What has the managerial change at St Marys done to Premier League relegation odds? There was an immediate reaction by online bookmaker Bet365 to the news that Nigel Adkins had surprisingly been given the boot by the club. Despite an upward swing of form, which had seen the Saints lose just two of their last twelve Premier League (a fantastic return after losing eight of their first ten in the season), Adkins was no longer wanted at the club. Instead, citing long term planning as the reason for the change, the club brought in the untried and untested Mauricio Pochettino. The Argentine took control of the club with the Saints just three points clear of the drop zone. A run of five unbeaten matches, which had included spirited draws against Arsenal and Chelsea wasn’t enough to keep Adkins at the club.
Under Adkins, Southampton had risen from League One to the Premier League by gaining back to back promotions. A huge accomplishment and it was looking as if Adkins had pretty much learned from the harsh early batterings his club had taken back in the top flight. The defence had been tightened up immensely and they were looking a pretty solid bet to make a run at survival. But all that now has been thrown into jeopardy by the board, who wanted to make a managerial change. Now Pochettino, who was fired by La Liga side Espanyol back in November, has to quickly win over the fans and the dressing room. The fans were 100% behind Adkins, how will the dressing room feel?
It seems like a disruptive move from Southampton at what is still a precarious time. So has all the hard work that Adkins did, been thrown away by the club? Online bookmaker Bet365 trimmed odds on them down to around 6/4 in Premier League Relegation betting when the news had broken, because it seemed nothing more than an oddly timed move when the Saints were looking good and in form. So the managerial move has seen the bookies suggest that they are more prone to getting relegated now, and are taking around a level price with Wigan and Aston Villa.
With two of the spots in Premier League relegation betting likely to be occupied by Reading and QPR at the end of the day, it leaves pretty much a three way scrap for survival between Villa, Wigan and the Saints. The badly slumping Newcastle of course could as well get drawn further into things, especially after suffering defeat at the hands of Reading recently. While Reading are trending upwards a bit, and QPR are scrapping hard for points, it may be the teams going the other way, like Newcastle, Wigan and Aston Villa that may just keep Southampton afloat, if Pochettino doesn’t start picking up where Nigel Adkins left off very quickly. A tough match against Everton is going to be a tough introduction to Premier League life for the Argentine. Adkins himself is 1/2 favourite at Bet365 to get the vacant Blackpool job
2012/13 Premier League Relegation Betting Odds at online bookmaker Bet365
Reading 4/9, QPR 1/2, Aston Villa 6/4, Wigan 6/4, Southampton 6/4, Newcastle 3/1, Norwich 7/1
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