It's impossible to deny that under Malky Mackay Cardiff City as a football club made huge strides. Featuring in a league cup final, returning to top flight football, beating the 2011-2012 Premier League winners Manchester City and winning the first ever Premier League Welsh Darby. It's a list that many a manager would envy. But it's also fair - although not popular - to say that a large part of this is due to the financial backing of Vincent Tan. Undoubtedly Mackay is a fantastic manager who's talents are plain to see, but were it not for the stability - all be it monetary - his task would have been far tougher. Yet the poison chalice of owner Tan was both the catalyst and the inhibitor of Mackay's success. This is not to say that Malky couldn't have achieved this without Tan, simply that the financial position the club was in before the Malaysian businessman came on board would simply not have allowed it. So goes the argument of club owners who are all business but no football, a discourse for several other articles no doubt. For the stats' fans Mackay was manager for 125 games. This included 54 wins, 37 draws and 34 losses, giving him a win percentage of 43.2% - higher than any other Cardiff City manager in modern times. So now the bluebird baton passes to Ole Gunnar Solskjær, with the majority of fans and pundits supporting his appointment. His managerial pedigree is certainly a strong one, having managed Manchester United reserves under Sir Alex as well as winning two Norwegian league titles and a cup with Molde FK. As ever the legacy left by a manager can be found in the testimonials of the fans, and so I will leave you with some words from the supporters I interviewed for this article. Tim:
"He will always be rated as the best manager we've had so far, simply because he got us up into the premiership."
Shaun:
"I honestly believe that he's the best manager Cardiff have ever had. Not just in my lifetime, literally ever. He wasn't allowed to finish the job he started, and I think that's the biggest regret everyone will have."
What are your opinions of Cardiff City under Malky Mackay? Please feel free to comment below.
I'm a 26 year old Welsh psychology graduate working in PR & Journalism. I enjoy writing, films, TV, games, sport, philosophy, psychology and mixing them all together. I occupy time and cyberspace on twitter @simcolluk
