Mackay: They won’t force me out
MALKY MACKAY will not resign as manager of Cardiff Ci t y, despite being undermined by the extraordinary decision of the club’s owner to replace his right-hand man with a 23- year- old schoolfriend of his son.
Several significant figures at the club fear the manager’ s r elationship with Malaysian millionaire Vincent Tan is now damaged beyond repair.
But Mackay will not walk away f rom the club he l ed to the Championship title last season, even though he is known to be furious about the decision to put his head of recruitment, Iain Moody, on gardening leave.
Sportsmail understands the private reasoning behind Tan’s decision was Moody’s alleged overspending during a summer transfer spree, amounting to approximately £34million, and a further suggestion the players he signed are not good enough.
Tan also believes Cardiff should be in the top four.
A farcical edge has been added by the identity of the man the club have temporarily appointed in Moody’s place, with Kazakhstani Alisher Apsalyamov having no known previous experience of working in football.
The fact Apsalyamov is believed t o be in t he country on a temporary visa is just one peculiar aspect of this bizarre saga.
It has emerged that in addition to attending a Swiss finishing school with Tan’s son, U- Jiun, he was painting walls at the club’s stadium barely three months ago.
Mackay was last night understood to be livid, not just for the way he has been undermined but more fundamentally because the Scot does not agree with the action against his close friend.
Senior staff at the club learned of the decision early on Tuesday afternoon, when an email to all department heads and select members of the football operation were told Moody was suspended pending an investigation.
That situation was then amended a couple of hours later when it was said Moody would be placed on gardening leave with full pay.
Sportsmail has been told the size of Cardiff ’s summer spending was the reason given to certain individuals for the disciplinary reaction, with Tan allegedly angry the money spent did not include wages and other fees.
Mackay’s relationship with Tan had already been tested by a row over player bonuses.
Tan had enraged the players by refusing to fork out a seven-figure sum to go into an end-of-season bonus pot, albeit he later relented and made an offer that was still some way below what the playing staff expected.
Mackay stepped in to mediate on that i ssue, although it’s understood the players made it clear they did not want to see Tan in the dressing room.
Tan has caused no shortage of controversy since taking over in 2010. Last year, he provoked protest marches because of his rebranding of the club that saw Cardiff change their primary colour from blue to red and alter their crest.