Redknapp trades at shortest odds

Harry Redknapp hit a new Betfair low of 2-5 overnight to get the Newcastle manager’s job, with more than £2m having now been traded on the exchange.

With speculation mounting that Newcastle will make a formal approach to Portsmouth on Friday for permission to speak to Redknapp, punters forced Redknapp’s price down to as low as 1.39. However, his price drifted back out to 1.6 this morning.

Even with Portsmouth warning on Thursday evening that they would not welcome any approach, Redknapp has continued to attract a weight of money. Of the £2.4 million matched on the market on Betfair at Friday lunchtime, £2.2m of the business had been on Redknapp.

The late Thursday evening gamble on Kevin Keegan into 7-1 has subsided, and he is back out to 33-1. Also lengthening on the exchange is Mark Hughes, matched as short as 4.3 but out to 13 (12-1).

Tony Calvin, Betfair spokesman, said: “Redknapp may have been shorter with other bookmakers, but Betfair is the true and public barometer of his prospects of getting the job.”