Another day, another bookies favourite for the job…
Rob Fielding argues that in the case of the next Vale manager, the bookies odds mean very little.
Rob Fielding writes…
Another day, another managerial candidate at the top of the list. This time it’s former Mourinho player Bruno Ribeiro. Will he get the job? Frankly, who knows…
The funny thing is that this time the bookies know as little as the fans about who will become boss.
In recent days Nigel Adkins, Michael Brown, Jose Morais, Shefki Kuqi and now Bruno Ribeiro have all been the “favourite”. That’s despite owner Norman Smurthwaite specifically ruling out Brown and Kuqi.
We’ve even had the spectacle of the media ignoring Smurthwaite’s own comments as the Sentinel declared that Paul Dickov was a candidate (denied by Smurthwaite) and the BBC continued to say it “understood” that Kuqi was to be the new manager long after Smurthwaite himself had denied it.
The truth is that Smurthwaite has given next to nothing away and with no obvious candidate, it’s rather pointless to speculate just because someone has low odds at the bookies.
Rather than bookmaker’s odds the surefire way to know who the next Vale manager is, is to wait till the club officially announce it.
The bookies won’t be making the decision on who is our next manager. The fans won’t be either. We have to hope and trust that the club owner makes the right decision. As the erratic odds show, it’s no easy choice and as fans we have to hope it’s the right one.