Osaze Odemwingie’s manager at Cardiff City, Malky Mackay has been fired by the management of the club following strings of poor results.

The Billionaire Malaysian owner Vincent Tan described the dismissal as a “regretful” step necessary to be fair to the club and its fans.

In a statement, Tan said: "Far too much dirty linen has been exposed to the public gaze but, I stress, not by me."

"It has been an unbelievable few weeks.

"First of all you had the statement by Simon Lim (Cardiff's chief executive), quoting Vincent Tan being openly critical of Malky Mackay.

"I think Vincent Tan thought the Southampton defeat was the last straw.

"The search has started for a new manager and I would suggest Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, managing in Norway the moment, would be a pretty firm favourite for the job."

The sack was triggered by the Boxing day defeat at home to Southampton in a game that ended 3-0. This placed Cardiff City a point above the relegation zone.

It was also gathered that the owner had accused the manager of overspending in the transfer market and said the manager will have nothing to spend in January transfer period.

Mackay's assistant David Kerslake is expected to be in charge for the home match against Sunderland on Saturday.

Mackay had been in charge at Cardiff for two-and-a-half years after taking over from Dave Jones in June 2011.

He guided the club back to the top flight of English football after a 52-year absence when they won the Championship in April.

Mackey is the sixth Premiership manager to be sacked this season.