Pierre Van Hooijdonk won’t hear a bad word said against old pal Malky Mackay

PIERRE van Hooijdonk is delighted to see his former team-mate Malky Mackay back in football in a prominent role.

The pair were team-mates at Celtic more than 20 years ago and had a solid relationship.

When Mackay made his Hoops debut in central defence at Tannadice in 1995, Van Hooijdonk was in his usual role up front.

A couple of weeks later, Pierre’s goal against Airdrie won the Scottish Cup Final.

So the Dutchman felt sympathy for Mackay over the fallout that engulfed him in 2014 when he was Cardiff City manager as he exchanged text messages with a member of his backroom staff of a racist and sexist nature.

Mackay admitted to his mistakes. He had to carefully rebuild his personal reputation and tackle the issues he faced.

He was then appointed as SFA performance director last year, and has now been installed as Scotland interim manager after Gordon Strachan’s departure last month and will be in the dugout for Thursday’s match with Holland at Pittodrie.

Van Hooijdonk is delighted his old pal’s rehabilitation now appears complete.

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He told The Sunday Post: “Malky is a good footballing person, and he was an excellent colleague when we were at Celtic together under the late Tommy Burns.

“He was a really sensible man, not a silly boy. He worked hard at his game to maximise his ability, and after he left Celtic he enjoyed a wonderful career in England with West Ham, Norwich City and Watford.

“He then worked wonders at Cardiff City to get them promotion into the English Premiership.

“Of course, some of the problems happened after that, and I felt for Malky and his family.

“I don’t want to go into too much detail because it has all moved on.

“But I feel, as a fellow human being and someone who knows Malky, that I have to say I do not regard him as a racist person.

“If you look into the bottom of his heart, you will see a very nice man, a really good person.

“Not even 1% of me has any negative thoughts about Malky.

“As a footballing man, he knows his stuff. He has been given a wonderful opportunity with the SFA and he will do very well.

“I don’t know what the future will hold for him after the game on Thursday night, but I do know that Malky is very capable.

“He is still young and has many years left to offer the game of football at a high level.

“He will have Scotland organised and wanting to play attacking football. The players will want to play for him, and I look forward to seeing his team selection.”

Van Hooijdonk reckons it will be a good game and an interesting tactical battle between Mackay and Dutch boss Dick Advocaat, another person van Hooijdonk knows very well.

Holland will arrive in Scotland deflated. They failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia and that is on the back of not being at the European Championships last summer.

It’s understood the Dutch FA do not see Advocaat as the long-term solution for their national team, and he is likely to be replaced by the turn of the year.

Van Hooijdonk said: “We managed to beat Sweden in our final game of the qualification section, but it was never going to be enough.

“The damage had already been done.

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“As a nation, we are looking for answers and they are not always easy to find.

“Listen, it was only seven years ago we played in the World Cup Final and lost to Spain in South Africa.

“It really is incredible how quickly it has all fallen apart.

“My own view is that the signs were slightly alarming for me back in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

“Yes, we got to the semi-finals, but Louis van Gaal was playing with five at the back. I wasn’t in favour of that.

“We have also lost talented footballers, match-winners such as Robin van Persie and Rafael van der Vaart. Arjen Robben has just retired.

“We have no like-for-like replacements.

“It wasn’t so long ago that the very best teams in Europe would have at least one Dutchman in the line-up.

“We used to have household names. Now that isn’t the case.

“We had Vincent Jansen move from AZ Alkmaar to Tottenham Hotspur two years ago. But he couldn’t get a regular place on the team so now he is away to Turkish football.

“So everyone involved in Dutch football needs to take a look at the situation, and think long and hard. This is a concern for the whole country.

“Having major tournaments without the Dutch national team is so unusual.

“We need to look at the players we are producing and the systems and formations we are playing.

“Part of the rebuilding process starts on Thursday against Scotland.

“But no matter the result, we will still have a long, long way to go.”