Cardiff owner Vincent Tan admitted he sacked manager Malky Mackay on Friday because the Scot was airing the Premier League club's "dirty linen" in public.

Mackay's acrimonious departure was the inevitable result of his turbulent relationship with Malaysian tycoon Tan, who had last week granted the Bluebirds boss a reprieve despite sending him an e-mail demanding he resign or be sacked.

That ultimatum was briefly lifted when chairman Mehmet Dalman stated Mackay would be in charge for the "forseeable future", but Thursday's 3-0 defeat against Southampton proved to be Mackay's last game in charge.

Mackay had often said he has felt sorry for the club's fans as Cardiff have found themselves in the headlines for the wrong reasons on several occasions.

But Tan laid the blame for that with Mackay, who he believes attempted to garner sympathy from the Cardiff supporters with some of his comments about the club's owners.

"There has been a good deal of publicity generated by, and about, Mr Malky Mackay for the last few months," Tan said in a statement.

"Indeed, far too much dirty linen has been exposed to the public gaze but, I stress, not by me.

"Indeed, I have deliberately not responded to this, hoping that the club can be judged on its football rather than personalized arguments about who said what to whom.

"I have, however, regretfully concluded that it is no longer fair to the club, its players, its fans and the public more generally for this uncomfortable state of affairs to continue.

"Cardiff City Football Club means far too much to us all for it to be distracted by this."

Tan's controversial e-mail had included a list of grievances with the former Watford manager, and Mackay said he had been left "deeply upset" by its content.

There has been ill feeling between the two since Tan's removal of Iain Moody as his head of recruitment in October, and the owner was said to be furious at Mackay's hopes of adding to his squad in January, which resulted in last week's incendiary e-mail.

Mackay had twice requested a meeting with Tan and Dalman this week in order to discuss their differences, but the Scot revealed the Malaysian had turned them down.

He refused to step down however but it looked like the axe would fall after last Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield, until the reprieve which was to prove short-lived.

Mackay, who has already been linked with the vacancy at West Brom, insisted he had nothing to be ashamed about despite Tan's stinging criticism.

In a statement released by his agent to Sky Sports News, he said: "It is with the deepest and most sincere regret that I today confirm my sacking.

"I leave with my head held high having gained a level of experience that, upon reflection, I suspect would have been difficult to find anywhere else in British football.

"The foundations laid here at Cardiff City will provide a solid platform for my successor and for the sake of the club I hope the progress that has been made so far will not be impaired in any way to today's enforced changes."

(China Daily 12/29/2013 page11)