Brian McDermott Remains Hot Favourite For The Sack

Reading boss Brian McDermott remains the hot favourite in the Premier League Sack Race following Monday night's miserable defeat at home to Arsenal. The comprehensive 5-2 loss was the club’s sixth in a row, leaving them rock-bottom of the league, with a terrible return of just one win from 17 matches.

As a result McDermott’s odds have shortened to just 5/4, while Arsene Wenger has drifted to 14/1. Under-fire McDermott is now desperate to bring in a number of new faces in the January transfer window in order to bolster his squad as they bid to avoid an instant return to the Championship. The Royals are the odds-on 1/8 favourites for the drop with Paddy Power, while they are priced at 4/1 to avoid relegation.

Reading now have the daunting task of attempting to come away from Manchester City unscathed on Saturday. They have huge outise odds of 16/1 with Paddy Power to come away from Manchester with their first away win of the season, while City have been installed as the hot 1/7 favourites.

As a result of Reading's poor form Stan James have opened up the Next Reading Manager Market, with Alan Curbishley the early frontrunner to replace McDermott with odds of 3/1. Former Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo is next in the running at 7/2, while Owen Coyle and Mark Hughes can be found at 6/1. The Royals then face two pivotal matches at home to Swansea and West Ham, which could determine whether McDermott is still in charge come the New Year.