Next Celtic Manager Betting: Mowbray the New Favourite

Betting | selectabet | May 28, 2009 at 10:15 am

Three days on and there are still a few nervous chairmen up and down the land. Despite what has been spouted in the media it appears Celtic will take their time to get the right man to succeed Gordon Strachan. That has prompted several Clubs to move to distance themselves from the speculative musings of the press.

Owen Coyle has been all the rage in the last few days, and at one point was backed into just 2/7 with Paddy Power for the Parkhead hotseat. But now that he’s apparently said ‘No’ to the role and Burnley have denied any approach by the Glasgow club, it’s West Brom’s Tony Mowbray that leads the betting at odds of 7/4 (Ladbrokes, Paddy Power), leaving Coyle 2nd on the list and drifting. He can now be backed at 2/1 (VCBet).

Mowbray wouldn’t be every Celtic fan’s first pick and I think the Celtic board will be casting their net wider than the Coca-Cola Championship. The Baggies have also denied any approach for Mogga and the man-in-the-know over at Celtic Quick News has also confirmed Celtic’s extensive recruitment process will not be rushed.

But the big mover yesterday was undoubtedly Slaven Bilic. The Croatian boss invited interest from Celtic yesterday morning and as you can see from the chart below it prompted the bookies run scared.

Bilic is an interesting one. Whilst he has a high reputation here in the UK, he’s never actually managed in club football so would still be considered a bit risky by some. The guys over at Etims certainly seem to think he’s already on the board’s radar. Interestingly, he’s as short as 5/1 with William Hill, but can still be backed at 10s with Ladbrokes.

As you can see from the chart, some of the early contenders are starting to drift; McGhee (12/1 Betfred, Boylesports, Paddy Power, VCBet, William Hill), Levein (16/1 Boylesports), Curbishley (20/1 Blue Sq, Boylesports, Paddy Power).

But there are a few new contenders that have emerged; Glenn Hoddle may have been out of the game for a number of years but he’s been included in VCBet’s market at 22/1. Odds are also available on Copenhagen boss Ståle Solbakken, no doubt after his credentials were highlighted by Paul67 at CQN. Ladbrokes go 33/1 on the Norwegian.

Other names that continue to be linked include Keane (28/1 Paddy Power), O’Leary (20/1 Blue Sq, Paddy Power), Collins (22/1 Boylesports, Paddy Power), Martinez (40/1 Paddy Power), Moyes (50/1 Boylesports) and McCarthy (50/1 Boylesports).

This looks like a market that’s still got some legs. For what it’s worth I don’t think the new manager at Celtic Park will be amongst the first five the betting at the moment but then what do I know?

Who do you think will / should be the new boss?