Malky Mackay: First class bigot and his mate

Dave Whelan, the Wigan Chairman, has dismissed his local MP Lisa Nandy’s concern about employing the disgraced football manager Malky Mackay. Mackay, you may remember, was overlooked for a number of premiership managerial jobs because of a slew of emails he sent to other football colleagues which were homophobic, anti-Semitic, racist and sexist. The Chairman’s response to Nandy was a complete slap down: “She’s wrong”, he said, adding:

“She is not a Wigan lass, so she doesn’t understand football. I don’t think she has ever been to a football match. I invited her to Wembley for the FA Cup final and she didn’t accept. My message to the fans, as well as the MP, is to trust me on this. I have investigated every single aspect of the matter and talked to a lot of people whose opinions I respect. Everyone said he has the reputation of being a first-class manager.”

Well that’s it then. We should all go away and shut up. That Mackay is clearly a first class bigot in an industry that is trying to change its racist and misogynist reputation, being a first class football manager trumps all of that.

Well no Mr Whelan, it doesn’t.

Lisa Nandy MP might not know anything about football, but she may have a thing or two to say about decency, and how the club will be viewed by employing such an individual.

Worse still Mackay is still being investigated by the FA for his texts, which unless somehow it can be proved he didn’t send, will have the FA coming down hard on him.

All this against a backdrop of the Football’s governing body FIFA being scrutinised for corruption on a grand scale, and a French manager who recently suggested that Black players are cheap buys and not very intelligent.

Following Wigan's appointment of Mackay, which runs against the tide of decency and fairness, no Black player can feel they will be treated fairly after the disparaging comments he made. What it sadly demonstrates is that money is king, and tackling the game's deep seated bigotry comes a poor second.

Simon Woolley