I know Malky Mackay well from his time at Celtic and I knew his dad well and his family too. He’s made comments in the texts that came out which we would all agree are wholly unacceptable, but to my mind he clearly regrets them and he has publicly apologised for what he said.
To me, Malky has never ever come across as a person who had any undertones of racism whatsoever, so the content of the texts were a shock to me. There's no excuse for what he did, but all I can say is that I never saw that side to him or his dad.
Malky has realised that he has made a mistake and he’s apologised, so perhaps it is time to move on. It doesn’t seem to be a consistent aspect of his nature.
Read more: Malky Mackay: Investigation into Cardiff City transfer dealings will clear me of any wrongdoing
He has gone on courses to re-educate himself about the sort of language he is using, and everyone deserves a second chance.
I believe he will be genuinely sorry. He’s obviously been up front with the SFA about what has happened in the past and they feel comfortable with that.
I accept that he has said these things, but I think we should also accept that he has shown contrition and that he deserves a chance to prove that he has learned his lesson.
Leaving the issue of the text messages to the side for a moment, I do feel that with the experience he has he can be a success in the role, and I wish him all the best.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here