Cardiff city midfielder Tommy Smith has said that he feared the departure of manager Malky Mackay from the club after their promotion to the Premier league. Cardiff secured promotion through the automatic places last season. This has led to enormous interest surrounding their manager. After the departure of David Moyes from Everton, it was highly rumoured that Mackay would be a possible successor to the Scot at Goodison Park. Smith has now revealed that he feared that Mackay will leave the club.
Smith has played for Mackay at different stages in his career, and he is one of the few players in the Cardiff squad to have played in the Premier league in the past. Smith has represented the likes of Portsmouth, Watford, and QPR. He has been at Cardiff since 2012 and was an integral part of their promotion bid. This is only the second season at Cardiff for manager Mackay. Everton instead went in and brought Wigan manager Roberto Martinez, who has Premier league experience.
Mackay’s main job now will be to get Cardiff to Premier league safety at the end of the season. They have already lost out on a number of transfer targets despite securing their promotion several months ago. Smith, though, is confident that they can stay up in the Premier league.
“I was worried and I am sure a lot of other people were. It is part and parcel of being a good manager, likewise as a player, that you get linked [to clubs] and I was very pleased he stayed. You will have to ask him the ins-and-outs of it, but I am sure he has a job here he wants to fulfil and he has ideas and ambitions for this club. He wanted to stay and put them into motion,” said Smith.