Blackburn on one hand, and could probably take a machete to it and have some left over...
The one good thing they did is buy Rhodes, who I don't see staying much longer when PL teams offer him a massive contract and a higher standard of football.
These owners come in from far over sea with a notion to buy a club without knowing the rules of the game. They set their own outlandish expectations for the club and if they stray off the path at all, they terminate staff and hire in new, generally cheaper or homegrown replacements... Venkys bought Blackburn not knowing they could be relegated... I mean come on like...
So to end up, I hope whatever's wrong is rectified, if not, I hope an external body comes in and buys the club before it's too late for them...

thebaz

"The Malaysian is understood to believe that Cardiff have overspent, should be in the Premier League top four and that their start to the season – which includes victory over Manchester City – is not good enough,"

is Tan for real ?? - Cardiff have done brilliantly for what they have spent under Tan; what they buy 3 players , moderate spending by Premiership standards, and suddenly should be in the top 4 with Chelsea, City, Arsenal or United - nevermind Everton, spurs, liverpool, southampton and swansea who have all spent more - if anything Cardiff under mackay have over achieved so far.

JPA

BOHtox wrote: »

They were threatening to ban fans who refuse to sit as well.

That's normal behaviour at a lot of clubs.


Anyway Cardiff, another club to point and laugh at.

Lovely Bloke

Dempsey wrote: »

Cardiff City fans should be boycotting the club at this stage

fans of any club will find reasons to blindy stay loyal in the most trying of circumstances.

Guaranteed Celtic Park would still be full if somehow the Celtic owners changed the colours from stripey to blue, white and red. Espcially, say, if Celtic got to a CL Final in those colours.

geeky

This isn't the first or last example of major nepotism in football.

If the owner was some local steel magnate hiring his mate's son to sweeten him up for a possible future investment, I doubt it would be covered like this.

Tan seems to be a bit ridiculous, and I'd say that letter was an entertaining read, but the hostility to foreign owners and reporting on them as if this stuff never happened in the good old all-English days smacks of xenophobia.

Moneymaker

Shame, they were going in the right direction.

greendom

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

fans of any club will find reasons to blindy stay loyal in the most trying of circumstances.

.

Especially considering they're holding their own in the Premier League. Even a few years they could only have dreamed of that. Hopefully someone can knock some sense into that owner and this will only be a minor hic-cup.

Anyone

I don't see the issue, it should be grand as long as he saves before he buys/sells players.

SlickRic

ah Cardiff.

Mr. Guappa

As long as Cardiff continue on a generally upward curve the fans will gloss over plenty crap.

Moneymaker

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

As long as Cardiff continue on a generally upward curve the fans will gloss over plenty crap.

That's the point. Decisions like this will cause that upward curve to nosedive.

Undermining and trying to force out a man who is universally recognised as doing a great job will cause all sorts of trouble and it's sad to see.

IvySlayer

One of the reasons I'm grateful the Glazers are actually good, non-interfering owners.

What exactly does Malkay need to do? He's got Cardiff into the Premier League. No reason to suggest they will go down this season.

SlickRic

IvySlayer wrote: »

What exactly does Malkay need to do? He's got Cardiff into the Premier League. No reason to suggest they will go down this season.

top 4.

as ludicrous as that sounds.

The Rooster

IvySlayer wrote: »

One of the reasons I'm grateful the Glazers are actually good, non-interfering owners.

What exactly does Malkay need to do? He's got Cardiff into the Premier League. No reason to suggest they will go down this season.

We'll see how good the Glazers are now that they haven't got Ferguson. The 10s of millions effectively wasted on interest each year didnt matter to most fans as Ferguson could still build winning teams.

Anyone could have looked a good owner over the last decade with Ferguson in charge. So far they havent had to be "good", all they've had to be was not be complete nutcases and let Ferguson work away bringing success after success.

SlickRic wrote: »

top 4.

as ludicrous as that sounds.

According to the papers. Not sure he has actually said anything. He's clearly a bit off, but that means the English media will make up more and more stuff to make him look a complete header.

carlop

Just think of the possibilities though if this is a massive success. All those hours wasted playing Championship Manager will suddenly be straight to the top of the CV.

RayCon

carlop wrote: »

Just think of the possibilities though if this is a massive success. All those hours wasted playing Championship Manager will suddenly be straight to the top of the CV.

For more "vintage gamers" like me , it means I can still hope to convince a team to sign me on my ability to score regularly from the half way line :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMP6HabybRM

IvySlayer

Depends what version he's playing, he could sign Kim Kallstrom, Cherno Samba, Moukoko

cson

Bring Marcus Allback out of retirement. He'll surely do that.

Moneymaker

You lads know nothing.

Maxim Tsigalko is where it's at. :P

carlop

Taribo West has already been spotted at Cardiff airport.

Paully D

'Club must tell fans the full story, or Malky will' - says Mackay's agent.

There's a club board meeting tomorrow which could be interesting!

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/cardiff-city-boss-malky-mackays-6180743

Malky Mackay’s future as Cardiff City manager could be decided at Bluebirds’ crisis talks on Monday.

Mackay will be present at a club board meeting where the extraordinary events of the past week will be discussed.

The Scot’s position has been thrown into doubt since the shock departure of his trusted lieutenant Iain Moody.

The club’s head of recruitment – who worked closely alongside Mackay in signing players during the Scot’s two-year reign in South Wales – was replaced by Alisher Apsalyamov, a 23-year-old Kazakh without any known football experience.

Bluebirds owner Vincent Tan went on record with his support of Mackay when the club finally broke their silence on the Moody affair on Friday.

But Mackay will seek assurances from the Cardiff City hierarchy at today’s board meeting and urge the club to tell supporters what has been going on.

And Raymond Sparkes, Mackay’s agent of the past 23 years, says the Scot will do so himself if the club is not forthcoming on the matter.

But Sparkes, speaking exclusively to WalesOnline ahead of the board meeting, insisted his client has no intention of resigning from his position.

Sparkes said: “From the word go Malky’s concern has not been for himself, it is for the club itself.

“He is deeply concerned that what was being built at Cardiff City, the momentum being built over the last two years, is in danger of unravelling.

“Malky is basically trying to protect what he has achieved at Cardiff City and is not worried about himself so much.

“He completely understands the anxiety that must be building among the club’s supporters.

“He believes nothing has been explained to the fans in what has been going on for a number of days now.

“Malky understands there has been a lack of clarity and will insist at the end of the board meeting that the chairman or other senior directors provide supporters with a clear explanation of what has been going on.

“If that cannot be done he will take it upon himself to do it.

“He does not want the club’s fans left in the dark for too much longer.”

Sparkes said Mackay is aware that supporters are concerned about his own situation, the 41-year-old among the most successful and popular managers in Bluebirds’ history.

Mackay – who joined from Watford in the summer of 2011 – led Cardiff to the League Cup final and the Championship play-offs in his first season.

The following season the Bluebirds were promoted as Championship champions, ending a 51-year exile in the top flight of English football.

And City have made a decent start in their inaugural Premier League season, taking eight points from seven games and claiming the scalp of title favourites Manchester City.

“Malky does not want to talk about himself too much right now, but he is aware the biggest question that many people have is what is the manager’s current situation,” said Sparkes.

“He knows everyone wants him to stay and he says ‘yes he will do that’.

“But he needs certain assurances at the meeting that these things will be better as we move forward.

“Malky has been overwhelmed by the amount of support he has had, both locally and nationally, from different sports and the business world.

“The situation at Cardiff is that if you say there are 100 people working at the club today we are certain 95 of them support the manager.

“The five remaining people, one of whom, of course, is the owner Vincent Tan and the others who will take the lead of Mr Tan and dance to his tune.

“In the meeting we will be seeking to find out the support from Vincent Tan to Malky moving into the future.

“We have to feel the climate is right to be able to move things forward.

“We know there are three of four doubting Thomases and Malky is aware right now there is not 100% support for him in the club.”

Sparkes insists Mackay’s main aim on Monday is to clarify his position following the removal of Moody.

“Malky is not going to into the board meeting emotionally,” said Sparkes.

“He will be reporting three or four facts that he believes the chairman (Mehmet Dalman), in particular, and the senior directors will not be aware of.

“Malky’s main aim is to seek and clarify his position at the club moving forward.

“We would like to make it totally clear that Malky has no intention of resigning.

“He feels he has made a genuine bond with the club, the city of Cardiff and the people of the city, particularly the Bluebirds’ supporters.

“He just wishes to be given the chance to continue with the job he has started and continue the journey he started with Cardiff City more than two years ago.

“He will go into the meeting with an open mind and will be seeking assurances about his concerns of his relationship with the owner and, hopefully, he will get those assurances.”

Coillte_Bhoy

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

fans of any club will find reasons to blindy stay loyal in the most trying of circumstances.

Guaranteed Celtic Park would still be full if somehow the Celtic owners changed the colours from stripey to blue, white and red. Espcially, say, if Celtic got to a CL Final in those colours.

Nope it wouldnt, it may be full of fans but they wouldnt be celtic fans, you just don't get it, but no matter.

Dempsey

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

fans of any club will find reasons to blindy stay loyal in the most trying of circumstances.

Guaranteed Celtic Park would still be full if somehow the Celtic owners changed the colours from stripey to blue, white and red. Espcially, say, if Celtic got to a CL Final in those colours.

Not every set of supporters are passive idiots. If you knew anything about the clubs history, you'd know that Celtic fans have dealt with owners that put their own interests before the clubs before and played a huge part in getting those people out and saving the club from oblivion.

As for the idea that any owner would bastardize a world renowned brand, it will probably happen with small desperate clubs looking to exploit that cash cow that is the EPL but not at clubs like Celtic.

Paully D

That lasted long!

BBC Sport ‏@BBCSport 1m
Cardiff City recruitment boss, Alisher Apsalyamov, 23, steps aside from his role while the Home Office looks into a possible visa issue.

retalivity

With his championship manager experience he should have known the work permit rules for the uk

Cantona's Collars

The owner has told Malky Mackay to resign or be sacked.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25457024

This crowd are as bad as Venky's at Blackburn.

Dolph Starbeam

Edit. Double post.

Dolph Starbeam

Hope Mackay just gets out now. I seriously hope that nobody takes the managers job until Tan leaves. Disgraceful stuff.

Muff_Daddy

YayaBanana wrote: »

Hope Mackay just gets out now. I seriously hope that nobody takes the managers job until Tan leaves. Disgraceful stuff.

Di Canio wouldn't mind the job.

Two nutcases, a match made in hevean or hell whichever way you want to look at it.

The_Kew_Tour

He aint gonna resign.

Might as well get his cash. Cant blame him.

shocking and just stupid.

kryogen

No way in hell Id resign, make the idiot pay at the very least

Timmyctc

Football is increasingly becoming a farce of a sport with owners like this.

Lord Trollington

Timmyctc wrote: »

Football is increasingly becoming a farce of a sport with owners like this.

It's what happens when people with far too much money get involved in something they know little about.

Rayne Wooney

Why would he resign, unless it's something about the stigma of being sacked which would be ridiculous, stay in the job and take the pay off that he gets when he's sacked.

He's actually doing a good job, the club is just a circus.