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QPR boss Harry Redknapp said yesterday that Malky Mackay deserved a second chance as a football manager, claiming the Scot has been through “hell for the last few months.”
Mackay was appointed Wigan boss on Wednesday despite an ongoing Football Association investigation into racist, sexist and homophobic text messages sent during his spell in charge at Cardiff.
The revelations saw a move to Crystal Palace fall through in August but Wigan chairman Dave Whelan offered Mackay a route back into the game despite criticism by campaigners.
A spokesman for anti-racism group Kick It Out said: “Wigan Athletic have disregarded the ongoing investigation being undertaken by the FA, and any potential punishment Mackay may face, by taking the decision to appoint him.”
But Redknapp brushed off Mackay’s offensive messages as “a mistake.”
He said: “Lots of people make mistakes in life — half the people who judge him have probably made more mistakes.
“It is easy to kick someone when they are down. He has got a second chance now. He has got the backing of the chairman and hopefully he will do well.
“He made a big mistake — you can’t do what he did, and he has accepted that. He has apologised. I am sure he has learned from that.”
Former Wigan striker and now anti-racism campaigner Jason Roberts wrote on Twitter that he was “disappointed” with the Latics’ decision.
The club have reportedly inserted a clause allowing them to cancel the contract should the FA find their new manager guilty.
Redknapp gave the former Watford boss his full support. “Whenever I have met Malky, I thought he was a decent person and a good football manager,” Redknapp said.
“I get stupid messages from people all the time, silly jokes. I hate them and delete them straight away.”
Redknapp first voiced his support for Mackay when the messages were revealed in August, insisting that Mackay should be forgiven as “he hasn’t murdered anyone, he hasn’t raped anyone and he is not a paedophile.”
The QPR manager was himself condemned by anti-racism campaigners in 2012 after saying that a former Portsmouth shareholder looked like the club had “pulled him off the stall outside. He looked like the only Arab who didn’t have oil in his garden.”
