With the Premier League season just weeks away, William Hill are already speculating on which of the most endangered of species, Premier League managers, will be first to go. William Hill make Newcastle’s Chris Hughton the 4/1 favourite to bite the bullet, with big spending Man City 5/1 to give Roberto Mancini the elbow first.
Phil Brown - sacked last season
Phil Brown was the long standing favourite last season, but clung on longer than expected. Rafa Benitez is another who was short, but lasted out the season. Who will be the first to go this year? I think Steve Bruce could be in the firing line. Sunderland faded badly last season and a bad start would soon see unrest at the Stadium of Light.
Newcastle boss Chris Hughton has revealed that he does have cash to spend on players but the Magpies must get value for money in any transfer dealings. This means he doesn’t have Premier League cash to splash and in my view he may find the Premier League a different kettle of fish to League One.
Roberto Di Matteo is 11/2, Roberto Martinez 7/1 and Steve Bruce 8/1. The longest serving managers in the Premier League, Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger are both 66/1 outsiders and David Moyes is 40/1. No managers to get the sack all season is 40/1. Hills odds suggest that the season will see four or five manager casualities, is offered at 13/8.
Elsewhere, the battle for Martin Jol’s services appears to be developing into a protracted tug of war after Ajax refused a request from their manager to discuss terms with Fulham. Jol is believed to have told the Ajax chairman, Uri Colonel, that he wants to join Fulham to replace Roy Hodgson as manager, contradicting reports in the Dutch media that he had resolved to stay. Read more in the Telegraph.
With the emergence of a big 7 in the Premier League, the pressure is on at both ends of the table, with points more important than ever in the hunt for glory. It could well be, that the pressure to win games becomes too much for some managers and there could be a few victims in the queue at the dole office by the end of the season, said Hills spokesman Rupert Adams.
William Hill: How Many Premier League Managers Will Leave Their Post Before End Of 2010/11 Season?: 14/1 None or One, 3/1 Two or Three, 13/8 Four or Five, 9/4 Six or seven, 11/2 Eight or more
First Premier League Manager To Get The Sack: 4/1 Chris Hughton; 5/1 Roberto Mancini; 11/2 Roberto Di Matteo; 7/1 Roberto Martinez; 8/1 Steve Bruce; 10/1 Ian Holloway; 14/1 Alex McCleish; 14/1 Sam Allardyce; 14/1 Mick McCarthy; 16/1 Martin ONeill; 20/1 Next Permanent Fulham Manager; 20/1 Owen Coyle, 25/1 Avram Grant; 25/1 Tony Pulis; 28/1 Harry Redknapp; 28/1 Carlo Ancelotti; 28/1 Roy Hodgson; 40/1 No Manager To Go; 50/1 David Moyes; 66/1 Arsene Wenger; 66/1 Sir Alex Ferguson
