Liverpool's Brendan Rodgers 'astonished' by Malky Mackay criticism at Cardiff

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers says he is astonished by the situation fellow boss Malky Mackay finds himself in at Cardiff City.

Mackay has been criticised by Cardiff owner Vincent Tan for revealing that he hoped to recruit three new players in the January transfer window but says he does not plan to resign.

quote My only conclusion when I look from the outside is you've got a business guy operating the club who obviously knows nothing about football

"I find it astonishing, what he's had to go through," said Rodgers.

"To see him being questioned on what he has done, I find it remarkable."

Rodgers, who worked with Mackay when he was managing Watford in 2008-09 and the latter was first-team coach, added: "He's going to go on and become a big manager at a top club and I find it astonishing there's talk about him leaving there, absolutely astonishing.

"My only conclusion when I look from the outside is you've got a business guy operating the club who obviously knows nothing about football.

"He's obviously been a very successful business man in his life, but football is like no other business."

Mackay led Cardiff to promotion from the Championship last season, but the Scot's future became uncertain when the club's head of recruitment, Iain Moody, was removed from his position in October.

Analysis Pat Murphy BBC Radio 5 live "Malky Mackay will only leave the Cardiff City manager's job if he's sacked - and he still has this season and two more years left on his contract. So it would cost Vincent Tan the owner a great deal of money to be rid of him."

Moody was replaced by 23-year-old Kazakh Alisher Apsalyamov, who was at the club on work experience before his appointment and is a friend of Tan's son. Apsalyamov has since been temporarily suspended in a query over his visa.

Cardiff broke their transfer record three times over the summer, signing striker Andreas Cornelius for £7.5m, defender Steven Caulker for £8m and then midfielder Gary Medel for £11m.

Tan continued to backed Mackay after Moody's departure, saying at the time he would "support him for many years to come".

But the pair's relationship has become increasingly strained, culminating with Tan releasing a statement earlier this week criticising Mackay for going public about transfers.

"The overspending of £15m has upset Tan Sri greatly, resulting in the removal of Iain Moody as head of recruitment," it read. "As such, he has stated that not a single penny will be made available in January."