LONDON (REUTERS) - The protracted disagreement between Cardiff City chairman Vincent Tan and manager Malky Mackay reached its inevitable conclusion on Friday when the Scot was sacked seven months after winning promotion to the Premier League.
In a statement on their website (www.cardiffcity.co.uk), the Welsh club said: "The Board of Directors at Cardiff City have relieved Malky Mackay of his duties. A new first team manager will be appointed in due course." Mr Mackay, 41, who had been Cardiff manager since June 2011, ended their 51-year absence from the top flight in May when they gained automatic promotion to the Premier League after winning The Championship (second division).
He was widely respected for the job he did and hugely popular with fans who have protested in recent weeks against Mr Tan, the equally unpopular Malaysian owner of the club who initially angered supporters by changing their kit from blue shirts to red before the start of last season.
In a statement issued after the sacking, Mr Tan said: "Far too much dirty linen has been exposed to the public gaze, but I stress, not by me. Indeed I have deliberately not responded to this, hoping the club can be judged by its football rather than personalised arguments about who said what to whom.
"I have however regretfully concluded that it is no longer fair to the club, its players, its fans and public, more generally, for this uncomfortable state of affairs to continue."
Mr Mackay, in a statement issued through the League Managers Association, said: "As disappointing as today's decision is, I am already able to look back at my time at Cardiff City FC with immense pride and joy given the number of milestones the Club achieved during the last two and a half years.
"I leave with my head held high having gained a level of experience that, upon reflection, I suspect would have been difficult to find anywhere else in British football," he added.
"The foundations laid at Cardiff City FC will provide a solid platform for my successor, and for the sake of the Club, I hope that all of the progress that has been made so far will not be impaired in any way by today's enforced changes."
Cardiff, relegated from the top flight in 1962, spent decades floundering in the third and fourth tiers of the league before beginning the slow climb back 12 years ago.
Under predecessor David Jones and then Mackay, Cardiff established themselves in the second tier and began to make solid progress with Forbes billionaire Tan adding his considerable financial muscle to the club when he took control in 2010.
With Mr Tan and Mr Mackay at the helm, Cardiff reached the League Cup final in 2012 when they lost to Liverpool on penalties and also reached the promotion playoff semi-finals, losing to West Ham United.
