Moyes 5-4 favourite to land Celtic manager gig

By Dan Childs 8:07PM 20 APR 2016

David Moyes is reported to be interested in the Aston Villa vacancy but he may soon have another option on the table after Celtic announced that current manager Ronny Deila will be stepping aside at the end of the season.

The 52-year-old Scot is the 5-4 favourite to replace Deila, who decided to end his association with the club just two days after the Bhoys lost a penalty shootout to Rangers in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final.

Deila is likely to sign off by winning the Ladbrokes Premership title but competition will increase next year with Rangers returning to the Scottish top flight for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign.

Neil Lennon led Celtic to the to the title that season, helping them finish 20 points above the Gers, and he is 11-4 to return for a second spell in charge.

Popular ex-players Owen Coyle and Roy Keane are 8-1 and 10-1, while current Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill is a 10-1 chance.

However Moyes, who started his football career as a Celtic player, is sure to be a popular candidate and might view a return to Glasgow as preferable to the huge rebuild which will be required at Villa.

Yesterday he was eased from 9-2 to 6-1 to be Villa’s next manager and market leader Nigel Pearson drifted from 10-11 to 11-10.

Former Villa defender Simon Grayson has been popular all week – shortening from 14-1 to 4-1 – but he would need to be persuaded to leave his current role at Preston.