Capello under increasing pressure

England begin their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign at Wembley on Friday night against Bulgaria and whilst the game signals a possible ‘clean slate’ for Fabio Capello and his England flops, it could also spell the beginning of the end for the Italian, who many would argue is lucky to be even getting this chance after the embarrassing  showing from the Three Lions at the World Cup.

Fans and media alike have been sharpening the knives ever since Capello returned from South Africa after overseeing what can only be described as four abysmal performances on the pitch which saw England crash out 4-1 to Germany in the last 16 coupled with the pantomime like events off the pitch from rumours of Capello’s strict man management techniques, to divides in the squad and revelations concerning certain players private lives. It is safe to assume had it not been for Capello putting pen to paper on £5 million two year contract extension before the World Cup that he would not be in charge for the Euro 2012 qualifiers, however, the FA have stuck with their man, which, of course, has nothing to do with avoiding the £10 million pay off which would be due to Fabio!

Following the World Cup debacle, Capello promised the England fans wholesale changes in an attempt to renew optimism but the squad announced to face Bulgaria showed little evidence of radical change and eight of the eleven who lined up against Germany are likely to feature at Wembley on Friday night!

Capello has responded to his critics by stating that the increasing pressure he now finds himself under will inspire him to do better and as England fans ourselves, The Sack Race desperately hopes that is the case, however, it is hard to be confident about this ‘new era’ and it will be a long process for the management and players to rebuild the confidence of the England faithful. Anything less than a convincing win against Bulgaria will only add to the frustrations and with a trip Switzerland on Tuesday, things aren’t going to get any easier.

A good start to qualification is essential for the Three Lions and if they don’t have nine points come the final whistle of the game against Montenegro at Wembley on October 12th, it is hard not to envisage anything other than a new face in the dugout at the Millennium Stadium for what will be the team’s next qualifier on Saturday 26th March next year.

Two years ago Newcastle were relegated from the Premier League after a torrid season but Hughton managed to steady the ship in the Championship, he got his team back to winning ways and they showed they were clearly the best team in the League to pick up the Trophy back in May. The problem for Hughton is that Newcastle will not accept going back to the Championship, if there is any threat of a relegation battle looming at St James Park then the thought is that Hughton would be on his bike pretty sharpish. Outside of Hughton there are a number of interesting names featuring at the top of this fascinating market with Roberto Mancini being the biggest name of all, the Man City Manager is spending money like its going out of business again and will be expected to produce the results  on the pitch.

Steve Bruce is an interesting name near the top of this market and the Sack Race believes he could well be in for a tough season at the Stadium Of Light, the problem for Bruce is that he needs the team to show some marked improvement from their finish last season. Sunderland have spent a fair amount of money to push themselves into a top half team but they may struggle to kick on, Bruce is a Manager that has proven in the past that he does like to move on if things are not going his way and punters should take note of that.

This is a market that will run and run right throughout the season by this time of the year it does offer great value so punters should be looking to get involved at this stage, the Premier League is the best league in the world but the pressure on Managers is intense so this is a fast moving and exciting market right the way through the season.

Next Premier League Manager To Be Sacked Odds with VC Bet - 15/07/2010

C Hughton – 2/1
R Mancini – 5/1
R Di Matteo – 6/1
R Martinez – 6/1
S Bruce – 7/1
A McLeish – 8/1
A Grant – 8/1
S Allardyce – 8/1
M McCarthy – 8/1
I Holloway – 12/1
H Redknapp – 20/1
Bar

All markets are supplied by VC Bet.com

Could Chris be leaving Coventry?

Roy Keane continues to find himself under pressure at Ipswich Town as he remains one of the favourites to be the Next Championship Manger to be Sacked odds which have been released by VC Bet, Keane has been struggling at Portman Road all season but has remained defiant throughout. To be fair to Keane the results have started to pick up in recent weeks and at this stage there is no indication that his job is under threat, Ipswich are not known as a sacking club and appear to be sticking with the former Man United Captain for the long haul. However, the Tractor Boys are still sitting just above the relegation zone and Keane will only be too aware that relegation is not an option for a team that were in the Premier League just a few years ago.

Vying for favouritism with Keane according to VC Bet is Chris Coleman who is struggling at Coventry at the moment, the former Fulham Manager has been at the helm at the Ricoh Arena for quite some time now and results are showing no sign of improvement. Cov are clear of relegation at the moment but do not seem to be able to push on in to the top half which means that Coleman is finding himself under some scrutiny as the results continue to disappoint the Sky Blues faithful.

There are a couple of interesting names further down the list and the Sack Race has been keeping a close eye on Gordon Strachan at Middlesbrough in recent games as the team have slid down the Championship table, Strachan took over from Gareth Southgate when Boro were just a  few points off the top of the table but one win in eight has seen the team slip out of promotion contention. Steve Gibson is not known as a sacking Chairmen but he may be forced to act if results continue to decline for the team that were expecting to be right at the top of the table challenging West Brom and Newcastle. There looks to be some excellent value on offer in this market and Strachan may just be at the top of your Christmas bets if things continue the way they are at The Riverside in the next few games and into the New Year.

It could be a difficult Christmas for some of the Championship Managers like Roy Keane, Chris Coleman and Gordon Strachan this year and the only present they will want form Santa is three points in their next game.

The Beach Ball assigns Liverpool to their fourth defeat of season and adds to the pressure on Rafa Benitez

The Odds on Rafa Benitez to be the next Premier League manager sacked have been cut by bookmakers following the bizarre events at the Stadium of Light on Saturday afternoon. When any manager’s job comes in to question, reasons including fall out with the board, fan pressure, loss of the dressing room or bad tactical decisions are often cited as reasons for a bad run of form but a balloon scoring the winning goal in a game is one reason for pressure mounting on a manager that will take some beating!

The only goal in the game came in the most surreal circumstances when Darren Bent’s fifth minute shot deflected off a beach ball, emblazoned with the Liverpool crest which had been thrown on to the pitch by a Reds supporter. Unfortunately, the Press Association who report on the time of goals and goalscorers for the Premiership did not give the goal to ‘Inflatable Ball from the Official Liverpool FC Beach set’  instead opting to credit the goal to Bent. However, the fact remains that it was the only goal of the game and assigned Liverpool to their fourth defeat of the season, two more than the whole of last season and just nine games in to the season.

Bookmakers have reacted by slashing the odds on Benitez to be the next Premiership manager to be sacked with Paddy Power more than halving the odds that were available last week. The Spaniard is now 8/1 in the Irish bookmaker’s next Premier League boss to leave betting market, cut from the 18/1 available before Saturday’s game and those odds could well retract further in the coming week with the Merseyside club facing two crucial games.

On Tuesday night, Liverpool face a crucial Champions League game against French side Lyon which the Reds must win if they are to maintain any hope of qualifying for the knock out stages of the competition following a 2-0 defeat to Roma last time out. They then welcome arch rivals Man Utd to Anfield on Sunday in what is one of the most eagerly anticipated Premier League clashes of the season. Anything less than a win in either of these crunch games is sure to add further pressure to co-chairman, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, to consider  the position of Rafa Benetiz as Liverpool manager.