Sorry mate, I know I am wrong but when I saw Watford vs Aston Villa on tele...

[XXL16 0]

It was 0:15am kick off in Hong Kong Sunday time, and why I watch this Premiership match between Watford vs Aston Villa, was because when I watched their team sheet 30 minutes before kick-off, that''s Watford number 4 Malky MacKay there, so I watched the game (I thought most of you in Norwich also watched the game by Sky) without leaving my seat.

The player who was absolutely a leader, an old head, a braveheart, a player who prepared to attack any dead ball, also a player with most of the Norwich fans, of course Nigel Worthington think he was "not good or not quick enough in the Premiership", was absolutely the star man, the Man of the Match in this game. Shame Malky did not score with that bullet liked header from the corner in the 2nd half, who needed a world class save by Aston Villa goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen to deny the goal and possibly Watford first win of the season.

We did not allow Malky to make his Premiership debut 2 seasons ago for Norwich, now, he was 2 years older, alright you may think his booking was full display he was too slow, not up the pace in the Premiership, but if you recall in that situation, the defenders surrounded the Villa attacker was tired and cannot get near to the him, so I should say Malky was "clever" to conceded the free kick and got booked. Malky was encouraged all the Watford young player from minute 1 to 90, even their manager gave instructions to him during the game on the touchline.

Hay hang on, a leader we needed in our current Norwich team, it was what Nigel Worthington said at this moment, also we did not score from a dead ball for ages after Dean Ashton''s hat-trick against Southampton. I am not saying Nigel to go now or sacked, but I just want to point out again, the decision of Nigel Worthington to release Malky after we got promoted was a mistake, was wrong, we should have a leader in the squad, but he let him go wrongly!!!

[YankeeCanary 0]

David, I watched the game and agree with your thoughts totally. Today, Malky was clearly a leader on the pitch and contributed strongly offensively and defensively. People say we cannot live in the past. I say we cannot afford to not learn from the past. As I watched this game I could not help but think that we had Malky, we had Francis, we had Green, we had Ashton. All of those players, apparently, developed "problems" but yet today are in position to ply their abilities in the top division. Where Norwich is headed remains to be seen but the picture does not inspire one with confidence.

[Canary Wundaboy 1,423]

Who knows what the team might be like now if we still had Malky at the heart...Sadly, it''s just one mistake in a long line of them when it comes to Worthy''s transfers.

[Yellow Rages 0]

I think we have made a mistake their to get rid.

I wonder how Birmingham now feel about Andy Johnson by an even greater amount.

[TwoSheds 0]

There is no doubt Malky was good,but he wasnt man of the match. Sorenson was the official man of the match.

[Alex Harvey-Jones 0]

Malky was also someone who could score from corners as you point out. We are greatly lacking in tall players and players who can head the ball in an attacking nature. Doherty can a bit but he seldom scores. Malky would be a very useful player to have in the squad at the moment!

[apprentice 0]

As someone quoted in a previous post "the man is an idiot"

[Alex Harvey-Jones 0]

[quote user="apprentice"]As someone quoted in a previous post "the man is an idiot"[/quote] I take it you mean Worthington rather than MacKay??

[ZLF 334]

As most of you know I am for regime change in the manager stakes at carra rd.    However this worthy got it wrong in ''getting rid'' of Malky is a bit selective in its recall.

Worthy chose to use malky as a squad player for the prem season- just as Pardew and Boothroyd have since done.  That was and can only have been a correct view at the time.  However Malky made it clear he was not happy to sit on the bench and so forced the clubs hand to let him go (not the first nor the last player to do so).  

I cant see how the club could have done anything different.  Malky moving on is not one of the managers failings.   Its a different matter when asking why we have not replaced his leadership qualities though. 

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

Malky leaving for 200K or whatever was a huge mistake, he should have been told he a major role to play in the team - but as Worthington said at the time - it was "good buisiness".  Probably the fact he was a dressing room voice adversly affected worthy''s opinion of the player. 

I notice in his two starts this season Watford have conceded only a single goal - a last minute penalty against Bolton caused by a moment of madness from Danny Shittu...

[YankeeCanary 0]

Zipper, you may have access to more information than I do regarding the circumstances of Malky''s departure but did he not depart before the Premiership season had even begun. If that was the case, I have to say that if I was the manager pre-season I would not have been telling Malky ( or any other player for that matter ) that they would be sitting on the bench. If players were part of my squad I would have been telling them it''s up to them to fight for a starting place and that no one is guaranteed a start. Again, not sure if I''m correct about the timing of his departure but if I am right it suggests the departure could have been about something else. We all surely agree that Malky''s leadership qualities have not been replaced.

[Alex Harvey-Jones 0]

[quote user="Citizen Journalist Foghorn"]

Malky leaving for 200K or whatever was a huge mistake, he should have been told he a major role to play in the team - but as Worthington said at the time - it was "good buisiness".  [/quote] Perhaps he meant it was good business for West Ham but got a bit mixed up. £200k for Malky was a snip. We paid more than that for him if I remember correctly - about £350k I think. If Worthy wants rid of a player he seems to be happy to accept peanuts or just let the player go on a free!