Man United’s overrated defence, John Terry’s unfortunate choice of words

Five stats about this weekend’s football

1. Four Manchester United players made the back five in the PFA team of the season despite the fact Chelsea have conceded an average of 0.59 goals a game compared to Manchester United’s 0.70 and have even kept more clean sheets - 21 to the Red Devils’ 20.

2. Middlesbrough have now lost ten consecutive Premier League away games although Arsenal’s 2-0 win yesterday marked the first time in six attempts that Arsene Wenger had got the better of Gareth Southgate.

3. Spurs have the best home defence in the Premier League having conceded just nine goals in 17 games. After their 5-2 loss to Manchester United though they have the joint-third worst defensive record on the road, shipping 32 goals in 17 games - only one less than West Brom.

Posted: April 27th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Shocking statistics about how often clubs change managers

It’s almost unheard of for a coach to spend five years at one club

Roman Abramovich’s decision to axe Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari this week means that he has sacked just one less manager over the last five years than fellow Londoners West Ham have in their entire history. It also means that Guus Hiddink will become the fourth man to coach the Blues in just eighteen months. Over that period they have lost just six league matches, which is the same number as Manchester United have lost during the same spell. Here are more crazy statistics about managerial casualties:

» Just seven of the 92 clubs in the top four tiers of English football have kept their current manager for a period of over five years.

» The clubs of the four longest serving Premier League managers - Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, David Moyes and Rafael Benitez - are all in the top six. Martin O’Neill has spent the sixth longest spell in charge of a top-flight club and Aston Villa are currently reaping the rewards for that continuity.

Posted: February 12th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 1 Comment

Where will Chelsea finish this season under Guus Hiddink?

Sky Bet offer 4/1 on the Blues catching Liverpool for second

Online bookmakers Sky Bet have opened a market on where Chelsea will finish the season now that Guus Hiddink has taken charge and they are offering 4/1 on the Blues finishing second.

Chelsea have finished in the top two in all five of Roman Abramovich’s seasons at the club and while they are five points behind second-placed Liverpool, but they were six points behind Arsenal, who they eventually overtook for the runners-up spot, at this point last season.

Sky Bet make Hiddink’s side 16/1 to win the league because in both of their title-winning campaigns they were already ahead by this stage. Chelsea are 6/4 to finish third, a position they have only ended up at in one of the last 43 years, while they are 9/4 to stay fourth and 11/2 to miss out on the Champions League places.

Posted: February 12th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Scolari cut from 33/1 to 10/1 to be the next boss axed

Odds on Sky Bet plummet after a “flurry of bets” on the Brazilian

Sky Bet are reporting that they have slashed the price on Luiz Felipe Scolari being the next Premier League manager to leave his post from 33/1 to 10/1 after a receiving it was heavily backed over the course of the day.

Chelsea’s unacceptable home form continued with a 1-1 draw with Southend in the FA Cup at the weekend but there have been no newspaper reports suggesting that the Brazilian was clinging onto his job as a result.

There have however been rumours circulating about how badly Roman Abramovich has been hit by the credit crunch so perhaps there is a suspicion that Scolari would resign if he was told the money raised by selling Wayne Bridge wouldn’t be reinvested, although this again seems unlikely. Scolari is also now just 7/4 to last the season as the Blues boss.

Let us know what you think the reason is behind the flurry of bets with a comment below.

UPDATE: Scolari’s price has dropped further to an alarmingly low 4/1, which is just behind joint favourites Mark Hughes and Tony Adams at 11/4. He is now just 5/4 to last the season.

Posted: January 5th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 1 Comment

Arsenal prepare to complete their decade of dominance over Aston Villa

A big-match preview from the spread betting experts at IG Sport

Our friends at spread betting firm IG Sport are here to tell us why Arsenal will continue their undefeated streak against Aston Villa when the two teams meet at the Emirates tomorrow:

“When you talk about ‘owning’ Premier League football clubs, the names Abramovich, Glazer and Ashley are usually the first names that spring to mind. But who owns Aston Villa? Randy Lerner would be the name most learned football fans would put forward, however a more appropriate answer would be Arsenal. The Gunners have not lost to Villa in nineteen encounters, winning thirteen and drawing six, and after the way their kids demolished Wigan in midweek the future is looking bleak in terms of reversing that particular jinx for Martin O’Neill and the Villa faithful. IG Sport price Arsenal as 1-1.2 goal favourites against Villa this weekend with the total match goals on the high side for a Premier League game at 2.9-3.1 - the price accounting for both Arsenal’s efficiency going forward and their all too frequent inefficiency in defence! Yes, Arsenal own Aston Villa and if the Gunners avoid defeat again tomorrow they’ll proudly be able to boast having had control of the Midlands club for over a decade!”

Click here for a detailed description of how spread betting works

Posted: November 14th, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

The five favourites to succeed Mark Hughes at Man City

4/1 Mourinho leads a host of big names in the betting

In the summer, Mark Hughes was one of the frontrunners to take Jose Mourinho’s old job at Chelsea but just five months after Sparky took charge of Manchester City, Mourinho has been installed as the favourite to succeed him. Here’s our take on the frontrunners in SkyBet’s market:

Jose Mourinho 4/1
It’s only five months since Mourinho took charge of Inter Milan yet he finds himself in the curious position of simultaneously being favourite to become the next manager of Manchester City and Manchester United. The former Chelsea boss became the first man ever to win the Premier League in his first season but do City really want a manager who will turn their exciting young attacking talent into flair-free workhorses?

Frank Rijkaard 5/1
Two years ago Rijkaard guided Barcelona to a La Liga/Champions League double but his stock has plummeted since then and he was axed earlier this year after a run of just three wins in thirteen league games saw Barca finish trophyless in third. The fact his inexperienced successor Josep Guardiola has instantly taken the Catalan club to the top spot while scoring seventeen goals in their last three home games makes you wonder where the Dutchman was going wrong.

Roberto Mancini 5/1
The Italian kindly ended Inter Milan’s seventeen year wait for the title by winning three in a row (the first of which was handed to them after Juventus’ enforced relegation and Milan’s points deduction) but his reward for such drastic over-achievement was the sack this summer. The best jobs he’s been linked to recently have been at West Ham and QPR so he would probably jump at the chance to manage Manchester City.

Posted: November 12th, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment