Leicester do play some nice lookign football which is the want of Sousa but the results are not coming, this is from a team that under Nigel Pearson last season went all the way to the play-offs and were looking to kick on yet further this year. There was some surprise when Sousa was appointed at the Walkers Stadium after mixed spells at QPR and Swansea on his CV in recent years, and it looks as though the writing is on the wall for the man with a Champions League winners medal. The club were recently taken over by a Thai consortium and while Mandaric remains as Chairman they are sure to want the club to improve on the pitch asap, with Premier League football the clear aim in the near future.

The club play Scunthorpe at home on Saturday afternoon which is then followed by a two-week International break, it could well be the ideal time for the club to act and give them enough time to find a replacement before the next league game on October 16th. Sousa though will be hoping he can pick up the three points to give himself a stay of execution, it is still relatively early in the season so any team that can string two or three wins together will find themselves shooting up the table. The results will need to come quickly though for the Manager with the chop hovering just above his head at the moment, the Sack Race reported earlier in the week that Martin O’Neill is a possible replacement for Sousa should he get the sack.

There is no sign at the moment that O’Neill would be interested in returning to Leicester but it does shoe that the club are considering replacements for Sousa, the new owners are clearly looking to get their own man into the club leaving Paulo Sousa as a dead man walking.

Benitez is thought to be meeting with the new Chairman at Liverpool Chairman over the next few weeks to decide his next career move, Martin Broughton has been brought to Anfield to oversee the sale of the club but he does also have the unenviable task of sorting out the future of the former Valencia Manager. Liverpool have had a disastrous season in the Premier League in finishing 7th with the team struggling away from Anfield, that follows a season when they finished 2nd behind Man United and were expected to kick-on this campaign and go for the title.

The one thing in the favour of Rafa is that he does still have a good reputation across Europe for his exploits in the Champions League over the past few years and Inter Milan in particular are understood to have taken note of that. Inter have accepted that Mourinho will be off to Madrid in the Summer and are already turning their attentions to potential successors, Inter have turned themselves into one of the top teams in the World with five succesive Serie A titles. The lure of Inter Milan and Champions League football next season may prove hard to resist for Benitez with Liverpool needing to overhaul their squad, that is going to be tough for any Manager with finances tight at Anfield until any potential takeover is completed.

It is understood that the powers that be at Anfield are eager to get the situation with Benitez sorted as soon as possible with the squad needing an overhaul, so it will be crucial that if Rafa is going to move on then a replacement will need to be sorted asap. Mourinho could well be the crucial man this Summer with his move to Madrid likely to set off a chain of events involving Benitez and then any potential replacements for Rafa himself.

All attention will now turn to potential replacements for Zola with the club expected to take their time over the replacement with the team at a huge point in their history, the right appointment now is crucial if the club are to move up the table as the owners want. Any new Manager will face the tough financial restraints as Zola did with huge debts meaning there will be no big transfer war chest as Gold and Sullivan look to get the club get back on track financially. There are a few names being considered at Upton Park with the Sack Race believing that the likes of Avram Grant, Mark Hughes and Slaven Bilic are the early front runners, this is reflected in the Next West Ham Manager Odds with all three featuring highly in the market.

Avram Grant has done a good job under tough conditions at Portsmouth and would jump at the chance to stay in the Premier League if he was given the chance by West Ham over the next couple of weeks and he is being well backed to do just that. Mark Hughes is another obvious candidate for the job and he has been out of a job since leaving Man City at Christmas and may see Upton Park as the ideal destination, Hughes done a good job at Blackburn and knows the Premier League inside out so may be seen as a good option to take the Hammers to the next level. A hugely popular appointment would be Slaven Bilic who is currently in charge of Croatia and the former Hammers defender may see this as the chance to make his move to the Premier League with the Croats not qualifying for the World Cup.

Next West Ham Manager Odds with SkyBet.com - 11/05/2010

A Grant – 1/3
A McLeish – 7/1
A Pardew – 8/1
M Hughes – 10/1
G Hoddle – 12/1
D Jones – 12/1
A Curbishley – 14/1
S Bilic – 14/1
P Lambert – 20/1
D O’Leary – 25/1
Others On request

All markets are supplied by SkyBet

It was made perfectly clear at the start of the season that the Champions League would be the priority for a team that spent in excess of £250million in the Summer, the team were dubbed the ‘new Galacticos’ after signing Kaka, Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso for huge transfer fees. Ronaldo has settled in well in Madrid but maybe looking on enviously at his former Man United teammates as they were crushing AC Milan at the same time as Madrid were being knocked out by Lyon. Publicly at least the powers that be have backed Manuel Pellegrini who has another year to run on his contract but behind closed doors it is understood that they have already started their search for a successor.

There will be two names who will jump to the top of the list for potential replacements in the Summer and they will be Arsene Wengerand Rafa Benitez who have both been linked to Madrid in the past. The Sack Race understands that Arsene Wenger and Arsenal have been approached several times in recent years to take over at Real Madrid but that their advances have been rebuked each time. Wenger is clearly the man they want long term but the Arsenal Manager will know that he will not get the same power at the Bernabeu as he enjoys at the Emirates, at Arsenal he is in control of the entire playing side of the club but at Madrid he would have to accept being just the first team coach with no say on transfers.

The logical choice would be Rafael Benitez who is a well known Real Madrid fan having played and coached there in the past as well as being born and bred in the City, he is under huge pressure at Liverpool and may see this as the ideal chance to jump ship. Liverpool are reluctant to sack Benitez due to the huge contract pay-off he would recieve but an approach from Madrid may well be welcomed by both sides as the board at Anfield look for a reason to get rid of Rafa. One sticking point in this deal for Benitez would be similar to Wenger’s in terms of control at the club, Rafa has total control at Anfield currently in terms of the playing side and he would have to be prepared to give that up if he went to the Bernabeu.

That search will begin now as Pellegrini is a dead man walking at the moment having lost the dressing room, the support of the fans not to mention Florentino Perez, the Club President was expecting success in Europe with his investment and that has not been forthcoming. The £60 million Kaka was substituted on Wednesday night after having a poor game and was clearly unhappy with the decision showing dissent as he left the pitch and that is just another nail in the Manager’s coffin.

Real Madrid Manager On the First Day Of Next Season Betting With Skybet as of 11/03/2010

Jose Mourinho 11/8
Manuel Pellegrini 3/1
Rafa Benitez 4/1
Arsene Wenger 6/1
Guus Hiddink 16/1

Odds Supplied Courtesy Of Skybet.com