Newcastle manager is said to be frustrated by the lack of transfer activity at St James’ Park this summer
As the start of the Premier League fast approaches, one betting market has been a hive of activity on Oddschecker and Newcastle fans may want to look away now.
The market for the next manager to leave is always popular throughout the season and this summer we’ve seen a host of bets predicting who will be the first to get the boot once the season gets underway. Leading the way as the most popular pick is Rafael Benitez at newly-promoted Newcastle United.
Despite achieving promotion back to the Premier League at the first-time of asking, the Champions League winner is rumoured to be unhappy with owner Mike Ashley over the amount of incomings this summer. The Spaniard spent freely 12 months ago, assembling one of the most expensive squads in Championship history. However, Benitez was keen to push again in an attempt to consolidate the Magpie’s position at the top table with Ashley initially suggesting there was a £70m war chest available. So far there have been just four new faces through the door with Jacob Murphy the most high-profile acquisition at just under £10m.
With whispers surfacing that Benitez is not happy after missing out on a number of first-choice targets this summer, punters have piled in on the former Liverpool man being the first to leave his Premier League Post. In total 29% of all bets through Oddschecker have been on the 7/2 favourite, accounting for 34% of stakes.
Next in-line is the Premier League’s fourth longest-serving manager Mark Hughes. There has been plenty of unrest among Stoke fans over the last 12-18 months as anger over the style of play on show at the bet365 Stadium continues to grow. Many have pointed to the lack of progress made in recent seasons with last year’s 13th-place finish their worst since 2012-13 under former manager Tony Pulis.
So far this summer only veteran midfielder Darren Fletcher and Chelsea centre back Kurt Zuma have arrived with key players and fan favourites Marko Anautovic, Jonathan Walters and Glenn Whelan all leaving for pastures new. Hughes still retains the faith of the Stoke owners, but another poor start to the season could see that tested with further fan unrest inevitable. The former Wales manager is best-priced 13/2 with Oddschecker punters getting involved at bigger prices earlier in the summer helping to account for 18% of all bets placed on the market.
Other names of note at the top of punter’s lists are new Crystal palace manager Frank de Boer who has been backed at odds of 50/1, Swansea boss Paul Clement who will be looking to avoid a relegation battle this time around and perhaps inevitably Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
