Malky Mackay: Cardiff manager says fans have right to protest

Cardiff boss Malky Mackay says fans have every right to protest about his run-in with owner Vincent Tan.

Mackacy was told by Tan last week to resign or be sacked.

That threat has since been lifted and chairman Mehmet Dalman, who is trying to repair the relationship, has asked fans not to display anti-Tan banners at the Southampton game on Boxing Day.

But Mackay said: "What they want to sing and what they want to say is down to themselves."

Cardiff City fans are planning a pre-match protest against owner Vincent Tan before the club's Boxing Day game with Southampton on 26 December.

However Dalman had told BBC Sport he hoped supporters would not protest.

"If I had one wish for Boxing Day it's that they don't hold up 'Tan Out' or 'Malky In' banners, but rather one that says 'Talk to each other', " he said.

Mackay has admitted he expected to be dismissed after refusing to quit in the wake of Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Liverpool, a result which left the team 15th in the table, four points above the relegation zone.

Tan, a 61-year-old businessman from Malaysia who bought a controlling stake in Cardiff in 2010, was understood to be unhappy at an apparent overspend on players and has also been critical of Cardiff's style of play.

Mackay has now been told he will remain in charge "for the foreseeable future".

"Our fans are the lifeblood of the club," he said. "When I'm gone and the owner is gone, the fans will still be supporting the team.

"They are intelligent people who have got their own opinions about the football club.

"But I know they will get behind the football team like they have always done from the first day I have arrived there."

Dalman wants Tan and Mackay to meet for talks soon, but there has been no indication from the club as to if and when that will happen.

The Bluebirds have two home fixtures over the festive period, with Southampton visiting on Boxing Day before a clash with bottom-of-the-table Sunderland on 28 December.