undisclosed fee in compensation. His reign began with a 1–0 away win over West Ham United. The side were undefeated in September, resulting in Mackay being nominated for the September Championship Manager of the Month in his first month managing the Welsh club. Another unbeaten month for Cardiff resulted in Mackay winning the award in November. He guided Cardiff to their first ever League Cup final, following wins over Oxford United, Huddersfield Town, Leicester City, Burnley, Blackburn Rovers and Crystal Palace in earlier rounds. The week before the League Cup final, Mackay signed a three-and-half-year contract extension, tying him to the club until June 2016. Mackay's side were beaten by Liverpool in the Wembley final, losing 3–2 on penalties, with a 2–2 scoreline after extra time. Cardiff's season ended where it began, as they were beaten 5–0 on aggregate by West Ham United in the promotion playoffs. Following the success of his first season in Wales, Mackay was reportedly one of the candidates to replace Paul Lambert at Premier League side Norwich City. He turned down the offer and said he was fully committed to Cardiff City. He oversaw Cardiff's strongest ever home start to a league season, as they won each of their first ten fixtures at Cardiff City Stadium, the previous club record being nine consecutive home wins. Mackay went on to lead Cardiff to promotion to the Premier League, and sealed the Championship title after a 1–1 draw away at Burnley. Mackay was voted the League Managers Association (LMA) Championship Manager of the Year on 21 May 2013. During the 2013–14 season, Mackay came under criticism from club owner Vincent Tan concerning his signings, transfer budgets, results and style of play. In December 2013, Tan told Mackay to resign from the club or be dismissed. After a 3–0 home defeat to Southampton, Mackay was sacked by Cardiff on 27 December 2013 after a meeting with the club's directors. Wigan Athletic Mackay was appointed manager of Wigan Athletic on 19 November 2014, despite fan opposition, after the Championship side had dismissed Uwe Rösler. The appointment was criticised by the Kick It Out campaign, who said that the club had disregarded the ongoing FA investigation into text messages sent by Mackay. Wigan chairman Dave Whelan said that the club had inserted a clause in its contract with Mackay stating that they could terminate the contract if he is found