Ancelotti impressed in his first season in charge at Chelsea, winning the league and cup double. However, despite a brilliant start to the current season, Chelsea are now likely to finish trophyless. The Blues have struggled in the league and are 11 points behind the leaders Man Utd with only seven games remaining and they are by no means certain to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Their search for a third FA Cup in succession was ended by Everton in the fourth round and they lost at home to Newcastle in the third round of the Carling Cup. In contrast their rivals Man Utd are still on course for the treble.

Fernando Torres was brought in for £50million in January to bolster the attack and enhance Chelsea’s chances of winning the Champions League. However, Torres has endured a nightmare start to his Chelsea career, failing to score a single goal in any of his eleven appearances for his new club. His situation was typified last night when Chelsea, who desperately needed a goal to get themselves back in contention, took him off at half-time, and Ancelotti even admitted afterwards that it was possibly a mistake even starting Torres.

Former Chelsea managers Guus Hiddink and Jose Mourinho are the favourites to become the next Chelsea manager should Ancelotti leave, and are priced at 2/1 and 3/1 respectively with Sky Bet. Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola and the former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez are available at 8/1.

Turkey currently sit third in Group A, with tough games against Austria and Belgium on the horizon. Similarly, Chelsea are off the pace in the Premier League following a mid-season collapse, with the pressure on Ancelotti mounting by the week. Hiddink could be the perfect man to revive the London club’s fortunes, and is 2/1 to become the next Chelsea manager with Victor Chandler.

Hiddink had a short spell as caretaker manager at Chelsea in 2009, winning the FA Cup. The Dutchman is also known to have a close relationship with Chelsea’s Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovic.

Victor Chandler have former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho at second favourite with odds of 3/1 and Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola next at 8/1.

There are daily reports in the back pages of the press of upsets in the squad ranging from players not pulling their weight and leaving matches at half time once they have been subbed, to the great differences in wages amongst its star players. This is as well as much publicised spats at Molineux during half time between Yaya Toure and new signing James Milner as well as argument between Emmanuel Adebayor and defender Vincent Kompany. These reports grow stronger even after midfielder Gareth Barry (himself in the doghouse for getting caught drinking on a day off with City team-mates Joe Hart and Adam Johnson) said to the press that the squad is fully behind Mancini

There have also been some clashes between Mancini and some of his high profile players this season, Craig Bellamy has moved to Npower Championship side Cardiff in a season long loan move, Carlos Tevez has returned home to Argentina apparently due to home sickness and the £17.5 million signing Roque Santa Cruz is set to quit City in January, all this does not make a happy home!

Man City next play in form West Brom away from home and that is followed by a the all important derby fixture at Eastlands against local rivals Manchester United and already bookies are starting to queue up the contenders for the next Manchester City manager and top of the list with the bookmakers Sky Bet is Frank Rijkaard who was recently released from his contract with Galatasaray after he suffered a disappointing run of results, he is closely followed by the current boss of Turkey Guus Hiddink at odds of 9/2.

There has also been regular speculation surrounding Hughes with a return to the Premier League with West Ham, Gianfranco Zola is under big pressure at Upton Park with the club struggling both on and off the pitch at the moment and many are linking Hughes with a rescue mission at Upton Park. The Sack Race understands that should Zola be given the elbow by the new owners at Upton Park then Mark Hughes is the man at the top of the shortlist to come in, Hughes only lost two matches at Man City and had a successful period at Blackburn previously meaning there will be plenty of clubs like the Hammers who will be willing to take a risk on him.

That brings us to Blackburn who themselves are not having the best season under Sam Allardyce which is reflected in the Next Premier League Manager To be Sacked Odds, Allardyce rescued Rovers from relegation last season but they have not really kicked on and at the moment sit just above the drop zone. There are a few rumblings of discontent coming out of Ewood Park right now and most of the fans and no doubt the board would jump at the chance to bring Mark Hughes back to the club where he made his name as a Manager.

At the moment Hughes will be sat back enjoying his time off assessing his next move and he appears to have his options open at this stage, both Gianfranco Zola and Sam Allardyce will be aware that Sparky is lurking in the background waiting to swoop in at a moments notice at either Ewood or Upton Park. A Premier League job seems the most likely at this stage but the Turkey opportunity is an interesting one as he may like a fresh challenge in the Steve McLaren mould who is rebuilding his career successfully in Holland.

Hiddink could be the ideal candidate for Anfield

Liverpool are a club in turmoil with Rafa Benitez a dead man walking as the team lurch from one crisis to another, out of the title race, out of the FA Cup and the League Cup and out of the Champions league means that all the Reds can do this season is try to qualify for the Champions League by finishing in the top four. The speculation has built into a frenzy in recent weeks with all sorts of potential candidates lining up to take the helm at Anfield if and when Rafa does finally get the elbow as expected. The Sack Race has been looking in depth at some of the candidates who are in the Next Liverpool Manager Betting, who is the most likely to take the reigns and who can Liverpool attract to the club if they are not in the Champions League?

The most obvious candidate is King Kenny Dalglish who is already at the club in an advisory and Academy role which means he would be able to swiftly move downstairs and retake the job he held so famously in the late 80′s, Dalglish is quite simply a Liverpool legend and would be a hugely popular choice amongst the faithful on the Kop. He is regarded as Liverpool’s greatest player and won several League crowns as a Manager at the club, he also led Blackburn to the Premier League in 1995 so knows what it takes to go all the way in a season. He left the club abruptly when Manager in 1991 citing the pressures of the job and has not been a Manager since 2000 when he had an unsuccessful spell at Celtic, we feel it is unlikely that Kenny would be interested in taking on the role full-time but may be more than happy to take the reigns on a short term basis if asked. He has the club in his heart which can work both ways when Managing and will be looking out for the best interests for the club rather than personal gain or money.

A more extravagant appointment would be the ‘Special One’ Jose Mourinho who has made it perfectly clear that he is itching for a return to English football at some stage in his career, Jose is currently having success with Inter Milan in Italy and is of course the former Chelsea Manager. Mourinho brought two Premier League crowns to Stamford Bridge during his time and has proven himself to be successful where ever he manages, he is a proven winner but is more than happy to ruffle a few feathers on the way to winning trophies which is not normally the Liverpool way. He has been criticised in the past for jumping ship after a few years and if it is money he is after to rebuild the squad then Liverpool is not the club for him, the club are in debt and cannot compete with the likes of Man City or Chelsea in the transfer market at the moment. The former Porto Manager is a known ego maniac and the chance to bring Liverpool their first title in over twenty years could be right up his street, he would be welcomed by the Liverpool fans and he could be the ‘Special One’ on Merseyside if he could bring the Premier League to Anfield.

Guus Hiddink is a name that is continually being mentioned for Liverpool in recent weeks and he could be ready to head back to England after a good spell with Chelsea last season, the Dutchman is the current Russian Gaffer but his contract is up in the Summer and he is ready to return to England by all accounts. Hiddink has an excellent reputation and was extremely popular at Stamford Bridge, he has stated his desire to return to England and Liverpool could be his destination. He has had success all over the world from South Korea to Australia to Spain and would love to add a Premier League crown to his CV, he will be available in the Summer and looks a front runner for in the betting and we can understand why.