Sherwood favourite to replace Warnock

By PHIL AGIUS 11:58AM 27 DEC 2014

TIM SHERWOOD was installed as favourite to become the next manager of Crystal Palace after Neil Warnock became the first Premier League manager to lose his job this season.

Warnock, who took over at Selhurst Park on August 27 after Tony Pulis had quit less than 48 hours before the season began, had not been among the market leaders to leave first, with West Brom’s Alan Irvine and rock-bottom Leicester’s Nigel Pearson having been much shorter.

Former Spurs boss Sherwood was the 3-1 favourite last night with Pulis 7-1 to return. Newcastle boss Alan Pardew is 10-1 with bet365 but the Toon chief is as short as 3-1 with BoyleSports.

Palace are general 13-8 shots for relegation with Irvine now odds-on at 8-11 to be the next boss out.

Bookmakers are still reeling from Friday’s football results, with bet365 reporting that they lost £12m on the day and Coral claiming it was their worst ever day of football betting.

Ladbrokes spokesman Alex Donohue said: “We’ve never known a day like it. The list of customers who have won hundreds and thousands from just a few quid is huge.” The firm said their biggest individual winner was an Ipswich shop punter who won £52,393 from a £2 bet.

This Premier League coupon does not feature so many obvious hotpots as Friday’s but bookmakers will be delighted to see either odds-on Chelsea fail at Southampton or bankers Man City slip up at home to Burnley.

Rangers are out to 10-1 for the Scottish Championship title after being hammered 4-0 by 5-2 shots Hibernian. Hearts, 1-0 winners at Livingston, are 1-20 from 1-7 to top the table.

There was a second managerial change in League One, where Crawley boss John Gregory stepped down for health reasons. Dean Saunders has been appointed interim manager of the West Sussex club, who are 4-7 for relegation.