Championship strugglers Wigan have parted company with Malky Mackay after the club slipped eight points adrift of safety.
The Latics were beaten 2-0 by Derby on Monday afternoon, leaving them facing the prospect of dropping down into League One barely two years after they were in the top flight and won the FA Cup.
And in a short statement on their official website, the club confirmed they had removed Mackay from his post just five months after his controversial hiring.
Chairman David Sharpe, who only replaced his grandad Dave Whelan in the role last month, told the club’s official website: “This was a very difficult decision to make but I feel that for the long-term future of the club, there needs to be change now.”
Former Watford and Cardiff manager Mackay was announced as Uwe Rosler’s replacement back in November despite still being part of a Football Association investigation into claims he sent text messages which were of a homophobic, racist and sexist nature during his time with the Bluebirds.
The furore only intensified when Whelan landed himself in hot water trying to defend the decision, telling the Guardian it was “nothing” to call a Chinese person a “chink” and stated: ”Jewish people do chase money more than everybody else”.
The FA banned Whelan for six weeks over those comments and he eventually stepped down as chairman in March, handing the reins to 23-year-old Sharpe, who has now made the first big decision of his tenure.
Mackay, whose FA probe remains ongoing, has been unable to transform Latics’ fortunes on the pitch this season after taking just 19 points from the possible 72 on offer and he leaves the DW Stadium without a home victory during his five-month stint.
Mackay addressed the media after the loss to the Rams and was only made aware of his fate once he had conducted his post-match interviews.
In his quotes, he explained how he thought Friday’s clash against Fulham, another side toiling at the wrong end of the division, would prove pivotal.
“We’ve got Fulham on Friday night and, looking at their points total, that becomes an even bigger game than it was already,” the Scot said.
“It’s still mathematically possible and we’ve just got to keep giving it everything we’ve got, which we absolutely will.
“I’ve got a team there that’s putting in performances every week and it’s fine lines between winning and losing in this league.”
But Mackay will not be at Craven Cottage later this week after Latics opted to move on from the man who brought them so much criticism at the time of his hiring just 138 days ago.
