CARDIFF, Wales (AP)  Cardiff manager Malky Mackay was back on the hot seat after his side was thu...

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<p>CARDIFF, Wales (AP)  Cardiff manager Malky Mackay was back on the hot seat after his side was thumped by Southampton 3-0 in the English Premier League on Thursday.</p>
<p>A pair by Jay Rodriguez and another by Rickie Lambert, all in the first half hour, helped Southampton cruise to its first victory in seven games.</p>
<p>Fans of the visitors chanted to Mackay, ''You're getting sacked in the morning,'' and he couldn't defend himself in the face of a woeful display.</p>
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<p>Cardiff owner Vincent Tan wanted Mackay out last week, but after Mackay vowed to stay and was backed by team fans, club chairman Mehmet Dalman said on Sunday that Mackay was ''in charge for the forseeable future.''</p>
<p>However, Cardiff supporters were booing Mackay and the team by fulltime on Thursday, not that Tan might have heard. He left his seat five minutes before time.</p>
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Southampton crush Cardiff 3-0 in EPL

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It's rare when a loss appears to actually strengthen a coach's position with a team fighting to stay in the top flight, but Malky Mackay seems to be the beneficiary of such circumstances heading into Cardiff City's home match against Southampton on Boxing Day.
Much was made of a seemingly growing rift between Mackay and Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan in the week leading up to the Bluebirds' match versus Liverpool, reaching a climax when Tan sent the Scot an email saying he would fire Mackay if he did not step down. This came after Tan rebuffed Mackay's public request for funds to use in the January transfer window after an aggressive summer of spending following promotion.

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CARDIFF, Wales (AP)  Cardiff manager Malky Mackay was back on the hot seat after his side was thumped by Southampton 3-0 in the English Premier League on Thursday.
A pair by Jay Rodriguez and another by Rickie Lambert, all in the first half hour, helped Southampton cruise to its first victory in seven games.

Southampton crush Cardiff 3-0 in EPL

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