Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan continues to be the nightmare that Malky Mackay can’t wake up from.
On Wednesday, Mackay, the former manager of Cardiff, was on the verge of being named the new manager of Crystal Palace before Tan submitted a dossier to the Football Association questioning the Scot’s conduct while in charge of the Welsh club.
The file reportedly questions agent fees, commissions and the role of agents in several dealings that Cardiff made during Mackay’s two-year reign at the Welsh club. Iain Moody, who served as director of football under Mackay at Cardiff, as well as several top agents and lawyers are also named in the document. The actions have reportedly prompted Tan to refuse payment of commission on nearly all deals involving agents.
The report, broken by The Mirror’s John Cross, claims that despite Mackay’s claims of innocence, Palace have now turned their back on the 42-year-old, withdrawing the offer to become the club’s next manager. Former Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood is now the bookies’ favorite to take over the post vacated by Tony Pulis just 48-hours before Palace’s season opener against Arsenal last Saturday.
Tan predicated his firing of Mackay last December on the manager’s alleged inattention to transfer budget issues and agent fees. A bitter fallout ensued with Mackay filing a legal action against Cardiff for $12.5 million in damages before settling with Tan and apologizing for any offense he may have caused.
Joining Sherwood in the race to become the next boss at Selhurst Park are former Fulham manager Martin Jol and former West Brom manager Steve Clarke.