Malky Mackay is the new sporting director at Hibs. You've probably heard.

The news dropped like a bomb on the Scottish football landscape this past Tuesday just hours after the club confirmed manager Nick Montgomery had been sacked following an underwhelming eight months in charge. Depressingly, it took the spotlight away from an emotional night at Easter Road where club heroes, and all-round decent guys, Paul Hanlon and Lewis Stevenson were honoured for their years of service as they each played their final game at the stadium they've called home ever since they were teenagers. It was the latest example of how entirely out of touch the Hibs hierarchy are with their own fanbase and community, but that's another column for another time.

Prior to his new gig in Leith, Mackay's most recent job was manager of Ross County before being sacked earlier this season. He has experience in a behind-the-scenes role as performance director for the Scottish FA, while he also managed Wigan Athletic, Watford and Cardiff City in English football, taking the latter to the Premier League in 2013.

However – and again, as you will all know – none of those accomplishments are the first thing that come to mind when you mention the name of the former centre-half. Instead, it's the bigoted series of text messages from a work phone which were given to the FA by Cardiff in the summer of 2014. They were racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic and misogynistic in nature. Eight are routinely credited as being sent by Mackay. He actually only sent three of them, the rest were sent to him. But seeing as they are all absolutely abhorrent, that certainly doesn't absolve him.

Everywhere Mackay has travelled since there has been outrage from supporters that their club, or football association, would decide to hire such an individual, and it's been no different since Hibs made their announcement. But for every person expressing outrage, there is another on the opposite side of the debate condemning the criticism. After all, they say, it was ten years ago that this happened. Mackay has since undergone diversity training, been backed by the Show Racism the Red Card campaign and said on more than one occasion that he regretted his actions. 

So do the Malky defenders have a point? Yes, they do. I'm a big believer in rehabilitation and that, within reason, the worst thing a person does shouldn't necessarily define them for the rest of their lives. But in order to win round those, like myself, who do not yet feel comfortable enough to forgive and forget, he needs to do more to show that he truly has learned from his mistakes and can now help to educate others.

The level of contrition required wasn't there from the very beginning. In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports after the messages came to light, he made a point to stress it was only three messages from 10,000. Considering the offence caused by those three, it's hardly the best excuse. Later, when unveiled by the SFA as performance director, he was twice asked whether he considered the messages sent to be racist. Both times he ducked the question and even made a desperate attempt at a joke about a reporter's tie, aimed at deflecting attention away from himself. Then, this past week, he was offered the opportunity on Hibs club TV to make a full and frank apology for his past misdemeanours but instead chose to focus only on the present and future, telling Hibs fans to judge him on 'the person you see now'.

That's why there is always a storm following Mackay everywhere he goes and this will continue to follow him for the rest of his career unless he fully fronts up for what he's done. That may seem harsh to some people, and I get it. None of us are angels. We've also said things or done things which are not a true reflection of our character. But we don't have the privilege of playing and managing in football. And with that privilege, you have to accept that the standard of your actions has to be better than the average man on the street. And when you do wrong and are caught out, you have to show true and humble contrition and continue showing it as long as you are in the public eye. We all know this.

One comparison which has been made often is that of David Martindale. The Livingston manager previously spent over four years in prison for being involved in the dealing of cocaine. His reputation within the Scottish football community is higher than that of Mackay, despite the seriousness of his actions being on a much grander scale, at least within the eyes of the law.
But Martindale has fully and unequivocally shown that contrition. He doesn't try to deflect and he doesn't try to hide from his past wrongdoings. He owns his mistakes and does what he can to help others not go down a similar path.

Going back to Mackay's unveiling as performance director, he said during that press conference that, as a result of the diversity training he undertook, he knew more about the issues than anyone else in the room, referring to the observing journalists. If that's the case, tell us! Even if we believe ourselves to possess no bigoted bone in our body, we could all do with more education on how unconscious bias, generalisations and other societal influences can warp our viewpoints. 

Mackay's story could really be a force for good if he were able to properly complete his redemption. Come out, tell us why he previously thought the way he did, what he's learned since then and why it's important. He can change perceptions, he can educate people, he can help the football community be more inclusive and less ignorant. He can make sure young footballers know they have to set an example for future generations of kids who idiolise them by maintaining high standards of decency. He can make this world feel a little less divided, at least for a brief second.

If he did this then he absolutely would be forgiven and the storm that follows him into every new job would dissipate. But he hasn't done it, it doesn't seem like he wants to do it, and therefore the dark cloud will hang over him for the rest of his career.