1/3 still available on Poyet and reports suggesting a done deal

The big gamble has already taken place on Gus Poyet being appointed as the next Sunderland manager when he was backed into odds-on to replace Paolo Di Canio.

However, there may still be plenty of value in the 1/3 that he is Sunderland’s next permanent boss if reports from Italy are correct that Poyet has already been appointed by the club.

Poyet has previously been linked with Premier League positions, most notably Fulham towards the end of the last campaign and more recently Norwich, after their uninspiring start to the current season.

Although he is not an appointment that will outright delight Sunderland fans, there are not a plethora of obvious outstanding alternatives to take over at the Stadium of Light.

It should be remembered that he did a good job developing Brighton, even though he was fairly well financed, and the passing football that he implemented would surely be welcomed.

Furthermore, he is another young manager that may attempt to build on the work and vision that Di Canio adopted.

There has been little common ground among Sunderland’s most recent managers, with Steve Bruce, Martin O’Neill and Di Canio all preferring different tactics and largely wanting to bring in their own players to perform particular roles.

Appointing Tony Pulis, Steve McClaren or Alex McLeish would probably mean that there is no continuity again and that everything starts back at stage one.

But, even though Poyet can build on some foundations and an identity already laid down, it must be constituted as a bit of a risk to appoint a second successive manager with no top-flight experience, particularly after the first one flopped.

Sunderland’s odds remain 13/10 to be relegated this season and 4/7 to stay up, regardless of who is named as their next manager.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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