Gaffer suddenly favourite as next manager to go

For reasons that we have yet to establish at the time of writing, Harry Redknapp has shot to favourite in the next Premier League manager to go market. He is at 7/4, with Paul Hart languishing behind in the sack race at 3/1.

In the last hour, Paddy Power have stopped taking bets on his departure.

Has there been a fallout? Is it dangerously close to the annual date when Tottenham traditionally sack their manager? Or is this another Ribery/Benitez-style betting scam?

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”.

The Professor gained his footballing nous from an unlikely source

Until now, we could only speculate on how Arsene Wenger cultivated his gigantic brain: some thought he was brought up by wizards, some suspected he worshiped at the feet of Kevin from Eggheads, while others believed he was imply an oracle sent from a world of existential philosophy and ignoring terrible tackles if they’re done by your own team.

The Professor, however, has today revealed he did most of his brain training in a pub. He was brought up by publican parents Alphonse and Louise at Le Croix D’Or, just outside Strasbourg, and it is that establishment that he became a master of handling other people:

“There is no better psychological education than growing up in a pub when you are five or six because you meet all different people and hear how cruel they can be.

“You hear the way they talk to each other like saying ‘You’re a liar.’

“And from an early age you get a practical psychological education into the minds of people. It is not

England coach thanks Croatian for his inspiring team talk

When he isn’t belittling the opposition, Slaven Bilic likes to rock out with his band Rawbau. In the video, he’s the guy playing the guitar who looks like Slaven Bilic.

With the exception of the ongoing witch hunt of Premiership clubs who have poached young talent from elsewhere, it’s been a relatively quiet week in football so far. Hence, much prominence has been given to Slaven Bilic’s daily attempts to destabilise the England camp ahead of Wednesday night’s World Cup qualifier with Croatia.

So far, he has highlighted team’s lack of ‘Englishness’ (not exactly a criticism when you consider the team’s recent form), claimed to have figured out a super secret way to ensure victory (he won’t tell us what it is) and he has berated John Terry for speaking out

French captain doesn’t hate manager as much as we thought

French daily Le Parisien this week claimed Thierry Henry stood up during a French team meeting on Friday and berated Raymond Domenech, labelling his training sessions as boring and complaining that the team didn’t know what to do on the pitch. However, the Barcelona star has now denied the quotes and the apparent rift between the French national team and its manager.

Henry appeared on French station TV1 clear up the situation:

“No. Nothing happened on Friday.”

“We had a discussion, as often happens between a team and their coach, but it was a rather constructive discussion.

“I’ve been saying for some time now. But when you do not win the game it is much more complicated to get this message across. There is a great atmosphere in this squad. I can say I see it every day.”

We have little doubt that the original quotes in le Parisien were fabricated - this could represent the first time a newspaper has been found to make something up since the last time The Sun published a transfer rumour - but judging by the contemptuous glare in the picture above, there’s clearly no love lost between Henry and Domenech.

Titi lays into his national manager in front of whole French squad

After helping France reach last place in their group at Euro 2008 - an embarrassment that was compounded by an awfully-timed post-match marriage proposal - it it highly surprising that Raymond Domenech has managed to cling onto his job. The pressure on the national team coach has intensified once more, as Les Bleus’ disappointing 1-1 draw with Romania on Saturday was preceded by a barrage of criticism from team captain Thierry Henry.

In a press conference last Friday, Henry raised a few eyebrows when he claimed the team have “always had problems” during Domenech’s reign. According to a report in French paper le Parisien, Domenech then gathered the players and staff into a meeting room, where he offered the following:

“I hope today you’ll be better in training. So far, I have not seen guys who wanted, who were fully prepared for the important meeting on Saturday.”

After an awkward silence, the tense atmosphere is said to have been broken by captain Thierry Henry, who replied:

“Coach, we too have something to say. I speak for the entire squad.

“We are getting bored during your training sessions.

It’s FC Bunyodkor’s Gene Hackman look-alike Luiz Felipe Scolari!

Since arriving in Italy, Jose Mourinho’s €11m salary has cemented his status as the best paid manager in the world. This morning, however, it has been revealed that The Special One’s huge remuneration package has been eclipsed by that of another Chelsea alumnus. After signing an eighteen-month contract with Uzbekistani side FC Bunyodkor, Big Phil Scolari will now take home an annual pay packet of €13m.

Bunyodkur - who recently changed their name from PFC Kuruvchi to “reflect their success” - first came to international prominence last summer, when they claimed to have secured the services of Samuel Eto’o. Despite the Cameroonian’s passionate love for clubs who are willing to pay him more money than he is worth, the deal never went through.

Since the Eto’o spectacle, Bunyodkur have introduced several Brazilians to their side,

Spaniard becomes favourite to enter the world of unemployment

Following last night’s home defeat to Aston Villa, Senor Benitez has leapfrogged over Paul Hart to become the favourite to be the next Premier League manager to go. SkyBet put him at a worryingly short 11/10 to clear his desk first, with the Pompey manager following at 9/4, and Alex McLeish and Phil Brown circling the periphery at 7/1.

Rafa is no stranger to straddling the fine line between gainful employment and a P45: his brush ups with the Billy Bob Gillett and Hank Hicks over the past few years have encouraged rumours of disharmony, and just last week the Spaniard was subject to a Twitter-based rumour which suggested he had walked out.

So, will Rafa see through Liverpool’s current spate of patchy form, or will he claim the honour of the first unceremonious departure of the season? Let us know your thoughts below…