The problem with the controversy over Malky Mackay's texts to Iain Moody is that the main protagonists seem to speak a different language from the rest of us.If you haven't read the offending texts, I'm not copying them here - try the BBC website.
I've read the texts carefully, allowing the words used to have their mainstream dictionary meaning, and they are, by any inguistic and reasonable standards, racist, sexist, homophobic and anti-Jewish. Mackay now, on a third attempt at an apology, admits they are "unacceptable and inappropriate" and that there is "no excuse".
He insists he is not a racist, sexist, homophobic or anti-Jewish. That leaves me linguistically confused. The texts are unacceptable and inappropriate, why? It isn't the grammar, the poor choice of vocabulary, the timing, the recipient, the fact that he was "under pressure" - it's what they say, and what that tells us about the mind that thinks in these gratuitously abusive terms in the first place, articulates them, and communicates them.
Football managers at the highest level are under pressure all the time - it's the job, and the financial rewards are meant to purchase the experience, character and skills of someone who, under that pressure, behaves in a way that is - well, acceptable, appropriate and respectful. So pressure is no excuse - not even an explanation.
Quoted on the BBC website, Mackay says, "I'm a leader of people and it shouldn't have happened. But I'm a human being and I made a mistake." Quite so.
But the word mistake is a wee bit of an understatement, a piece of spinning rhetoric, an attempt to make serial offences sound like an oversight. Jesus said it's out of the heart the mouth speaks, and Luke 6.45 is a much more honest and realistic assessment of what happens before the thumb presses send.
As a Christian I am appalled at Mackay's language, the mindset that lies behind and chooses the words, and the character of someone who can even think the thoughts requiring such crude, dangerous vocabulary.
So what am I saying? That he should never serve as a manager again? That his claim it was a 'mistake' should be dismissed as self-serving minimising of damage? That his claim to have shown contrition is not enough? I'm frankly gob-smacked that a high profile football manager, who must know that in an age of digital footprints and carnivorous media interest, he is required to act in the character of his role - "a leader of people" - would be arrogant enough to send this stuff and think no more about it.
Perhaps the best question big Malky could ask is "What do I need to do to put this right?" Those who are targeted by, and offended by his language, what would they ask of him, that would enable him again to hold his head up in any company, including theirs?
The word redemption is a rich, old fashioned and essential community restoring word. It enables language to move from conflict to resolution, from prejudice to understanding, from acknowledged guilt to forgiveness, and from a broken past to a recovered future.
If Malky Mackay has any sense, and can think his way forward with or without the aid of publicists and lawyers, he might come to realise what is needed is an intentional and determined decision to face the reality of what he said, and therefore who he is. That will mean repentance, a turnaround, an inner re-orientation, a combination of remorse and commitment to change. Then there would be at least the possibility he can recover a sense of personal integrity as a first step towards restored public credibility.
He needs to hear from those he offended, to listen and understand. He needs equality and diversity training, which he is now quoted as saying he will seek. Good. He needs a refresher course in leadership and self awareness, exposure to the consequences of language and an understanding of the linear moral connection between the words we use and the heart and mind that chooses them to tell the world what we are thinking.
If Mackay insists he is not racist, sexist, homophobic or anti-Jewish, then that now needs credible evidence to prove it. He can do that by showing willingness to learn and understand why these texts are morally repugnant, and why they were sent by him. In the fantasy world of football, there are times when what's needed is moral realism. Mackay is not being asked in a post match interview to justify his team's poor performance - he's being asked to do something infinitely more demanding - to identify the weakness of his own performance and train to put it right. I for one hope he will find a way that is redemptive for him, and brings good out of evil, and enables a talented man to work again at the highest level (by which I mean ethics as well as tactics) - but it will require far more than words.
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This post was drafted this morning for publishing later. But then came this. On Football Focus today Garth Crooks a Kick it Out Trustee said, "There has to be room for redemption. This is about education. We are keen for managers, players and coaches who fall from grace in this area to understand what is acceptable in a working environment."
Amen to that, all of it, including his use of that wonderful word - redemption.
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