Punters believe a number of big names are in the frame as the Premier League sack race gets underway
Stoke finished in 13th place in the Premier League last time out - their lowest finish since 2012/13 and considering their £30m spent on transfers, fans can be unhappy with their season. A lack of marquee arrivals this summer in combination with the loss of Marko Arnautovic has seen Mark Hughes come under intense pressure already. The bookies make Hughes the 4/1 favourite to be the first manager to leave their post and the Welshman has accounted for over 23% of all bets on the market.
At best price 4/1 is Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez. On the back of winning the Championship last year and securing promotion back to the Premier League, the Spaniard made it clear that he would resign unless the owners brought in the players he wanted. The Magpies have brought Jacob Murphy, Javi Manquillo, and Florian Lejeune to St James’ Park but this is unlikely to appease Benitez. With a market share of 20%, Rafa Benitez is the second favourite bet amongst punters.
One man that is very erratic across the market is Antonio Conte. The Italian won the league in his debut Premier League season but is the sixth favourite to leave first at best price 16/1. However, murmurings have suggested that Conte is not totally settled at Chelsea and these odds are as short as 8/1 elsewhere. 17% of bets in the market have been placed on the Italian to be the first to go this season. What a loss that would be for Chelsea.
Tony Pulis is notoriously unpopular amongst his own fans which perhaps goes some way in explaining why the West Brom manager is as short as 9/1 (best price 16/1) to leave first. The Baggies have so far only managed to secure the services of £12m Jay Rodriguez and £6m forward Yuning Zhang from Vitesse. Pulis has identified five key targets for his board to bring in, but should they fail to do so, we may see the former Stoke manager walk away from The Hawthorns. Pulis accounts for 13% of bets.
The last of the bunch to have a significant share of the market is Leicester boss Craig Shakespeare. Making up 12% of the bets, some punters clearly fancy his fortunes might change. Shakespeare won his first six games in charge and led the Foxes to the Champions League quarter final, where they lost 2-1 on aggregate to Atletico Madrid. Shakespeare’s deal was made permanent in the summer but despite signing a three-year deal in June he is 8/1 to be the first manager to leave.
