Bellamy rushed in as bookies favourite for top goal scorer in the Championship
August 18, 2010
The bookies William Hill have taken the news that Craig Bellamy has joined Championship side Cardiff City on loan from Premiership side Manchester City by making him one of their favourites to be the top goal scorer in the Npower Championship and they have also cut Cardiff’s odds to win the Championship from 10/1 to 9/1.
Whether Bellamy will gel with his Cardiff side remains to be seen as he does have a history of upsetting the atmosphere in the dressing room but Hills are offering odds of 4/11 that Bellamy will still be with Cardiff come the end of the season and odds of 2/1 that he will be gone.
His entrance to the Cardiff side will mark the 31 year olds 9th club (including loan signing), of his permanent 7 signings Bellamy has left 4 of those sides within a year. His most unsuccessful run was back in 2000 when he was with Coventry City and only managed to 6 goals out of 34 appearances and as such this led to the teams relegation form the Premiership.
Championship top goal scorer
All odds are supplied by William Hill.
- 8/1 – Craig Bellamy (Cardiff City)
- 8/1 – Kris Boyd (Middlesbrough)
- 9/1 – Michael Chopra (Cardiff City)
- 12/1 – Scott McDonald (Middlesbrough)
- 14/1 – Billy Sharp (Doncaster Rovers)
- 20/1 – David Nugent (Portsmouth)
- 20/1 – Matty Fryatt (Leicester City)
- 20/1 – Grant Holt (Norwich City)
- 20/1 – Danny Graham (Watford)
- 20/1 – Steve Morrison (Millwall)
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Where will Sheffield United finish this season in the Championship?
August 18, 2010
Sheffield United have confirmed that their new manager will be first team coach Gary Speed who was the bookies favourite to win the role of Sheffield United manager. He has been offered a 3 year contract with the Blades in replacement for the sacked Kevin Blackwell who was dismissed following the 3-0 home loss against QPR. Speed has already been with the club for over 2 years but this will be his first ever managerial role.
With the current speed of the managerial merry go round bookies are placing odds on whether the former Welsh international will still be in charge by the end of the season or can Speed survive the sack race?
The bookmakers William Hill are offering odds of 11/4 Gary Speed will no longer be boss of Sheffield United on the first day of NEXT season, are the odds are 1/4 that he will still be there..
Where will Sheffield United finish?
United are currently holding up the bottom of the Npower Championship in the 23rd slot with just 1 point out of 2 games, but a new manager being installed generally gives the team a boost and wins are more likely.
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Gary Speed favourite to take on the role of next Sheffield United manager
August 16, 2010
It look as if Gary Speed will soon be officially be able to hang up his boots for good if gets the role of Sheffield United manager, the job has become available following the sacking of Kevin Blackwell at the weekend following the 3-0 home defeat by Queens Park Rangers. Speed has been with United since 2008 making 37 appearances and scoring on 6 occasions, he has recently completed his UEFA Pro Licence qualification and was Blackwell’s first team coach but did recently find himself named on the bench in their recent Carling Cup fixture against Hartlepool which ended in a 2-0 loss for the Blades.
Untied were recently approach by Championship rivals Swansea to take on their managerial role but were spurned which has prompted bookies to make Speed their favourite to take on the role.
Next permanent Sheffield United manager
The top ten managers that bookmaker Victor Chandler thinks are in line for the job as Sheffield United manager.
- 4/9 – Gary Speed
- 5/1 – Phil Brown
- 10/1 – Tony Mowbray
- 10/1 – Sean O’Driscoll
- 10/1 – Nigel Adkins
- 10/1 – Chris Wilder
- 12/1 – Lee Clark
- 12/1 – Andy Scott
- 14/1 – Gareth Southgate
- 14/1 – Steve Clarke
Click here to place your manager bet and claim your free £50 bet from Victor Chandler
Will Portsmouths problems continue in tonights Carling Cup fixture?
August 9, 2010
Cash strapped Portsmouth hit the Championship with a bump when they recorded their first (presumably of many) loss of the season when they travelled up to the Midlands to face Coventry City at the Ricoh Arena and came away with a 2-0 defeat, neither side looked fantastic but Portsmouth’s lack of squad was obvious when new boss Steve Cotterill was only able to name 4 subs on the bench out of a possible 7, currently the Portsmouth side is down to just 18 eligible players.
Now Portsmouth must try to bounce back as they take on Stevenage tonight in the first round of Carling Cup, a loss tonight for last years FA Cup finalists could put Pompey fans in a disparate place for the rest of their season.
Stevenage v Portsmouth match odds
This will be the first time that these two clubs have ever faced each other, the last time Portsmouth were eliminated at this stage of the competition since they were beaten by Colchester in 2001.
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Will Norwich be triumphant in their return to the Championship?
August 6, 2010
The first game of the Npower Championship kicks off tonight between Norwich who gained promotion from League one and last years Championship strugglers Watford. Norwich will be looking for a good start to their Championship campaign but the opening result of last years opening match may be playing on their mind when they were humiliated by their 7-1 defeat by Colchester and they may have to do this without last years Supporters Player of the Year Grant Holt who is standing trial for a motoring offence in Shropshire.
In their last four games against each other at Carrow Road Norwich have only managed to win on one occasion but last year saw Grant Holt, Chris Martin and Wes Hoolahan excel in League One where all are expected to excel in this higher level.
Bookmakers Bet Fred are running a cash back offer on the game between these two sides if Norwich’s midfielder Wes Hoolahan scores the last goal of the game then Betfred will refund all losing correct score, first and last goal scorers as well as scorecast bets made on the game for you to use as a free bet.
Norwich v Watford match odds
Although Norwich have lost their opening game of the season for the last two seasons they are the favourites to win this fixture they will be facing an inexperienced Watford side.
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Could Coventry City be the dark horses to gain promotion to the Premier League?
August 5, 2010
The npower Championship starts in just two days but you do still have time to place an ante post bet on who will get promoted from the Championship to the Barclays Premiership. Of the teams that were relegated from the Premiership only Burnley look like they could gain automatic promotion the other two teams, Hull City and Portsmouth could be spending the first of many seasons in the Championship.
One of the teams that are looking to gain promotion have one of best cashback offers currently running on the Championship. The offer comes from the shirt sponsors of Nottingham Forest, the bookmakers Victor Chandler. If you place a bet on Forest to gain promotion and they fail to make the play offs then Victor Chandler will refund your losing stake, with Forest at odds of 9/4 for promotion this is almost like giving money away as they had a fantastic season last year ending up 3rd in the league but losing out to Blackpool in the play off final.
Championship Promotion odds
It looks like it could be another tight league and there are several teams hopingto be promoted to the Premiership which are all the usual suspects, if you fancy a flutter outside of the norm with higher odds we recommend that Coventry City could be the surprise of the season with odds of 40/1 to be promoted, they welcome back players Lee Carsley and Gary McSheffery into their fold and with their new manager Aidy Boothroyd behind it could be a good year for the Sky Blues.
- 7/4 – Middlesbrough
- 11/4 – QPR
- 11/4 – Burnley
- 9/2 – Sheffield United
- 4/1 – Leicester City
- 4/1 – Reading
- 9/4 – Nottingham Forest
- 9/2 – Bristol City
- 5/1 – Leeds
Click here to place your Championship promotion bet and claim your free bet from Victor Chandler
Blackpool odds on in Barclays Premier League relegation betting
July 19, 2010
The 2010/11 season of the Premier LeaguPremier League begins next month and the league welcomes three new teams into the division Newcastle United as winners of the Championship, runners-up West Bromwich Albion and Blackpool as the winners of the play offs (it is the first time since 1970 that Blackpool have been in the top flight) and it sure to be an exciting season for The Seasiders.
They are closely followed in the odds by Roberto Di Matteo’s West Brom who did have quite a strong season last year and are no strangers to the Premiership so could find their feet very easily. The Championship Champions, Newcastle find themselves squeezed between Premier League strugglers West Ham and Wigan. If Chris Hughton can stabilize his squad early on in the season he has good chance of finishing in a respectable place in his first season in charge of a Premiership club.
Premier League Relegation odds
It is no surprise that Ian Holloway’s Blackpool side are being quoted as the favourites to be relegated back down to the Championship having surprised many fans and football pundits alike by beating the favourites Nottingham Forest in the play off finals.
- 2/7 – Blackpool
- 4/5 – West Bromwich Albion
- 9/4 – Wolverhampton Wanderers
- 9/4 – Wigan
- 11/4 – Newcastle United
- 7/2 – West Ham
- 9/2 – Bolton
- 13/2 – Blackburn
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Cardiff favourites to progress to the Premiership after play off final
May 20, 2010
The finalists for the Coca Cola Championship playoffs finals have been confirmed following the games between Nottingham Forest and Blackpool and Leicester and Cardiff and to some surprise Blackpool and Cardiff have emerged as finalists’. This has brought heart ache again for Nottingham Forest who finished 3rd in the Championship table and narrowly missed out promotion and in 2007 missed out on promotion to the Championship from League One in similar circumstances.
The two teams will face each other this coming Saturday 22nd May at 15:00 from Wembley Stadium, and can be watched live on Sky Sports or if you are in the Cardiff area on large screen televisions in Cardiff Bay with 7,000 other Bluebird fans!
Cardiff are the marginal favourites to win this tie although when both teams played each other this season each of the two games (home and away) have resulted in a 1-1 draw. Hopefully with the excitement of a Wembley fixture the result of the game will be much more exciting and we could even look to see a result to the game in 90 minutes and therefore avoid the tedium of extra time and worse still a penalty shootout.
Blackpool v Cardiff match odds
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Could Gary McAllister come back to save the Sky Blues or is O’Leary on his way?
May 5, 2010
In a decision that did not come as a shock to Coventry City fans their manager Chris Coleman was relieved of his duties as Coventry City manager the morning after the teams awards dinner and a shocking 4-0 home defeat against relegation fighters Watford. The game that sealed Coleman’s fate could have easily been a 6 or 7 goal affair due to the extremely poor performance on Coleman’s side. Since appointment by Coventry in February 2008 Coleman has been in charge for 117 games his side had produced only 34 wins and 37 draws, losing a shocking 46 games meaning his win to game percentage was only 29%, statistically this has made him the worst manager since Ron Atkinson took control of the side in February 1995 for 74 games.
Whoever takes charge of Coventry will have to face the similar struggles that a host of recent managers have come across (Adrian Heath, Micky Adams, Ian Dowie), in fact since they were relegated from the Premiership in 2001 they have gone through 7 permanent managers. Coventry currently play in a purpose built stadium that they do not own nor get any revenue from other than gate receipts (which only averages 17295 per game) and are unlikely to receive any great investment from the Ray Ranson (SISU) fronted hedge fund company that saved them from administration back in 2007.
As well as the normal faces that appear with every managerial job opportunity some surprise names have come into the fold which include some strong rumours that former player and manager of Coventry City Gary McAllister is in contention for the spot, he was resigned his position to care for his terminally ill wife and took a break from football, a return from him would be welcomed by the Sky Blue Army, however the favourite David O’Leary would not get such support having been in charge of arch rivals Aston Villa.
Next Coventry City Manager odds
All odds have been supplied by Victor Chandler
- 3/1 – David O’Leary
- 7/2 – Steve Cotterill
- 9/2 – Tony Mowbray
- 8/1 – Gary McAllister
- 11/1- Sean O’Driscoll
- 11/1 - Eddie Howe
- 12/1 - Phil Brown
- 12/1 – Gareth Southgate
- 12/1 – Peter Taylor
- 12/1 – Gary Megson
- 14/1 – Paul Tisdale
- 14/1 – George Burley
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Nottingham Forest look the favourites to win the playoffs
May 3, 2010
Another exciting season of the Coca Cola Championship has now come to end, the two teams that have gained automatic promotion to the Premiership did so several games before the end of the season. Nottingham Forest managed to squeeze into third place by just 3 points, if there home form could have been continued to their away games they very easily could have gained themselves one of the automatic promotion spots, out of their 23 away games they managed a paltry 4 wins compared to their 18 wins at home.
This will hopefully work to Billy Davies side favour however for the play offs as the second leg of their play off game will be played at the City Ground where they have excelled and scored plenty of goals and once again Davies can go to the play off finals at Wembley Stadium.
Coca Cola Championship playoffs outright winner
Odds for the winner have been supplied by William Hill.
- 11/5 – Nottingham Forest
- 9/4 – Cardiff
- 3/1 – Leicester
- 3/1 – Blackpool
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