MALKY Mackay has been appointed as the new Scottish Football Association Performance Director.

The former Watford, Cardiff City and Wigan manager was announced as the successor to Brian McClair on Thursday and will be tasked with improving talent development in the Scottish game. 

“I am immensely proud and privileged to become Performance Director and I am acutely aware of the importance of this role in achieving future success for our talented young players," he said.

“As someone who was fortunate enough to develop as a young player at Queen’s Park and realise my dream of playing for my country at the national stadium, this feels like coming home.

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"I can’t wait to work in partnership with our clubs and my colleagues at the Scottish FA to help improve future generations of Scotland players.”

Scottish FA Chief Executive Stewart Regan added: "From the start of the recruitment process, Malky was an outstanding candidate and by the end of that thorough process he was the outstanding candidate.

“His experiences as a player and a manager are complemented by his strategic outlook and commitment to implement many of the exciting proposals the Performance Working Group have discussed in recent months.

“Malky will spend the initial weeks and months immersing himself in these recommendations and speaking to all relevant groups to provide a future framework that is conducive to meeting our shared objective: to provide a better standard of player for the benefit of our clubs and, ultimately, our national teams.” 

Two years ago, former Celtic defender Mackay was the subject of a Football Association investigation into discriminatory text messages he had sent while managing Cardiff.

He subsequently apologised for messages that were ‘disrespectful of other cultures’ and was not charged by the FA.

Mackay has been out of the game since being sacked by Wigan Athletic in April last year.