guilty by the FA. A shirt sponsor of the club, Premier Range, withdrew their backing after Mackay was appointed. On 22 November, in his first game as manager, Wigan drew 1–1 against Middlesbrough at the DW Stadium. He was dismissed on 6 April 2015. A 0–2 defeat to Derby County saw him leave the club eight points from safety of relegation in the division. During his 138-day tenure, Wigan achieved 19 points from a possible 72 winning 5 games of 24 played in the Championship. The move was welcomed by fans with Wigan Athletic Supporters Club spokesperson Caroline Molyneux telling BBC Sport: "I think [Mackay's sacking] is a popular decision among the fans." Mackay had received public backing by newly appointed club chairman David Sharpe as recently as March 2015 when he described Mackay as "a big part of what we are doing here". Scottish Football Association In December 2016, the Scottish Football Association (Scottish FA) appointed Mackay as its performance director, responsible for overseeing the development of young players. The appointment was criticised by some people, including politician Clare Haughey, due to Mackay's previous behaviour. The anti-racism campaign group Kick It Out made comments that were supportive of Mackay, pointing out that he had since received equality and diversity training from the (English) FA. During his tenure with the SFA, Mackay was appointed caretaker manager of the Scotland national team. He gave four players debuts in his only match, which the team lost 1–0 to the Netherlands in a friendly at Pittodrie on 9 November 2017. Mackay resigned from his position as performance director in November 2020. Ross County Mackay was appointed manager of Ross County in May 2021. The move was once again met with fan backlash as a section of Ross County fans criticised the club's decision to appoint Mackay as manager. Controversies Mackay was expected to become manager of Premier League club Crystal Palace in August 2014, but dropped out of contention after Cardiff City sent a dossier to the Football Association alleging misconduct by Mackay and sporting director Iain Moody. It subsequently emerged that some of the allegations related to text messages considered to be racist, sexist and homophobic in nature. Cardiff questioned the fees paid to agents and lawyers relating to transfer deals made while Mackay and Moody worked for the club. A source of tension between the two clubs was the alleged leaking