Million matched on Toon job

Who will replace Sam Allardyce as Newcastle United manager? That has quickly become the £1 million question for punters desperate to identify his successor.

At 6pm on Thursday, a staggering £1,400,000 of matched bets had been struck on Betfair, the person-to-person betting exchange, on who will become the next permanent manger of the club. And the traditional bookmakers have also taken a flurry of big wagers on who will jump into the hot seat at St James’ Park.

The Betfair market continues to revolve around Harry Redknapp, with backers and layers happy to accommodate each other. More than £1 million of bets have been matched on the Portsmouth manager. At 6pm he was 1.89 to back and 1.9 to lay. In other words, his price on the exchange to get the job is roughly 10-11.

Tony Calvin, spokesman for Betfair, said: “The market has proved unbelievably volatile since we opened it last night. Redknapp went from an opening 11-1 into a low of 4-9 overnight, has traded at odds-against for most of the day, but is currently being backed into 10-11.”

At the same time, Ladbrokes were quoting him at 4-6 but the Harrow-based firm have seen money for Geordie legend Kevin Keegan and have slashed him to 7-1 (from 33-1) for a second spell as manager at the club.

Nick Weinberg, of Ladbrokes, said: “Punters are still coming for Redknapp and Mark Hughes, but Thursday’s steamer has been Kevin Keegan. The romantics have switched their allegiance from Super Al to King Kev — and they’ve taken him at all prices.

“The phones have been red-hot. Big Sam’s plight, and his potential successor, has caught the betting public’s imagination more so than any other vacancy in recent memory."

William Hill make Redknapp 1-2 but have also seen money for Mark Hughes (15-8) and Keegan (cut to 6-1 from 25-1). Graham Sharpe, of Hills, said: “Harry has never been unaware of his market value and just being linked with this job will do his own profile no harm whatsoever, but whether he seriously wants to uproot from his spiritual home on the south coast remains open to speculation - but many of our clients seem convinced that he will do.”

Ladbrokes bet
Harry Redknapp 4-6
Mark Hughes 3-1
Kevin Keegan 7-1
Martin Jol 8-1
Alan Shearer 12-1
Steve McClaren 14-1
David Moyes 20-1
Gerard Houllier 20-1
Jose Mourinho 20-1
Marcello Lippi 20-1
Ottmar Hitzfeld 20-1
Jurgen Klinsmann 25-1
Paul Jewell 25-1
Terry Venables 25-1
Glenn Hoddle 28-1
Rafael Benitez 28-1
Steve Bruce 28-1
David O Leary 33-1
John Collins 33-1
Mark McGhee 33-1
Paul Ince 33-1
Steve Coppell 33-1
Stuart Pearce 33-1
Louis Van Gaal 40-1
Bryan Robson 50-1