Martin O'Neill Favourite For Leicester City Return
by Richard Smith / 25 October 2011, 09:28TweetMartin O'Neill has been installed as the bookies favourite to succeed Sven Goran Eriksson at Leicester City after the Swede was sacked on Monday night. O'Neill, who managed City from 1995 to 2000, has been handed odds of 10/11 with Paddy Power in the Next Leicester City Manager betting market. Other names being touted as possible replacements include Mark Hughes, Billy Davies and Rafa Benitez as the club look for their eighth manager since 2007.
Sven ultimately paid the price for The Foxes inconsistent start to the season which has left them 13th in the Championship after 13 games. Leicester were installed as the pre-season favourites for promotion to the Premier League after they spent heavily bringing in players during the summer. The club's Thai owners, King Power, have extremely high expectations but Saturday's shock 3-0 home defeat to Millwall was the final straw and Sven was axed.
The new manager will be tasked with getting the club promoted to the top flight. O'Neill was relatively successful during his five year stay at the club, winning the League Cup twice and leading them to as high as eighth in the league. O'Neil is linked to nearly all new managerial vacancies these days and it is not yet known whether it is just heavy speculation or whether he is lining up a return to football management with his former club. A more realistic option may be the former Nottingham Forest manager Billy Davies who has experience at this level or perhaps Mark Hughes who left Fulham in June because they "lacked ambition" - something that Leicester have in abundance.
Despite their disappointing start Leicester still remain one of the favourites for promotion with odds of 9/4 with Paddy Power. They are also available at 10/1 to win the league. They face a tricky trip to Upton Park on Saturday to play promotion rivals West Ham, who are currently second in the league. West Ham are the 4/5 favourites for the win, while Leicester have been priced at 10/3, with a draw at 5/2.
All odds provided by Paddy Power.
