It seems to be harsh to say, but you wait ages for a managerial change and two come along at once. It’s panic-button time in the Premier League with Leicester City and Everton both dismissing their managers in the space of a few days.
The departure of Craig Shakespeare from Leicester was of particular interest to this column as we have been predicting it since the end of last season. At Everton, Ronald Koeman has fallen on his sword following a disastrous start to the league campaign which sees the club in the bottom three.
And so the speculation begins as to who will replace Shakespeare and Koeman, respectively. What is interesting here is that Leicester pushing the button probably influenced Everton doing the same. Both clubs will be in the market for a similar sort of manager and the Merseyside club would not have wanted Leicester to steal a march on them.
The lists for each position are similar. The big early mover for both jobs has been Sean Dyche, the Burnley coach. He is 2.8800 favourite for the Everton gig at BMR’s green-listed bookmakers. He is 7.0000 with Skybet for the Foxes role.
That might not be a bad price. It would seem Leicester have reacted without giving due thought to who actually might be available to take over. They were keen on Carlo Ancelotti and Manuel Pellegrini. But both men appeared to have ruled themselves out.
Ancelotti has an eye on the Arsenal job, which may well be available at the end of the season. Indeed, Leicester is something of a step down from the illustrious clubs he has managed. As for Pellegrini – 5.5000 with William Hill – he has said he will honour his job in China, which has a year left to run.
So that means there has to be some value on speculative punts like Huddersfield’s David Wagner. His stock was high anyway but it continues to go up following his team’s victory over Manchester United.
An approach for Wagner would seemingly fit Leicester’s knee-jerk strategy. He is 3.8000 with Betfair. Another man whose price appeals is former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini. He is 3.5000 with Bet365.
As for Everton, we like Rafa Benitez at 3.5000 with Paddy Power. It sure is a left-field call because Rafa is doing so well at Newcastle but his future there remains uncertain because of a possible takeover. Benitez could well be tempted by significant funds to strengthen Everton in January and push on next season for a Champions League spot.
And by the way, we could do it all again next week with West Ham boss Slaven Bilic also on borrowed time. And the same old names will be touted once more.
Calculators
