The Bluebirds have to keep hold of Malky Mackay

Cardiff boss Malky Mackay’s future is in doubt after club replaced head of recruitment Iain Moody

Malky Mackay’s future at Cardiff is in doubt after the club replaced head of recruitment Iain Moody with 23-year-old Alisher Apsalyamov, a family friend of owner Vincent Tan.

Moody was one of Mackay’s most trusted staff and the Scot is believed to be annoyed by his departure.

Shrewd

Moody played a major role in Cardiff’s recruitment drive this summer. The likes of Steven Caulker and Gary Medel were brought to the club in the summer and both have impressed immensely so far this season.

Meeting

There will be a board meeting later today to discuss the situation at the club, as Mackay seeks assurances that the club will remain stable in the future.

Mackay’s agent Raymond Sparkes told Wales Online: “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?’

“He knows everyone wants him to stay and he says, ‘Yes’, he will do that. But he needs certain assurances that these things will be better as we move forward.

“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.”

Outstanding

Malky Mackay is one of the most talented up-and-coming managers in British football. The Scot is highly-rated and was linked with the Everton job this summer when David Moyes joined Manchester United.

Mackay has helped the club to the Capital One Cup final in 2012, where they were narrowly defeated by Liverpool. Last season came the big achievement, promotion to the Premier League. The Bluebirds had missed out on numerous occasions in the play-offs under Dave Jones.

Mackay went a step further by guiding the Welsh to English top-flight for the first time in the clubs history. The Scot is a relative rookie in managerial terms, but he has already proved to be an astute operator.

When a lot of teams are promoted from the Championship they are expected to struggle for points. However, Cardiff have already shown a great deal of quality and spirit this season and I certainly will not be betting on them being relegated this season.

Controversial

I think it is fair to say that Cardiff owner Vincent Tan has enjoyed a controversial reign as Cardiff owner so far. His most controversial decision so far was changing the clubs home colours from blue to red.

The decision did not go down well with the Bluebirds fans at all. The Malaysian may have backed his manager in the transfer market, but it seems he is starting to annoy his own fans. The latest move to sack a trusted member of Mackay’s staff has been met by consternation amongst Cardiff fans.

Tan apparently has faith in his manager saying: “I have supported him in the past and will do so in the future for many years to come,”

Surely if he has faith in Mackay then he would trust his judgement in the staff that helped him do his job for the last couple of years. The whole situation seems to have left a bad taste in everybody’s mouth connected with Cardiff, apart from Tan and his friends it seems.

Tan may have put some money into Cardiff, but the way he has handled club affairs seems to be slapdash to say the least. This is starting to look like a similar situation to one that Blackburn has found themselves in under the Venkys.

The Venkys had no experience of football. In fact it seemed they were new to football completely. I do not claim to know Tan’s background, but the appointment of a 23-year-old, who was till recently doing work on the clubs ground, seems to be a very naïve one.

We all know that it is not what you know, but who you know in life. However, the decision to appoint the inexperienced Apsalyamov is a ridiculous one. The Cardiff owner claims that he wants to move the club forward, but making decisions like this that will only end in disaster.

Stability

Cardiff City has moved forward leaps and bounds in the last few years. They have a team playing in the Premier League and a really good chance of remaining in the top-flight this season. However, if the club allow Malky Mackay to leave then they could be in trouble.

Unfortunately this sort of situation seems to be on the rise, a case of a foreign owner coming into a football club and making big decisions, despite seemingly having little knowledge about the game. I just hope that it is not the Cardiff fans and the likeable Mackay that suffer at the hands of Tan’s big decisions.

Will Malky Mackay leave Cardiff?