Mark Hughes initial favourite for vacant Bolton Wanderers managers job

Mark Hughes is the opening favourite with Paddy Power to be the next Bolton manager following Gary Megson’s sacking today.

Hughes is 11/4 for a quick return to management following his recent exit at Manchester City with Alan Curbishley the next name in the frame at 6/1.

Other out of work managers seen as possible contenders include Paul Jewell and Darren Ferguson both at 13/2 with Steve Coppell, Kevin Keegan and Gareth Southgate at 14s, 16s and 20s, respectively. Former Bolton players Gary Speed and Peter Reid are 28/1 and 40/1.

Paddy Power, said: "Hughes is the favourite for a quick return to the Premier League but is it a job that is going to attract him after the millions he had at his disposal at Man City?

It may be that the likes of Alan Curbishley and Gary Speed are picked up by punters as more fitting of the Bolton mould.

One thing is for sure, this market is going to see some ups and downs over the next few days as managers rule themselves in or out."

UPDATE :
Paul Jewell has stormed into favouritism at 11/4 (3.75), with Peter Reid now second at 13/2 (5.50). Mark Hughes is now 3rd favourite at 6/1 (7.00)

Next Permanent Bolton Manager Betting

11/4 Jewell (from 13/2)
13/2 Reid (from 40/1)
6/1 Hughes (from 11/4)
9/1 D Ferguson (from 13/2)
10/1 Curbishley (from 6/1)

(see all the latest Bolton Wanderers Next Manager Betting odds at Paddy Power)

Relegation Latest

2/5 Hull
5/13 Portsmouth
Evs Burnley
11/10 Wolves
13/5 West Ham
3/1 Bolton
9/2 Wigan
7/1 Bar

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Man City sack manager Mark Hughes, name Roberto Mancini as replacement

Manchester City have sacked Mark Hughes after 18 months in charge and named Roberto Mancini as his successor, with Brian Kidd as assistant.

News of Hughes' departure came via a statement, issued just two hours after the 4-3 home win over Sunderland. The Welshman had been appointed in June 2008, replacing Sven-Goran Eriksson.

But despite spending heavily on the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Joleon Lescott and Carlos Tevez, results have not satisfied City's ambitious owners.

Assistant coaches Mark Bowen, Eddie Niedzwiecki, Kevin Hitchcock and Glyn Hodges have also left the club.

A Manchester City statement read :

"A return of two wins in 11 Premier League games is clearly not in line with the targets that were agreed and set".

"Sheikh Mansour and the board felt that there was no evidence that the situation would fundamentally change."

"This is a particularly difficult announcement given the personal investment over the past 15 months on all sides and we would like to put on record our respect for and thanks to Mark Hughes and we wish him the best in his future career."

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Mark Hughes time at Man City looks to be up in May 2010

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes had better start keeping his eyes out for his next job if Guus Hiddink's agent is to be believed.

Hiddink's agent, Cees Van Nieuwenhuizen, told the Daily Telegraph when asked if he has spoken to the English club's chief executive Garry Cook: "Yes, I did. Definitely. I had a call because I have been working with Garry for 12 years since we worked together at Nike.

"He (Cook) asked me if it would be worthwhile having a meeting to discuss the future and what might happen next summer. But I told him that Guus was contracted to Russia."

Reports suggest Hiddink, who guided Chelsea to an FA Cup win as interim manager in the second half of last season, is prepared to consider his future in February.

City were comfortably beaten 3-0 at White Hart Lane to cast doubts over their top-four credentials and the security of their manager's job.

Current boss Mark Hughes is under increasing pressure after his side slipped to eighth in the Premier League following Wednesday's defeat at Tottenham.

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TONY MOWBRAY NAMED CELTIC BOSS

FOOTBALL: Celtic have at last named former West Brom boss Tony Mowbray as their new manager.

Tony Mowbray ended weeks of speculation surrounding Gordon Strachan's successor as Celtic manager by signing a rolling 12-month contract with his former club.

Mowbray was given permission by West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace to open negotiations with the Parkhead club on Saturday after Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell eventually agreed to the Baggies' request for £2m compensation.

As expected, Mowbray agreed personal terms and will be joined in the east end of Glasgow by Mark Venus, his assistant at The Hawthorns, and Peter Grant, his first-team coach at Albion and a former Celtic team-mate.

Current Parkhead coach Neil Lennon will join the new management team but his role is as yet unknown.

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Jose Mourinho now favourite to be next Manchester United coach

Jose Mourinho has been cut from 8/1 to 9/4 favourite by William Hill to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson as permanent manager of Manchester United following comments from current Red Devils skipper Rio Ferdinand.

"There are very few people who could take over," Ferdinand said in an interview in GQ magazine out this Thursday. "If you're talking about someone with the ego and personality to do it, then Jose Mourinho is the name that jumps out at you."

However Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe said: "Whether Mourinho would want to accept what could be seen as a poisoned chalice, as the successor to Sir Alex would have his work cut out emulating or outdoing his predecessor, remains to be seen."

Martin O'Neill is 7/2 second favourite and it's 9/1 bar.

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Hiddink still favourite to be next Chelsea manager

Guus Hiddink is 8/11 favourite with UK bookmakers to be the Chelsea manager on the first day of the next campaign despite suggesting he will only stay with Chelsea until the last day of this season.

The Russia head coach was announced as Luiz Felipe Scolari's temporary successor at Stamford Bridge last week and he is currently preparing his charges for his first game in charge at Aston Villa on Saturday.

On his future, Hiddink said: "I will help out until the end of the season, and then it will stop. I am certain it will only be until the end of the season."

But the bookmakers don't beleive it making him a strong favourite.

8/11 Hiddink
3/1 Ancelotti
5/1 Rijkaard;
13/2 Zola;
10/1 Mancini;
10/1 Mourinho.

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Scolari sacked by Chelsea - Guus Hiddink favoured to take over

Guus Hiddink is widely regarded as the favourite for the Chelsea manager's job in the wake of Luiz Felipe Scolari's shock sacking on Monday afternoon.

But Hiddink's price has been drifting after his agent Cees van Nieuwenhuizen said there was "no chance" of him going to Stamford Bridge. "Guus wants to qualify for World Cup for a fourth time in a row and with a fourth different team." he said.

With Chelsea having slipped to fourth in the Premier League - seven points off Manchester United's pace, having played a game more - the decision was taken to axe Luiz Filipe Scolari.

That sparked a frenzy in the betting markets, with Guus Hiddink and Avram Grant almost immediately being linked with managerial roles at the club.

Grant, ditched by the club and replaced by Scolari in the summer, was being touted as director of football with current Russia boss Hiddink in charge of team affairs.

Hiddink, who knows Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich as a result of his spell in charge of the Russian national side, was almost immediately installed asthe bookmakers 1/2 favourite for the manager's job - but that price soon drifted out to a general 3/1 as the markets settled down.

Paddy Power's Darren Haines said: "Hiddink's close relationship with Abramovich in the Russia job have repeatedly linked Guus to the Stamford Bridge post in the past. Now could finally be the time for Chelsea to go Dutch."

Betfred's Jon Wilde added: "Surely now Chelsea will go for someone who knows his onions at club level. Hiddink fits the bill having won the European Cup and with his Russian connections he is a worthy favourite."

Meanwhile, bet365 are prepared to offer 14/1 about Avram Grant returning to the hot seat.

Former Barcelona boss Frank Rijkaard is also prominent in the betting at a general 6/1, while Chelsea playing legend Gianfranco Zola, currently in charge of West Ham, is also towards to the top of the markets at a best price of 7/1.

Earlier Zola's lawyer Fulvio Marrucco had said: "At the moment we know nothing about the link between Gianfranco Zola and the vacant position at Chelsea.

"Gianfranco is very happy at West Ham and still thanks them for giving him the opportunity to be a coach in the Premier League. It is very difficult to say if anything will happen, but Chelsea is a special place for Gianfranco Zola."

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Tony Adams to manage Portsmouth?

Legendary Gooner Tony Adams is the man almost every punter wants to back to be next permanent manager of Portsmouth with bookie Paddy Power cutting his odds in the first 36 hours of betting from 9/4 to 1/2.

Sam Allardyce remains second favourite, although his odds have eased from 4/1 to 9/2 whilst almost all other contenders have seen a significant drift in their odds.

The most noticeable exceptions to this that are seeing some levels of interest are Avram Grant, whose Portsmouth connections have seen his odds slashed from 14/1 to 9/2, and Kevin Keegan who came into the betting today after some small interest at 20/1.

Joe Jordan, who many believe may join Harry Redknapp at Spurs, is the biggest faller at 14/1 from an early 5/1 on Sunday morning.

Darren Haines, spokesman for Paddy Power, said: "The speculation may have been about Allardyce so far but the betting is almost exclusively Tony Adams and Avram Grant. It remains to be seen if punters will be enjoying another betting coup regarding the Portsmouth manager."

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Gianfranco Zola likely to be new West Ham manager.

West Ham are likely to offer their vacant managerial position to Gianfranco Zola.

Zola has emerged as the London club's preferred candidate ahead of the former Italy coach Roberto Donadoni and, with personal terms having effectively been agreed, confirmation of his appointment as West Ham's first foreign manager could be made later today.

Zola is currently coaching the Italy Under-21s alongside his former Chelsea team-mate Pierluigi Casiraghi, and has been given a glowing reference by the Italian Football Federation to back up his credentials.

West Ham's board will meet again today and expect to be in a position to offer the job to their favoured candidate - personal terms had been discussed and as good as agreed with both Zola and Donadoni during the interview process - in the hope that Zola will be able to attend the game at the Hawthorns, with the team to be selected by the caretaker manager Kevin Keen.

West Ham are already drawing up tentative plans to unveil the 42-year-old at the Boleyn Ground as early as Thursday ahead of the weekend trip to West Bromwich Albion

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Big Sam Allardyce to manage West Ham?!

Sam Allardyce has been the big mover with Betfred in the market for next permanent West Ham manager as there was plenty of betting support for the former Bolton and Newcastle boss.

But surely if Hammers fans were unhappy with the way their side played under Curbishley there is no way that they'd accept the UGLY FOOTBALL that has been a trademark of all Big Sam's teams?!

Allardyce was up as a 16/1 shot at the start, but is now down to 8/1 after early favourite Slaven Bilic distanced himself from the job with his former club.

Croatia coach Bilic, who opened up as a favourite following Alan Curbishley's resignation, drifted out to the best price on the high street of 10/3 after insisting he is focused on his role in charge of his national team.

Italian duo Paolo Di Canio and Roberto Mancini, who were the subject of good betting on Wednesday, are next in the market at 5/1 and 6/1 respectively, followed by Allardyce and ex-Chelsea manager Avram Grant, another man to have attracted attention from punters.

Betfred founder and chairman Fred Done said: "Big Sam is a surprise choice as the market springer for he doesn't appear to be a natural fit for the West Ham position. All his previous managerial jobs have been in the north and midlands and it's hard to know how the Cockneys would react to him."

"But he has been quite active in the media recently, which could be seen as a way of reminding people in football of his availability. I've certainly taken plenty of money from shrewd sources for Sam and, along with Di Canio, he represents the biggest losing result in our book."

Bilic and Mancini are bet365's 7/2 joint favourites, with Di Canio next best at 6/1 and bet365 spokesman Steve Freeth said: "Bilic seemed to be playing his cards close to his chest when quizzed about the vacancy, whilst Italians Mancini and Di Canio have been very popular."

For betting Odds on West Ham manager market check out these bookmakers :
Bet365, Betfred, PaddyPower

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Gus Poyet at 3/1 to replace Kevin Keegan at Newcastle

Kevin Keegan's departure from Newcastle is now official and the bookmakers have Gus Poyet their clear favourite to replace him.

Keegan's exit will have increased the influence of Poyet's former colleague Dennis Wise at St James' and Poyet has been backed into 3/1 from an opening 50/1 with Paddy Power while he's as short as 9/4 elsewhere.

Magpies legend Alan Shearer was a name bandied about 6 months ago when the job was open and he is 7/1 with some bookmakers to take the option this time.

Darren Haines, spokesman for Paddy Power, said: "There's been a lot of confusion in the last few days but now betting will begin in earnest for what is traditionally one of the biggest next manager markets for any football club."

Check out all the football specials at PaddyPower now.

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Alan Curbishley quits as West Ham manager

Alan Curbishley has resigned as manager of West Ham because of a lack of control over transfer policy.

Curbishley offered his resignation on Wednesday and it was quickly accepted by owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson.

A West Ham statement said the club had accepted Curbishley's resignation in the best interests of both parties.

The final straw for the 50-year-old had been the enforced sales of Anton Ferdinand and George McCartney. Curbishley said decisions had been made without involving me, amounting to a breach of trust and confidence meaning I had no option but to leave.

Curbishley added: "The selection of players is critical to the job of manager and I had an agreement with the club that I alone would determine the composition of the squad."

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Scolari is the new Chelsea boss

Chelsea have confirmed Portugal boss Luiz Felipe Scolari as their new manager.

The Brazilian was one of the favourites to succeed Avram Grant in the Stamford Bridge hotseat but the timing of his appointment has come as a surprise.

Scolari is currently managing Portugal at Euro 2008 and was not expected to make a decision about his future until after the tournament.

A statement from Stamford Bridge read:

"Chelsea Football Club is delighted to confirm that Luiz Felipe Scolari will be the club's new manager from July 1, 2008.

Out of respect for his current role as Head Coach of the Portuguese national team, and to ensure minimum disruption to this work, there will be no further comment from Chelsea FC nor from Felipe about his new role until his employment with us commences."

Despite a number of big-name managers being linked with the job following Avram Grant's sacking last month, it is understood Scolari was always Chelsea's number one choice and nobody else was offered the position.

He is likely to be unveiled during the first week of July, at which time the details of his contract will also be revealed although figures of £6.25m per annum are being floated.

Before becoming an international manager, he enjoyed success at club level in Brazil, winning South America's equivalent of the Champions League - the Copa Libertadores - with two different clubs.

The 59-year-old has no experience of managing at club level in Europe.

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Scolari doesn't say no to Chelsea - but is it a yes?

Luiz Felipe Scolari refused to rule himself out of the race to become Chelsea's manager last night but also effectively told the London club that they would have to wait until his participation at Euro 2008 with Portugal had ended before he would give serious consideration to an approach from them.

The Portugal manager, preparing Portugal for a Group A tie against Turkey, insisted that his squad had his total focus.

The Brazilian has been in this situation before. In the countdown to Euro 2004 with Portugal he was linked with the job at Benfica. Before the 2006 World Cup he was touted as England's next manager. On both occasions and for different reasons he came out on the eve of the tournament to make it clear that he would not accept the jobs. Not this time.

"I am here as the Portugal coach; I am going to work hard with the Portugal squad until the end of the Euro, which may be the first phase, the second phase or, if it is up to me, June 29 [the date of the final]," said Scolari, who will be out of contract at the end of the championship, as he was after the last World Cup.

"What is going to happen to me, whether I stay or leave, concerns me [only] and I am not going to talk about it now. I am only going to make a public declaration after the Euro.

"If something happens during the Euro, I am not going to answer [questions about it]. Something might happen one way or another and things might go this way or that but I am here to work for Portugal.

"I started to work for Portugal for 2004, 2006 and 2008; I might sign again or I might leave. It's a situation I'm going to examine, but I'm not going to answer this sort of question or talk about it and I'm going to stay quiet. I'm going to talk to my family and examine the possibilities, then I will decide."

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Jose Mourinho moves in to Inter Milan job.

The former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has been confirmed as the new manager of Internazionale.

A press statement on the Inter Milan website read "The whole Internazionale organisation takes great pleasure in welcoming Jose Mourinho and his colleagues."

The Portuguese has signed a three-year contract with the Nerazzuri, and will work alongside his former Chelsea colleagues Rui Farias, Silvino Louro and Andre Vilas-Boas at the San Siro. Giuseppe Baresi, previously director of Inter's youth programmes, will be Mourinho's assistant.

As I revealed 6 days ago when writing about Roberto Mancini's departure, the shadow of Mourinho always loomed large over this job after it was apparent that neither of the Spanish giants wanted to try Mourinho's negative brand of football management.

The arrival of Mourinho at Inter is likely to increase the speculation over the future of several of his former Chelsea players, particularly Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Ricardo Carvalho.

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Why did Mourinho leave? Video evidence!

OK - it's just a parody - and it's quite old - but this one made me laugh.



Drogba - get up !!

and just to show that Jose Morinho actually had a sense of humour - take a look at this genuine response to a surprise question at a Chelsea interview session.



Mr Mourinho was happy to answer the question - despite the "PR suit" trying to sidestep it all - I think I'm developing a soft spot for Jose now he's gone.

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Mourinho back to Chelsea ?

Could Jose Mourinho be back at Stamford Bridge as early as December?

Well that's one possiblity as it seems that "the special one" is odds on to get the vacant manager's job at Valencia who will be visiting Chelsea in the Champions League on December 11.

Mourinho is quoted at 4/7, with the closest other candidate Fabio Capello at 5/1.

See This bookielabrat post for all the odds quotes.

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Hou's in at Man City ?

Gerard Houllier is now the favourite to be the next Manchester City manager following the news that former market favourite Claudio Ranieri has taken over at Juventus.

Ex-Chelsea manager Ranieri left his role at Parma last week after leading the club to Serie A safety and had been widely expected to join Manchester City.

However, Juventus have installed Ranieri as the successor to Didier Deschamps to take charge in their return to Serie A.

It all means a wide-open market again for the City job and Houllier tops the Betfair prices at 4/1 at BetDirect while Juande Ramos (who?) has popped up and is favourite at some bookmakers now.

Sven-Goran Eriksson has also shortened to betwen 3.50 to 5.50 while Gordon Strachan can be got at 18.50 at BetFair

While it's double figure prices and upwards about the rest with Billy Davis, Co Adriaanse, GRaeme Souness and Paul Jewell all getting some action.

Be careful though - as Ranieri had been backed at as short as 1/2 with Sky Bet for the Eastlands vacancy while he's traded at a low of 1/8 on Betfair.

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New Newcastle Manager : Sven will we know ?

Sam? Sven? or Shearer?

Having been backed at a low of 1/33 for the job when the Betfair betting opened on Monday, Sam Allardyce is out to 1/3 for the Newcastle manager's position after other names were linked with the post today.

Sven-Goran Eriksson has been backed at a high of 49/1, but he is now into the 9/1 second favourite on Betfair.

Favourites to be the next Newcastle manager at Betfair :
1/3 Allardyce, 9/1 Eriksson, 22/1 Houllier, 33/1 Shearer,

And some no-hopers if you feel like donating your money away ... :
49/1 Pardew, 59/1 Coleman, 69/1 Juande Ramos, Bruce, 100/1+ Others.

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Top Managers Betting on Football ?

The Football Association is to investigate allegations that several Premiership managers have laid bets on top-flight matches. FA rules forbid managers and players betting on competitions they are involved in.

"We will see if there has been any breach of our regulations and we would welcome any information that would help our inquiries," said an FA spokesman.

The claims were made by a former employee of bookmakers Victor Chandler but the bookmaker has obtained a High Court injunction prohibiting the naming of the managers accused.

"He wants to maintain his clients' right to privacy," said PR guru Max Clifford, who has been representing Gibraltar-based Chandler.

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Gooner says :

You might well think that HARRY REDKNAPP would be at the top of that list ... but I cannot possibly comment ...

But we can recommend VCBet as a good place to have a punt ... eh Harry ??

;-)

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