I’m not sure that saying that the race is hotting up to be the next Premier League manager to leave his post is entirely appropriate but the lassitude of several teams is making life uncomfortable for the man in charge, not least Mark Hughes at QPR.
Rangers have a bit of a track record when it comes to getting rid of managers, they’ve gone through at least half-a-dozen in the last five years, and the current administration don’t seem blessed with much patience. The Welshman will certainly be sweating after a pretty woeful start to the campaign, despite a summer spending spree, and won’t have been happy to see his team crash out of the Capital One Cup at home to fellow Premier League strugglers Reading this week when former Rangers defender Kaspars Gorkss was among the visitors’ goalscorers. Hughes is now a best 4/1 with Skybet and Stan James to be the first to be shown the door or resign and is now vying for favouritism, if that’s the right word, with Southampton‘s Nigel Adkins.
There were rumours before a ball had even been kicked that Adkins was considered too inexperienced for the Premier League by the Saints’ owners and the signs looked a bit ominous for the former Scunthorpe boss after his team lost their first four games back in the top flight. But they’ve had a good week, breaking their duck with a 4-1 win over Aston Villa and progressing to the last 16 of the Capital One Cup and the pressure has been relieved a little. Adkins is also a best 4/1 with Skybet to be the first to go.
Liverpool’s Brendan Rogers is another feeling the heat but layers think he’ll be given time at Anfield to get things right and the Irishman can be backed at 16/1 with bodog while Andre Villas-Boas seems to be slowly winning fans over at Tottenham and leading the Londoners in the right direction so the 10/1 offered about him leaving before his contemporaries with Skybet, Stan James and Ladbrokes suddenly doesn’t look that generous. I might worry a little if I were Paul Lambert at Aston Villa, however. The Villa hot-seat has always been a bit of a hot potato and Lambert may yet come to regret leaving a relatively secure job at Norwich for a switch to the Midlands. On early evidence, it’s going to be a season of struggle for the Villains in the Premier League and the 25/1 about the Scot being the first PL manager to leave his post with Stan James and BetVictor will appeal to some.
