Former Celt leads Premiership sack race

Malky Mackay is the new favourite in the Premiership sack race!

The odds on the Cardiff City manager following Paolo di Canio out the door have been slashed from 25/1 to 6/4.

Despite a promising start to the campaign following last season Championship success tensions below the surface have left the former Celt vulnerable as boardroom politics infringe on the playing side of the club.

Iain Moody, Mackay’s Head of Recruitment, was placed on gardening leave till the end of the season with 23-year-old Kazakstani Alisher Apsalyamov, a friend of owner Vincent Tan’s son, drafted in to replace Moody.

Just three months earlier Apsalyamov was painting walls at the Cardiff City stadium!

Mackay has kept his feelings to himself but is unlikely to resign over the issue knowing that he has the overwhelming backing of the supporters after steering the club back to the top flight of English football for the first time in 50 years.

After two seasons of fire-fighting at Watford Mackay moved to the Welsh capital and after losing out to West Ham in the play-off’s steered Cardiff to the title last season despite an unpopular switch in club colours from blue to red.

During the summer the club spent £35m on new players with whispers suggesting that Moody had been responsible for an overspend in a bid to undermine his position.

A 3-1 home win over Manchester City marked the first ever Premiership game at the Cardiff City stadium with eight points from seven matches giving the club something to build on going into the international break.

Cardiff’s next match is against Chelsea on October 19 but all eyes are on the boardroom as chairman Tan comes under increasing scrutiny as he attempts to take a more hands on role with the football side of the club.