" Everton Fans Say No to Wanting Malky "

Paul Abbandonato: Cardiff City fans fear the alarm bells if Everton come calling for Malky Mackay
11 May 2013


But Everton Fans dont want Malky


A poll conducted by the Liverpool Echo yesterday of who the supporters want at Everton saw Mackay trailing well down the pecking order.

Laudrup was topping the vote with 20 per cent, followed by Pereira (18 per cent) and Duncan Ferguson, an Everton playing legend, on 14 per cent.

Mackay only netted five per cent of the fans’ vote.


Welcome to the mad, mad world of Bluebirds fans, I guess, where nothing can be straightforward.


It could only happen with Cardiff City, couldn’t it? Just days after we marvelled in the Cardiff Bay sunshine at the promotion parade, the spectre suddenly looms large of the man who delivered the dream leaving... before a ball has even been kicked in the Premier League.

Welcome to the mad, mad world of Bluebirds fans, I guess, where nothing can be straightforward.

Sir Alex Ferguson probably wouldn’t have known this at the time, but when he announced his decision to retire on Wednesday morning it was the trigger for a whole merry-go-round of events.

Which, if our worst fears are realised, could roll on for a while yet here in the Welsh capital as the Bluebirds’ Malaysian owners begin the hunt for a new manager.

I’m going to nail my colours to the mast right away... I hope Everton don’t come in for Malky Mackay.

If they do, I hope he is way down their pecking order.

And even if he is not, and Everton offer him the job, I fervently hope Mackay turns them down.

But wishing for something, and football reality, are two entirely different things.

The truth is I fully expect Everton to approach the Bluebirds about Mackay.

Were he to be offered the post, I would anticipate him accepting it.




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The key, it seems, is exactly where Mackay fits into the Goodison pecking order on a hit-list which also appears to include Neil Lennon, Roberto Martinez, Michael Laudrup, Phil Neville and FC Porto boss Vitor Pereira.

Only chairman Bill Kenwright and his Everton board know the answer to that one, but it would be naive of us to put our heads in the sand and think this one will just go away.

It won’t. Mackay is clearly one of the leading names in the frame for the post vacated by David Moyes, with William Hill cutting his odds to as low as 2-1 by yesterday lunchtime.

Marginally behind new favourite Lennon, but ahead of early front-runner Martinez and certainly ranked far more likely to land the job than the other pretenders.

I guess, in a way, Cardiff City FC, Mackay himself and Bluebirds fans everywhere should be flattered by the interest in their manager.

The very reason Everton want him is because Mackay has been such a roaring success during his two seasons at the Bluebirds helm.

Kenwright stated on Thursday night that Everton wanted to find ‘the new David Moyes’, in much the way Manchester United were keen on another Sir Alex Ferguson-type figure.

Well if there is a more Moyes-like clone in British management today than Malky Mackay, I don’t know of him.

Young, ambitious, dignified, tactically astute, personable, able to work brilliantly to a tight budget, excellent with the media and thus the fans.

Hugely successful in the Championship too, even more so than Moyes who was also still something of a managerial rookie when Everton swooped to prise him from Preston North End.

I watched Moyes’ pre-West Ham match press conference yesterday, the logos of Everton’s business partners displayed prominently upon the board behind him.

For a brief moment I closed my eyes to listen to the eminent common sense being spoken in dulcet Scottish tones.

That could have been Malky Mackay, was my instant reaction.

Spooky. He really is David Moyes Mark II.

That does not mean, of course, that we should just give up on Malky.

He is an idol here in Cardiff, he still has unfinished business in the Welsh capital. Surely, having done the painstaking work over two years to mould this team together, he wants to see the work through in the Premier League?

Maybe he could be swayed by the Malaysian owners really throwing money at the team this summer. And I mean BIG money.

In a perverse sort of way, there could actually be greater transfer funds available to Mackay at Cardiff than to whoever succeeds Moyes as Everton boss.

It has oft been stated that the tight purse strings deployed at Goodison meant Moyes could take Everton no further and he would be leaving.

But we shouldn’t be naive about this. Everton are a giant of a club, with an enormous fan base and an incredible history.

Get it right, and they would be right up there with clubs like Tottenham and Chelsea in terms of size and stature, if still some way behind Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal.

I know it was a generation ago, but Evertonians still fondly remember when former Bluebird Kevin Ratcliffe twice lifted the League trophy, FA Cup and European Cup Winners Cup for them.

During the mid-1980s, Everton were perhaps the strongest team in Europe, only denied the opportunity to prove it because of the Heysel ban on English clubs. Times are very different today, but that is the stature of the football club who appear to be eyeing up Malky Mackay.

Just as worryingly, were Neil Lennon to pip him for the Everton post, Mackay would doubtless become Celtic’s number one target.

I guess here we are in the hands of Bill Kenwright... and, dare I say it, Moyes himself.

Just as Ferguson recommended Moyes as his Old Trafford successor, so the departing Everton manager-to-be is offering Kenwright his advice on who should carry on the smaller dynasty he has tried to build at Goodison.

Moyes knows Mackay and has doubtless been greatly impressed by the work his fellow Scot has done here in Cardiff.

Look at it logically, take people at their word, and it doesn’t seem overly optimistic. But, with the Bluebirds you always have to have hope.

Mine comes from further comments made by Kenwright about taking note of the wishes of the Everton fans in appointing the new manager.

A poll conducted by the Liverpool Echo yesterday of who the supporters want at Everton saw Mackay trailing well down the pecking order.

Laudrup was topping the vote with 20 per cent, followed by Pereira (18 per cent) and Duncan Ferguson, an Everton playing legend, on 14 per cent.

Mackay only netted five per cent of the fans’ vote.

If, on the other hand, the South Wales Echo conducted a Cardiff City supporters’ poll on whether you want Mackay to stick around, I know what the result would be.

A resounding 100 per cent yes.

Malky Mackay is already a legend here. Let’s hope the work he has begun in the Welsh capital carries on for a while yet.

I wonder if Moyes having an input in choosing his successor will be important.
Ferguson was instrumental in choosing Moyes and Malky is held in high regard by Ferguson.

Im probably over thinking things...

Malky's going nowhere.he's got a bigger,better and more exciting challenge ahead with City.

I remember when he joined us, he was far from our fans choice too,but turned out to be the right choice. Fans tend to prefer "names" they know which isn't always the best option.

I remember when he joined us, he was far from our fans choice too,but turned out to be the right choice. Fans tend to prefer "names" they know which isn't always the best option.

Good point.
The poll on this board when Malky was appointed gave him just 4% of the vote!



Poll: Next Cardiff Manager - Who do you want?


Dave Jones - Stay
8
5%Chris Hughton
14
8%Neil Warnock
20
12%Alex Mcleish
0
No votesSam Allarydyce
8
5%Martin O'Neill
56
33%Malky Mckay
6
4%Kevin Keen
0
No votesAlan Curbishley
1
1%Slavan Bilic
2
1%Roberto Di Matteo
37
22%Billy Davies
1
1%Paul Lambert
0
No votesSteve Mclaren
1
1%Walter Smith
1
1%Gus Poyet
7
4%Terry Venables
0
No votesMartin Jol
0
No votesGlenn Hoddle
2
1%Ryan Giggs
0
No votesJohn Toshack
1
1%Mark Hughes
5
3%Terry Burton
1
1% Total votes : 171
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This is great news, the Everton owner was on SSN yesterday stating fans opinion was key to the decision!

I'm really grateful the malky us still flying under the radar with most clubs and they're not aware of his capabilities already, considering he is relatively new to the managerial game. 1 successful season in the top flight and they'll all be loving him.

thank god everton dont want him he not going anywhere he loves us

thank god everton dont want him he not going anywhere he loves us

I'm not so sure about that