Search for manager ends – welcome to Cardiff Malky Mackay.

Posted on June 18, 2011 by The other Bob Wilson

After the Alan Shearer distraction, things moved on at pace in the search for a new manager when Watford turned down a request from us to be allowed to talk to their manager Malky Mackay about filling the vacant position at Cardiff City Stadium. Watford Chairman Laurence Bassini appeared to offer little hope to City of them getting their man when quoted on the matter on the club’s website, but, significantly, his tone had softened a few hours later. Early on Thursday reports surfaced that Mackay had quit his job at Vicarage Road because he was being denied the chance to speak to Cardiff. This turned out not to be the case, but Mackay had made his club aware of his desire to listen to what we had to say and it wasn’t long before permission to do this was granted.

From here, there was always a feeling that City’s two and a half week search for a new manager was coming to an end and once an acceptable compensation figure (which I have seen reported to be as high as £1 million, but the often quoted figure of £300,000 would appear to be closer to the truth) had been agreed between the clubs, it seemed only a matter of time before the appointment was confirmed.

A new manager and a new kit - Malky Mackay poses for the cameras with the 2011/12 shirt which (incredibly by Cardiff City standards) will be on sale from 1 July.

So, what sort of manager are we getting to replace Dave Jones? Well, despite fairly unspectacular finishing positions, Malky Mackay is largely thought to have over achieved at Watford in his two seasons with them when you consider that he was working with one of the smallest playing budgets in the Championship. In 2009/10 Watford flirted with the Play Offs for a while before dropping towards the relegation zone, but a rally in the final month of the campaign saw them survive pretty comfortably in sixteenth place. Last season though Watford looked to be genuine automatic promotion contenders around the turn of the year – their performance in inflicting QPR’s first defeat of the campaign (by 3-1 at Loftus Road) was as good as any I saw from a Championship side in 10/11 and they were far too strong for us in their 4-1 win at Vicarage Road just over a fortnight later. Within three weeks, Watford were visiting us on the back of a run of six consecutive league wins, but with their central midfield decimated by injuries and loan recalls, they were 3-0 down a little over half an hour into the game. From there though, they rallied so well that they were back at 3-2 early in the second half and the next half an hour or so made for very uncomfortable viewing as they took the game to City before a late goal made the game safe for us.

From there though, Watford tailed off rather and I suppose a finishing position of fourteenth was a disappointment given  the heady heights reached in January. Things have to be looked at in context though and Watford’s was that, just as in Malky Mackay’s first season in charge, many had his team down as relegation material before a ball was kicked. It was not just that Watford were doing better than most thought they would though, it was that they were doing so by playing attractive and progressive football . Although I didn’t agree with them, there were plenty of City fans who thought Mackay’s men were the best opposing team to visit Cardiff City Stadium last season. What was not in doubt though was Watford’s goal power – only Norwich and Leeds scored more goals than them, they were the Championship’s highest scorers away from home and they had the division’s leading scorer in Danny Graham.

Malky Mackay celebrates his third promotion to the Premiership in three seasons (he did it with Norwich in 2004 and West Ham in 2005) after Watford's 3-0 win over Leeds in the 2006 Play Off Final in the Millennium Stadium.

Speaking as someone who has had Malky Mackay as their number one choice for manager for about ten days, I have to say I’m pleased by the appointment and he made a good first impression in his press conference yesterday (Cardiff City World subscribers can watch it here) – he certainly seems to have impressed the local media who were actually allowed to attend! Although he wasn’t the one who set it up, Watford’s youth Academy is one of the best around and it would be great if Malky Mackay was able to get something similar set up at Cardiff – the Watford Academy and much of Mackay’s football philosophy is described in this long but impressive interview from last March.

First priority for our new manager though has to be getting new players good enough to challenge for a first team place in quickly – he won’t find too many there in our current Academy team I’m afraid. Because we have lost so many players.  the excuse used by many new managers that their under performing side is one they inherited, not their own won’t ring as true for Malky Mackay because there has to be every chance that his first choice starting eleven will include five or six players not at the club at present. Also, the tone adopted by himself and Chief Executive Gethin Jenkins in the press conference yesterday was not one which suggested that consolidation was an option – it appears that Mackay will have the funds available to attract quality players and, in that sense, I’m not sure that expectation levels will be too much lower than last season by the time the new campaign kicks off. However, although it has to be said that there are those who are not convinced by him at the moment, I’m optimistic that our new manager will prove himself up to the task – welcome to Cardiff Malky Mackay.

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My cancelled season ticket – what should I do?.

Posted on June 15, 2011 by The other Bob Wilson

I’m in a dilemma now, because at 8 o clock last night I fired off an e-mail to the City demanding a refund on my season ticket because of the appointment of Alan Shearer. Four hours later, it emerged that he is not coming after all, so, do I now send off another e-mail cancelling my cancellation, do I do nothing because we’ll only go and appoint another idiot in a few days time or do I do nothing because City always ignore the e-mails I send them anyway?

I hope it’s obvious that I wasn’t being serious there, but yesterday really was an embodiment of the times we live in. If it had been twenty years ago, there would have been a few “in the know” supporters around who would tell a circle of friends that we were in for Alan Shearer. The rest of us though would have known bugger all about any approach for him until we read his statement in the Echo when we would, in all likelihood, have reacted with something like “oh well, but good on City for showing some ambition”.

In the early twenty first century though we learn from online bookies early on in the day about large (well, fairly large) amounts of money being placed on Shearer in the Cork area of Ireland. From there a feeding frenzy develops where everyone has an instant opinion to express online and within hours, those “in the know” posters are talking about press conferences this morning to formally introduce Shearer to the media – people have to be first with the news in the race to stay ahead of the rapidly chasing pack.

Judging by the messageboard reaction to his rumoured appointment, Alan Shearer would not have enjoyed the same sort of idolatry that he did in his failed spell as Newcastle boss.

I suppose the last two paragraphs sound a bit smug and superior, but, if it does, I’ve got nothing to be smug and superior about. I didn’t post much on the messageboards during the maddest period of Shearer mania, but only because I was out for a lot of that time – if I had been able to, I would have no doubt been there with the best of them passing instant judgments on the half truths and rumours as they emerged.

Except, in this case at least, there was some substance to all of the gossip because Shearer (or his representative at least) was in negotiation with City about taking up the job. Now, it needs to be emphasised here that there had been no official comment whatsoever from the club to give momentum to the furore. There has been next to nothing from them throughout the last fortnight on our search for a manager and, when you think about it, that’s exactly how it should be until they have something definite to say.

The trouble is though in today’s world of instant communication and networking, what used to be a pointer in the right direction from someone at the club to a couple of mates now becomes an “update” that a significant number of the club’s fanbase is aware of in hours if not minutes. There have always been leaks from the club and I think there always will be, but their consequences can be so much more profound these days.

Anyway, although it hardly matters now, what would I have been saying if I could have joined in with the, aforementioned, feeding frenzy?

The Newcastle "dream team" of Shearer and Dowie celebrate a Newcastle goal against Middlesbrough in their only win at the club - hardly Dave Jones like is it!

Well, without going into too much detail, much the same as many of those expressing reservations on the expected appointment actually. Carl Curtis the “update king” on one of the Cardiff City messageboards has had something of a nightmare in the last fortnight when it comes to giving us the name of our new manager. However, I agree with him when he said that the choice to go for Shearer was a business one more than a football one made by people as much, if not more, concerned with the impact the appointment had in parts of Asia than it did in South Wales.

Apart from International football, Shearer has never played outside the top flight in his life – in fact I’m not sure I’ve even heard him talk about the Football League before! Therefore, would he have the required knowledge of the game at this level, or below, to identify players who could make us a better team – somehow, it’s hard to imagine Shearer driving to Gillingham, or even Swindon for that matter, on a Tuesday night to check on some promising youngster he’d heard about. No, it seems much more likely to me that we would have ended up going down the, failed, route of bringing in Premiership players (be they youngsters or players on the way down) on loan along with a few “marquee” signings from big clubs who would, almost certainly, flatter to deceive.

In saying all of that, looked at from the Malaysian’s perspective, Shearer must have been a much more attractive proposition than the likes of Malky Mackay and Chris Hughton. Despite what so many City fans were saying yesterday, Shearer’s appointment may have worked (especially if he was given the much reported £20 million playing budget). I certainly don’t see how Shearer can be written off as a manager because of an eight game spell in charge of a Newcastle side that were on their way down anyway. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he becomes a pretty successful manager some time in the future, but I just happen to think he would have been the wrong man at the wrong time for Cardiff.

We don’t need a Shearer type at the moment in my view, but I wonder if we might end up with one because yesterday offered up the first real evidence that what many think the club needs and what the Malaysians want is at odds with each other. No one’s to blame for this really, but I can’t help thinking that a lot of City fans will be hoping that, having almost got their fingers burned, the Malaysians will look at the broader picture a bit more from now on – other sides are proving that there is more than one way to get into the Premiership .

 

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