Released manager made the club “stronger”

Mick Harford terrified defences when he played for Luton in the eighties and nineties, but he will no longer be terrifying anyone at Kenilworth Road, as he was released of managerial duties this morning. Club managing director Gary Sweet offered the following:

“This club is far stronger now than it was when Mick joined.”

It’s a charming sentiment, but hardly one we agree with: Luton were in League One when he joined in January 2008, and have since suffered two consecutive relegations and now sit in eighth place in The Conference.

Admittedly, Luton’s plight and Harford’s workload were not helped by their financial troubles, but we find it difficult to agree that they are now “stronger”.

Southend/Chelsea, 8.10pm, ITV1, Free Bets, Best Odds

Rather than boring you with obvious reasons why Chelsea stand a decent chance of beating League One opposition, our friends at chickendinner chose to go against the grain and argue what others might consider a lost cause. Southend are available at 15/1 on Betfair to win at home to Luiz Felipe Scolari’s out-of-form side and here are six reasons why they stand a decent chance:

1. Southend masterminded a win over a Manchester United team including Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney in the Carling Cup two seasons ago and were robbed by an offside Jermain Defoe extra-time goal against Spurs in the next round.

2. Chelsea have won just one of their last six games and were knocked out the League Cup by Burnley in November.

3. The Blues aren’t used to playing away in the FA Cup and have won just two of their six games on the road in the competition, losing three.

The best sports on the telebox tonight

In the Blue Square Premier, second-place Torquay are looking to catch up league leaders Aldershot when they visit Plainmoor tonight. Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest and Carlisle will be battling to secure their League One playoff places at the City Ground.

Interestingly, both the lower-placed teams (Torquay and Forest) are favourites to win tonight, so there may be some value in backing their opposition.

League One
Nottingham Forest/ Carlisle Utd (Sky Sports 1, 7.45pm) - bet here

Blue Square Premier
Torquay Utd/ Aldershot (Setanta Sports 1, 8pm) - bet here