Malky Mackay: careful what you wish for

[Daniel Brigham 0]

Hello all, here''s my latest blog ...It''s time for Chris Hughton to leave, but we should be careful what we wish for when selecting a replacement. By Daniel Brigham.So,

Wednesday night. Where to start? Another poor away performance. Another

formation set up to contain rather than attack. Another 90 minutes of

total lack of ambition. Another soul-destroying display of

anti-football. And now, just four points above the bottom three and with

only one win away all season, a long winter beckons for Malky Mackay''s

Cardiff City.For as painfully negative as Norwich have been in

most away matches this season, Cardiff have been matching them every

wretched step of the way. They''ve travelled to West Ham, Hull,

Aston Villa, Fulham, Norwich, Chelsea and, on Wednesday, they played out

a predictably grim 0-0 at Stoke. That''s a pretty friendly set of

fixtures isn''t it? Yet they''ve won only once (at Craven Cottage) and

Mackay has set them up in each match as if they were facing an advancing

army of zombies.Just what do some people see in Mackay to so

easily anoint him Chris Hughton''s successor (while also ignoring the

fact he might want to stay at Cardiff)? This isn''t to defend Hughton –

the insipid, fearful second half at home to Crystal Palace was enough

for me to unhappily complete my transition to the Hughton out camp. But

replacing him with Mackay would be no different to Reading swapping

Brian McDermott with Nigel Adkins. Remember those times when a character in Neighbours

would suddenly be played by a different actor for a few episodes? Well,

it’s like that. You notice a bit of a difference, and it feels a little

weird, but the plot doesn’t change.Mackay''s a good manager.

He''s proved himself at Watford and now Cardiff (much like Hughton did at

Newcastle and Birmingham), and it''s been great to see Cardiff go for it

at home against the two Manchester clubs (as we did at home to

Chelsea). But can you be sure he''s better than Hughton? If you accept

his tactics are dour (and they are dour;

Tony-Adams-reading-the-shipping-forecast dour) then we need to be pretty

certain that he''ll make Norwich a better side than Hughton has, that

he''ll take us clear of relegation, and there''s little evidence to

suggest that he definitely would.It''s true that Norwich have

more quality in their squad than Cardiff, but only marginally so.

Cardiff spent bigger than us in the summer, throwing £11m at Gary Medel

and £8m at Steven Caulker – two men at Cardiff who actually would get

Norwich playing better. Yet, here we are, sat on equal points, separated

by a goal difference forged in the north-west furnaces of football. Some

fans say Mackay would bring the hope back. Why? Because he''s a Norwich

hero. He''s likeable. He talks well. He comes across as a leader. He''s

Scottish, like Paul Lambert (but not Peter Grant). But since when did

that all add up to saviour status? If Mackay got his teams

playing rousing football, then fine. Perhaps it would be worth the

gamble just to bring a bit of life back to supporting Norwich. But how

long will that hope last when it soon becomes apparent that away trips

are just as miserable as they always were, when it becomes obvious that

he''s a fan of a damn good hoof, when it becomes clear that he likes his

team to sit in front of the opposition like a teenage gang guarding a

bus shelter?It''s unlikely that people would be calling for

Mackay if he hadn''t played for Norwich and, as with most things, you

just have to glance at history to calculate what the success rate is of

bringing a former player in as a manager. While Dave Stringer was a huge

success and Martin O''Neill and Ron Ashman qualified successes, how can

we forget Bryan Gunn, Peter Grant, Gary Megson and John Deehan? Sometimes

it works for clubs: Kenny Dalglish. Sometimes it doesn''t: Kenny

Dalglish. It''s an emotional rather than rational decision and that’s not

how David McNally works.When there are such fine margins in the

bottom 12 or 13 teams in the Premier League, emotions can’t come into

it when sacking and choosing managers. A new appointment has to be

exactly right to make any real difference in a congested table. Mauricio

Pochettino at Southampton is an exception, so far, that proves the

rule. The risks attached to sacking a manager are great and,

although Hughton''s time should be up, Mackay isn''t the answer for those

wanting the good times back at Carrow Road. Hughton did a superb job

last season and if he is to be replaced he deserves it to be for someone

who can take Norwich definitively forward. But changing him for Malky?

It would merely be swapping an uncomfortable beige cardigan for an

uncomfortable grey tank-top. Daniel Brigham is features editor of The Cricketer magazine.Follow him on Twitter: @cricketer_dan

[Beefy is a legend 224]

An excellent post Dan.

I can''t help but equate the attitude of many of the posters on here with that of Charlton fans toward the end of Curbishley''s reign. Look how that ended...

Now, no-one is saying that there aren''t managers out there who could improve us - Pochettino is proof that it can be done. However, it''s risky. For every Pochettino there is a Di Canio - and his very short lived reign could well cost a Sunderland side, which on paper have a more expensive squad than ours, their PL status.

Didn''t Kylie once sing ''Better the devil you know''...

[Tetteys Jig 851]

I think Mackay would take us forward and is one that will go on to big things in management.

[Badger 2,745]

Daniel, I agree with much of what you say. There is no point in sacking a manager if you are not likely to get a better one to replace him and none of the identified candidates seem very promising to me. In any case, as far as I am aware, Mackay is not available. I thought that there was a rule that premiership clubs won''t poach eachother''s managers during the season?I remember many saying on here during the whole "Worthy Out" saga that we couldn''t possibly get anyone worse than Worthington - before we were landed with Grant and Roeder!

[City 2nd 193]

And exactly how many striker options does Malky Mackay have at his disposal in comparison to Mr Hughton?

They have scored 11, us 12, us with two strikers on board that we payed in xcess of 13 million pounds for.

And what is the Cardiff goal difference in comparison to NCFC. -9 to -16.

The most goals Cardiff have conceded in ANY ONE game this season is 4.

NCFC?

Perhaps, just perhaps if Mackay had at his disposal what Hughton has things wouldn''t look do bad in East Anglia.

[Dubai Mark 0]

Good post and I am certainly not one of those wishing for Malkay, seeing how his team played at our place helped make my mind up.

[ZLF 335]

Given thats long been my view of Cardiff I am only going to agree with you in your summary.     The run of games you highlight is an excellent point.

 

However there are other potential and better managers out there who could fill the hotseat if a change is deemed necessary by the board.   That seems unlikely right now though.

[Daniel Brigham 0]

Hi City 2nd. Probably worth pointing out Cardiff spent £8m on striker Andreas Cornelius in the summer, more than we spent on RVW (plus they spent £2.5m on Odemwingie). Both Cornelius and RVW have had similar injury setbacks. Cornelius is big, tall, lumbering - so will fit in perfectly with Mackay''s management philosophy.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

Everyone hated on Hughton for being ''defensive'' - I would argue there is no more defensive manager currently in this league than Malky MacKay.

 

He spend £32m this summer and £11m the season before. His Cardiff team came to Norwich with one thing in mind - get a point, he brough on 2 defensive subs at half time in a game that was 0-0, in his away game at Villa he again tried to secure a point and played 10 men behind the ball against a team that hadn''t scored for 4 games.

 

Imagine if Hughton went to Cardiff and did the same - he would be torn to shreds but many of the same posters crying out for MacKay as manager. MacKay is good at what he does, but he isn''t going to lead Norwich forward and if he was appointed we''d all be having the same arguement again in 18 months time when everyone is sick of him.

[Daniel Brigham 0]

Sorry, meant ''similar to'' what we spent, not ''more than''.

[can u sit down please 0]

This is our 3rd season. Cardiffs first. Would we have taken those results in our first year?

[YellowNets1901 0]

Hughton''s replacement is more likely to be Neil Lennon. In my opinion.

[YellowNets1901 0]

Top post by the way.

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

For my part Hughton is finished it is just a question of when not if. Despite the money spent we seem to be going backwards which is the significant cause for concern. I like Malkay but share the concern that he may not be any better than we have and most probably be of the same negative ethos which upsets so many of us

[Warren Hill 0]

[quote user="can u sit down please"]This is our 3rd season. Cardiffs first. Would we have taken those results in our first year?[/quote]

Considering the amount of times "look how much we have spent" gets thrown at Hughton, you''d have to think that had we spent more than that in our first season like Cardiff then no, our fans wouldn''t have accepted those results.

I understand where you''re coming from, but my point remains. Think it says more about our supporters than anything else.

[City 2nd 193]

Daniel Brigham wrote the following post at 2013-12-06 5:05 PM:

Hi City 2nd. Probably worth pointing out Cardiff spent £8m on striker Andreas Cornelius in the summer, more than we spent on RVW (plus they spent £2.5m on Odemwingie). Both Cornelius and RVW have had similar injury setbacks. Cornelius is big, tall, lumbering - so will fit in perfectly with Mackay''s management philosophy.

Agree DB, my point was that we spent 13 million, had Becchio and brought in Elmander too. We lost first Hooper, then RVW.

We could still perm 3 from 4 available - they have 2 if you Include Odemeingie!

And don''t get me wrong - I don''t think Mackay would be right for City either. My post was just making the comparison to goals scored and conceded in respect of both sides, but we are three seasons in compared to Cardiffs one!

[Daniel Brigham 0]

Yeh, fair enough City 2nd. As I mentioned, the piece wasn''t supporting Hughton, just pointing out that I don''t think Malky would be the right man for us. Always tough in your first season in the prem, but they have spent an awful lot of money (and also have Fraizer Campbell up front as well!)

[im spartacus canary 0]

well when malky sets up defensively at least his team looks like they know what they are doing , that they have a chance of coming away with something... they all look like they are fighting for the cause, there is no rabbit in headlights impressions from his side...hughton sets up defensively away but their is no self belief that we have a hope in hell of getting anything, we look like the team of stooges that the harlem globe trotters used to play exhibition matches against... beaten before we go on the pitch

i have no problem with defensive football if we were actually any good at it and theres the issue , every away game is the same.. no hope and no belief as teams set about us with relish cos we make them look good as we are poorly set up and poorly motivated... hughton may have signed some half tidy players but there is no n pitch leadership... cardiff may be negative as fu(k but at least they all appear to be fighting for the cause and for their manager.

[Darth Catbeard The Old 0]

^ That x1000

[Daniel Brigham 0]

Can''t argue with that Spartacus but people were certainly moaning about Hughton''s defensive approach last season despite getting results. Still can''t excuse just how defensive-minded Mackay is against teams like Stoke, Villa, West Ham and us. Absolutely no ambition to go for three points.