Cardiff sack manager Mackay

Cardiff City has fired manager Malky Mackay following a power struggle with owner Vincent Tan.

The Scotsman was dismissed  on Friday – five days after being told by the club he would remain in charge for the “foreseeable future”.

The Premier League club confirmed in a statement issued on its website that it had “relieved Malky Mackay of his duties”, one day after a loss to Southampton that left the team a point above the relegation zone.

“A new first team manager will be appointed and announced in due course,” the statement said.

The Malaysian owner and Mackay clashed over the dismissal of head of recruitment Iain Moody in October.

The tensions within the club have overshadowed Cardiff’s first season in the Premier League.

Fans turn on Mackay

Mackay’s sacking comes after Cardiff were beaten by 3-0 Southampton on Thursday.

Tan wanted Mackay out last week, but after Mackay vowed to stay and was backed by team fans, club chairman Mehmet Dalman said on Sunday that Mackay was “in charge for the forseeable future”.

Despite that assurance, there was a caveat that Mackay had to heal his rift with Tan, which seemed unlikely given the owner’s apparent refusal to meet with him in recent months.

Cardiff supporters booed Mackay and the team at the end of their 3-0 loss on Thursday. Tan left his seat five minutes before full-time.

Tan fired Mackay on the eve of Saturday’s match against last-placed Sunderland.

The bookmakers’ favorite for the job is former Manchester United forward Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, who has established himself as a manager in his home country of Norway, where he won the league twice with Molde.