Malky Mackay talks to Everton FC boss David Moyes as he plans for Cardiff City futureFellow Scot David Moyes is among the top-flight managers helping Malky Mackay plan for life at Premier League level.
The two men met in Liverpool and Mackay says: “I was privileged to be able to spend a couple of days with David (Moyes) at Everton. I watched him work at close quarters and it was great to be given that opportunity.
“Everton have had stability with their manager and he has done an amazing job for them considering the finances he has to work with. What he has done for that club is a tribute to his hard work and ability.
“He has regularly kept Everton in the top division and they are challenging at the top end of the table.”
Moyes, who celebrates his 50th birthday this week, has been in charge of Everton over the last 12 years, steering the Toffees to a top-eight finish time and again.
The stability has worked for Everton, who over the last seven seasons have finished fifth twice, sixth once, seventh twice and eighth. They are currently in sixth place.
Liverpool’s Brendan Rodgers and Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson are among the other managers Mackay chats to and he will be making contact with those three and other trusted pals over the summer.
“I talk to Sir Alex on a fairly regular basis and had sent me supportive texts during our run-in to promotion,” says Mackay. “They mean a lot to me. He has been a big help to me over the last four years in management and I will certainly listen to anything he can tell me.
“Brendan (Rodgers) and I have already had a chat and I will certainly be talking to him again. We’ll have a cup of tea and talk things through.
“There are another couple of managers I will be doing that with. I am not arrogant enough to believe it’s all about me and that I know the answers.
“I will take advice and help from as many good people I think are the guys to talk to about the Premier League challenge in front of us.”
Mackay has scarcely had time to reflect on what his Bluebirds have achieved over the last week since promotion and then the title became certainties.
He shows me literally hundreds of text messages on his mobile, unanswered and awaiting a reply. Texts full of best wishes and congratulations from friends and family are still flooding in.
“I’ll answer them all, every one,” he says. “That’s important because people have taken time to send me a message and deserve the courtesy of a reply. They are friends, family, former team-mates and more.
“They are messages which mean a lot to me.”
Mackay and his staff are ahead of the pack in being able to plan for City’s first Premier season and their work started in earnest immediately after they had made certain of promotion.
They had already been putting strategies into place as the reality of promotion grew closer, but now they are pressing ahead.
Mackay remains focused on his team and ensuring City finish their Championship season on a high, while the recruitment, sports science, medical and coaching departments are looking to the future.
“We are working to use that extra time,” says Mackay. “Knowing we are promoted certainly helps in terms of people being out watching games and knowing exactly what is needed. No doubt it will be a long summer.
“Some players we may go for will see us as an attractive proposition, others won’t see that and feel it is a gamble.
“It is about us trying to get the best people in here for the best value.”
Mackay, working closely with head of recruitment Iain Moody and his staff, have revamped City’s scouting system over the last two seasons and they are searching worldwide for the talent needed next season.
“When I first came here there was a different scouting department and we have worked to change that structure,” said Mackay. “Yes, we have certainly started putting tentacles outside these waters and that will continue. We will continue that process and keep building.
“In the Premier League you need to tweak the quality of some players and add more quality into the group,” he says. “I still think experience counts, still believe athleticism counts. Some youthful energy is going to count as well.
“We will certainly need a bigger squad.
“And there are plans to improve and change in all sorts of ways as we go forward. Our facilities have to get better. We have to move to the next level and that is exactly what we will be working to do.”
Mackay has regular communication direct to City’s major Malaysian investor Vincent Tan and says: “The transparency between us has been crucial to everything we have done and achieved.
“Years ago somebody said to me to make sure the person who makes the big decisions at a club actually hears message from your lips.
“That message must not go through three or four pairs of lips before it gets to him. What they want to say to me and what I want to say to them goes directly, person to person.”
Mackay has been impressed at the way Malaysian investor Tan has quickly learned about British football, Championship football and life in Wales.
“Our owner is an extremely wealthy and successful man in business, he picks things up quickly,” says Mackay. “It’s clear how much he has learned over the last nine months, not only in terms of the football club, but also South Wales in general, the people of Cardiff and everything about running a football club.
“He has learned about the Championship division and how strange it can be in terms of any club being able to beat another no matter where they are in the table.
“We all know because we’ve been watching the division for years. He has taken it all in and knows how it is.
“He has seen enough of it now and also looks at other results. He has become a knowledgeable man in terms of football.”
Source: Wales Online
