Back-to-lay troubled Sheff Wed to go down
Sheffield Wednesday are currently [5.0] to be relegated from League One, a price suggesting that only leaders Brighton are less likely to finish in the bottom four this season.
However, the Owls face a winding-up order in the High Court tomorrow and while the club claim that there are three different groups attempting a takeover, former chairman Dave Allen, who is owed around £2.4 million for a loan of £1.5 million, doesn't believe that there are any firm offers.
Despite being willing to forgo both £500,000-worth of shares in the four-time English champions and the interest on his loan by allowing any prospective buyer to pay him in three £500,000 instalments, Allen said that only representatives of Milan Mandaric have approached him with a "derisory offer".
If Wednesday are forced into administration, they will be deducted ten points and as the third tier has been so ridiculously tight in the opening months, Alan Irvine's side would plummet from ninth and two points off the play-offs all the way to 23rd.
Their performance so far this season indicates that they can survive such a blow, though it's never certain as even teams who are performing well before the penalty can struggle to cope once in the relegation zone, as Crystal Palace showed in the Championship last term.
Either way, a drop into the dogfight would surely see their odds come in dramatically, indicating that it may be a shrewd move to back them to go down now with a view to laying for a profit should they enter administration later this week.
Update: Mandaric has ended his pursuit of the club, causing their price to come in to [4.1]
Think it's a good idea, or will they stave off the threat again? Tell us below...
Published: 16 Nov 2010
Bob Owl (November 16, 2010 1:03 PM) said:
We'll be alright, don't waste your money on the Owls going down!
Betfair Football (November 16, 2010 2:46 PM) said:
Cheers for the comment. We're not suggesting that Sheffield Wednesday will go down though Bob, simply that the odds on them being relegated will come in if they enter administration (and in fact they already have) so there may be an opportunity to make a swift profit by betting that they go down now and laying the bet off if they are docked points.