Dutch veteran and fans’ favourite hard to split for Leicester
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Former Chelsea, Real Madrid and two-time Holland gaffer Guus Hiddink has bounced straight from the Oranje camp, having stepped down as his country’s coach last Monday, to the top of the market to be Leicester’s next manager, with Ladbrokes offering the best sportsbook price around about said eventuality at 6/5.
Bolton boss Neil Lennon, who spent four fruitful years with the Foxes between 1996-2000, was favourite to get the gig following Nigel Pearson’s sacking earlier this week, but Hiddink’s surprising availability has clearly given owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha something to think about.
That being said, you won’t get a better price right now about ‘Lenny’ replacing Pearson in the King Power Stadium dugout than Ladbrokes’ 7/4, so this saga could be set to run and run for a while yet.
The allure of hiring a coach with Hiddink’s wealth of experience and silverware hoard (six Eredivisie titles, an FA Cup and a European Cup, to name the best pieces, plus last-four World Cup and European Championship placings) is obvious, yet somewhat short sighted.
His past three jobs have been nothing short of disastrous, missing out on Euro 2012 qualification with Turkey, resigning from Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala two games into their 2013/14 campaign, and leading Holland to the brink of not qualifying for France 2016, thanks to away losses against Czech Republic and Iceland.
Lennon, on the other hand, is a manager who seems to be going places after impressing during his time with Celtic, particularly in the Champions League, and guiding Bolton to Championship safety with months to spare last term, after taking over from Dougie Freedman in October with the Trotters bottom
The Foxes’ faithful will be breathing a sigh of relief now former West Ham, Blackburn and Bolton survival expert Sam Allardyce is all the way out to a top-price 14/1 with Ladbrokes, having been favourite for a while straight after Pearson’s rather harsh exit.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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