The 41-year-old Scot has guided Cardiff to promotion to the Premier League, but sources say there is no certainty he will kick off next season in South Wales.
Mackay, main picture, would be a greater gamble for Stoke than more obvious runners like Roberto Martinez, Roberto di Matteo and Mark Hughes.
Thinking of changing your job or looking to change career.Contact BlueSky CVs and get a CV to get your noticed.
He also projects the image of a safe and yet progressive pair of hands that would sit well in the new climate at Stoke.
Mackay, a rugged centre-half with the likes of Celtic, Norwich and West Ham during his playing career, spent two seasons managing Watford and then a further two at Cardiff.
He had money to spend with the Welshmen, but also demonstrated his ability to handle big-name players like Craig Bellamy.
The club are declining to comment on reports that chief executive Tony Scholes has already made contact with Hughes as the search for a new boss gathers pace.
But The Sentinel understands that the 49-year-old Welshman is by no means the only candidate as Stoke are prepared to cast their net far and wide in unearthing a replacement for Tony Pulis.
Gus Poyet has also been linked and his position at Brighton remains shrouded in silence amid an on-going dispute with the club sparked by his questioning of future expenditure on players.
And Martinez, who is strongly fancied for the Everton vacancy, is keeping people guessing after delaying a decision on whether or not to remain at Wigan until next week.
Meanwhile, Stoke chairman Peter Coates says one of the first tasks of the new boss will be to sort out midfielder Steven Nzonzi.
The 24-year-old Frenchman has handed in a written transfer request following disquiet behind the scenes pre-dating this week's departure of Pulis.
First-team coach Mark O'Connor is understood to have turned down the chance to join Stoke's Academy as their under-21's coach.
That appears to spell the end of his seven-year stay at the Britannia after following Pulis to the club when he returned for a second spell as boss in 2006.
Link: Bottle defends Madrid 2020, predicting that there will be no more "economic turbulence"
No comments:
Post a Comment