New contenders emerge for West Ham job
Chris Hughton remains the not entirely convincing favourite to take over at West Ham at [2.92] but as is often the case in Betfair next manager markets, there has been a lot of change over the last 24 hours as several new or previously unfancied names have entered the frame.
The 2009-10 Championship winner's main rival for the position is now considered to be Dave Jones at [6.4], despite the Cardiff boss hardly showcasing his ability to lead the Irons back into the Premier League at the first attempt by suffering more play-off disappointment on Tuesday night.
A 3-0 home defeat to Reading meant that for the third successive season an encouraging campaign fighting for promotion has ended agonisingly for the Bluebirds, and while Jones deserves credit for establishing them as frequent challengers, his failure to complete the job surely counts against him.
Another intriguing price on offer is the [21.0] on Alex McLeish being reunited with David Sullivan and David Gold, as the Birmingham manager will be at risk of the sack if his side are relegated on Sunday, and the West Ham co-owners already rate him highly having hired him while at St Andrew's.
Of course, there are a lot of "ifs" in that scenario as it is far from certain that the Blues will follow the east Londoners down, they may still decide to stick with him regardless, and even if he was axed he could judge his Carling Cup success as making him worthy of a top-flight role, but it's a possibility.
Another candidate is current caretaker Kevin Keen after he admitted his interest in earning an extended spell in charge and spoke eloquently about how he would go about the task, however due to Sullivan's claim that they are searching for an experienced steward, he is an [80.0] outsider.
Who are you backing to be given the opportunity? Let us know in the box below...
Published: 18 May 2011
Pete59 (May 18, 2011 12:16 PM) said:
There is a surge of support developing amongs West Ham fans for Academy Director Tony Carr who has overseen the Upton Park production line of talent for the past few decades. He is from the Ron Greenwood/John Lyall school and has similar credentials to Brian McDermott before he took over at Reading.
The West Ham a lot of fans fell in love with would not hesitate in appointing him but the current regime?
Betfair Football (May 18, 2011 3:58 PM) said:
Thanks for the comment Pete. It's certainly a romantic idea, but the drawbacks are that you lose him from a position where he is hugely successful, plus if it were to go wrong and the fans were to turn, it could both sour his lengthy relationship with the club and make it impossible for him to return to his former role with the academy.
jonnyhammer (May 19, 2011 10:01 AM) said:
It is worth noting that in a recent interview for his testimonial Carr hinted that he might consider a different role before retirement having led the Academy so brilliantly (my words, not his!) for so many years.