Malky Mackay returned to football on Wednesday when he was appointed as manager of English second-tier strugglers Wigan Athletic.

The 42-year-old Scotsman, who had been out of work since being sacked by Cardiff in December, took over with Wigan, who dismissed Uwe Rosler last week, languishing in the bottom three of the Championship.

In August, Mackay found himself having to apologise for allegedly racist, sexist and homophobic text messages, which he admitted were "unacceptable", but Wigan chairman Dave Whelan said now was the time to "move on" from the furore generated by his new manager's comments.

"Malky made a mistake, he knows that, we know that and we have discussed this issue at length face to face," said Whelan.

"He apologised publicly for what happened at the time and has paid for what he did in terms of the bad publicity he has received since and will no doubt continue to suffer in the future."

Whelan added: "But I believe that it is now time to move on. Contrary to the way he has been portrayed in recent months, the Malky Mackay I met this week, and who has been vouched for by the many different people from whom we have sought advice before making this appointment, is an honourable man.

"He is a committed family man with decent values and is a professional who has worked and thrived for over 20 years in the multi-cultural world of modern football.

"There is nothing more to say about this subject, and as far as I am concerned we draw a line under it from today."

Mackay guided Cardiff to the League Cup final in 2012, where they lost on penalties to Liverpool at Wembley, before overseeing the club's promotion to the Premier League the following season as they returned to the English top flight for the first time in 51 years.

But he was sacked by Cardiff owner Vincent Tan in December 2013, with the Malaysian businessman reportedly referred to as a "chink", a derogatory term for a person of Chinese origin, in one of Mackay's texts.

Cardiff were subsequently relegated following MacKay's exit and are now also in the Championship.

Mackay's achievements in charge of the Welsh capital club weighed heavily with Whelan, desperate for Wigan to return to the Premier League 18 months on from both their relegation and FA Cup triumph.

"He is the man to lead us back into the Premier League, I am convinced of that having met him and discussed the demands of the job ahead of him," Whelan said.

"He has led a team out of the Championship before and he knows this league inside out having played and managed in it."

England's governing Football Association announced in August they were investigating a dossier of messages between Mackay and Iain Moody, Cardiff's former head of recruitment, but so far no charges have been brought against either man.