Who’ll Replace Keano at Sunderland?

Best Bookies, Betting, Bookmakers, Fixed Odds, Football, Tipsters | selectabet | December 4, 2008 at 9:40 pm

This one had been on the cards for a couple of weeks but if I’m being honest I thought it would have been Keane’s former team-mate, Paul Ince, who’d have ‘parted company’ first. But it’s Keano’s departure that has sparked the latest spin of the managerial merry-go-round and the race is on to find the next manager of Sunderland. The runners and riders have started to emerge already;

Sam Allardyce is in pole position as he is with almost every job that comes up these days. He’s bound to get one eventually and his ties to the club might just mean that this is the one for him. He’s 7/4 with VCBet and I’ve had a wee nibble at that as I think Niall Quinn will move quickly for a replacement and there’s nothing stopping Big Sam getting stuck in straight away.

The next three suspects in the betting are a bit of a surprise to me. At 7/1 (Paddy Power) it’s former West Ham and Charlton boss Alan Curbishley who’s been out the game since resigning from his post at Upton Park in September. Whether his stock is high enough for Quinn to take him on is questionable.

Next in line is David O’Leary. He’s not managed in the top flight since his being ‘mutually consented’ from Aston Villa in the Summer of 2006 but his Irish connections seem enough to make him one of the candidates and both Paddy Power and VCBet go 10/1 on him being the next Sunderland manager.

It’s also 10/1 (Paddy Power) that Celtic boss Gordon Strachan will make a return to the Premier League and take the hotseat at the Stadium of Light. Strachan has yet to win over the entire Celtic support but he’s unlikely to leave his position when he’s 7 points clear at the top of the SPL en-route to 4 titles in a row.

Among some of the also-rans are a few cheeky contenders including former Black Cats boss Mick McCarthy (22/1 Paddy Power), former Cheslea gaffer, Avram Grant (33/1 VCBet) and Toon legend Kevin Keegan at 50/1 (VCBet).

I reckon this’ll be a short market and I’m glad I got on Allardyce earlier today.