Mackay's mantra is attention to detail


Mackay`s organisation of his team on and off the fi eld is considered down to the fi nal detail. It is how he sold himself and his ideas to the Cardiff City directors when he was interviewed to follow Dave Jones as the Bluebirds manager. They ranged from recruitment to sports science, opposition analysis, to the way the club would progress.


“I gave them my ideas, my structure,” said Mackay, “The way we train players. I know the benefi ts of a strong academy and also a strong group of the next players.”


The Cardiff City owners and directors were impressed enough to give Mackay the job and so far their faith has been rewarded. When the 39-year-old former Scotland defender fi rst sat in his offi ce at the Vale Of Glamorgan training complex, he had the leftover’s of Dave Jones backroom staff, just ten players and a group of kids who had never been anywhere near the fi rst team. “I knew the task and I knew the areas I wanted to shape. I saw a lot of help and a lot of people who wanted the club to go in the right direction.”


In the time Mackay has been in charge, there can be few complaints from the supporters who see their side still up amongst the promotion hopefuls despite the mass exodus of players at the end of last season, but it is the development off the fi eld as much as on it which has given the Cardiff boss particular satisfaction.


“The medical and sports science side is now set up and I am quite proud of that,” he admitted.


“We have our scouting in a structure the way I want it to work. It is important that


the staff at the stadium and the staff at the training ground feel part of it all as well. They need to feel part of the whole thing, one club, one group.”


Malky Mackay had football in his blood. His father did just about every job at Queens Park, one of the less fashionable Scottish league clubs, where Mackay began his football career.


Eventually ending up at Watford, he was groomed for coaching by former Hornets boss Aidy Boothroyd before becoming caretaker manager.


“There was a big onus on me,” he recalls. “The manager had been sacked and there was a lot of media attention. There was an onus on me to stand there and lead.


“When I got the caretaker manager's job it was like opening Pandora`s box. I knew the commitment you have to have to want to do this.”


He missed out to Brendan Rodgers, now manager of neighbouring Swansea. “It was very disappointing at the time but, looking back on it, it was better that I had another person to learn from.


“Brendan was good enough to keep me on and we worked closely together for the nine months he was there. We became good friends and still are to this day.”


Next time Watford did turn to their former defender to fi ll the role and he began to feel the pressure which goes with the manager`s job. Although he was never as nervous coming to the Cardiff City stadium as he was in his spell at Vicarage Road, Mackay feels the responsibility.


“You are standing there and everything falls on you because the spotlight is on you. If things go wrong the media attention and the questions are on you. The fans eyes are on you if the team does not perform. It is a big difference from being a coach or an assistant,” he added.


Referring back to his hectic time in the manager`s technical area on match days, the Cardiff boss is quick to point out the organisation which goes on during a game.


“I am giving instructions a lot of the time and if I can help one percent then that is better than sitting back and watching the game,” is his thinking.


“I am calm inside. We have Joe McBride (fi rst team coach) who sits in the stand and he radios down. We have a system and I have my eyes in the sky, if there is something which needs to be changed it can be done quickly.”


As for his own position, The Scotsman is wise enough to look around and see the nature of the job his was so keen to embrace. “It is a passion, it is in my blood. I worked in the real world. I worked in a bank for fi ve years, so I know how good a world this is that I am in,” he said.


“It is 1.4 years for the average life span of a manager. You need to look at the man twenty fi ve years in the job. Manchester United held their nerve. There are not many clubs now who are brave enough to hold onto a manager through troubled times.


“I have put ideas and suggestions in place, but if I don`t get results every Saturday then I am out. That is the industry I am in.”


issue19twothousand&twelve sportingwales


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52