Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Mccarthy favourite for top job
MICK Mccarthy was hot favourite to replace Martin O’neill last night with Dundalk boss Stephen Kenny running a close second.
Mccarthy, who was Ireland manager between 1996 and 2002, was beeing backed at evens while Kenny was 6/4. Former Manchester United captain Steve Bruce and ex
Real Madrid manager Carlos Queiroz were next in the betting at 16/1 with Sven-goran Eriksson, Chris Hughton and Neil Lennon all at 20/1.
“Big Sam” Allardyce was last among the big contenders at 25/1 with Paddy Power.
A Paddy Power spokesperson said: “Mick Mccarthy was available at far bigger odds of 2/1 over the weekend but we had to slash this price when a number of our Dublin shops reported a significant rise in the number of bets being placed on ‘Captain Fantastic’ becoming the next Ireland manager.
“This all suddenly makes senses now in light of this morning’s developments.”
Mccarthy, 59, seemed nailed on for the job until a flurry of bets on Kenny saw him drift out from 8/11 to evens. He boasts a strong record as Republic manager though will forever be remember for the bust-up that saw Roy Keane storm out of the World Cup camp in Saipan in 2002.
The betting firm risks paying out megabucks after punters backed hotelier Francis Brennan, Ryan Tubridy, Paddy Power himself, Mattress Mick at 5,000/1.