SkyBet

Forest begin search for new manager

Oct 042011
 

Nottingham Forest's search for a new manager has begun following the resignation of Steve McClaren on Sunday. Forest have made a terrible start to the season under McClaren picking up just 8 points from their opening 10 games. Sunday's 3-1 home defeat by Birmingham has left Forest in 21st place in the league table and 7.50 shots with Coral for relegation.

MK Dons boss Karl Robinson is the bookies favourite to take up the vacant manager's post at Nottingham Forest. Robinson's MK Dons have had an excellent start to the season and currently sit 2nd in League One. Robinson is currently 3.75 with Skybet to take up the role. 

Forest legend Martin O'Neil is also being tipped to take the helm at the City Ground. O'Neil can be backed at 10/1 with Skybet to take over from Steve McClaren. If O'Neil did take the job best odds of 200/1 at Victor Chandler for Forest to turn things around and win the league might be tempting. Victor Chandler are also offering odds of 33/1 for Forest to gain promotion by any means. Forest may be sitting in 21st place but at this early stage of the season they are still just 9 points of a play-off place.

 

Lambert 6/1 to finish Championship top scorer

Oct 032011
 

Southampton's Rickie Lambert scored a brace of penalties on Saturday to take his season tally to 8 goals in just 10 games.

Lambert is now the league's joint top goal scorer and clear favourite to win the Championship golden boot with best odds of 6/1 at Skybet.

Backing Lambert to end the season as the league's top scorer could prove a shrewd investment. Lambert has a fantastic goal scoring record for Southampton scoring 63 goals in 120 games. In the 2009/10 season Lambert scored an amazing 36 goals for the Saints in League One. Following that he scored 21 league goals in the 2010/11 season helping Southampton clinch promotion to the Championship.

Lambert is currently joint top scorer in the Championship with Leeds striker Ross McCormack. You can get best odds of 9/1 at Bet365 for McCormack to continue his excellent form and finish the season as Championship top scorer.

Carlton Cole's odds to win top league goal scorer have taken a big rise lately. Cole has failed to score in his last 4 games and can now be backed at odds as long as 16/1 with Skybet. Cole is currently still West Ham's top scorer with 4 goals.

Kevin Nolan grabbed his 3rd goal of the season against Crystal Palace on Saturday. Nolan can be backed at huge odds of 33/1 with Bet365 to finish as league top scorer.

Sam Baldock has a lot of catching up to do if he is to be in with a chance of topping the league's goal scoring charts. Baldock is also 33/1 with Bet365 to finish top league goal scorer.

John Carew scored his first goal for the Hammers on Saturday. The Norwegian can be backed at best odds of 40/1 at Bet365 to finish the season as Championship top scorer.

Hammers close on leaders – Championship Round-up

Sep 252011
 

West Ham closed the gap on league leaders Southampton to just 2 points after beating Peterborough 1-0 on Saturday. The Hammers odds to win the title have dropped to 2.88 following their latest win. Southampton could only manage a 1-1 draw away to Burnley in their match. In-form striker Charlie Austin gave Burnley the lead early in the second half before substitute Morgan Schneiderlin levelled late on for the Saints. Austin's goal took his tally to 5 and he is now joint 3rd in the Championship goal scoring table. You can get odds as long as 20/1 for Austin to finish the season as top marksman.

Middlesbrough also dropped points this weekend after a goalless draw with West Ham's next opponents Ipswich. Middlesbrough currently sit just a point behind Southampton in 2nd and are now 9/1 to win the title.

Derby County made it 6 wins from their opening 8 league matches after seeing off Millwall 3-0. Goals from Craig Bryson, Jeff Hendrick and Steve Davies earned the Rams the points lifting them to 3rd place in the table. Despite Derby's excellent start to the season, incredibly they are still 66/1 to win the league! If I was a Derby fan I'd be jumping on those odds.

Early pace setters Brighton slipped to 5th in the table following their 3-3 draw with Leeds on Friday. Brighton are now 11/1 to lift the Championship trophy come the end of the season with Leeds at 28/1. Andy Keogh and Ross McCormack gave Leeds a 2 goal lead before a Craig Mackail-Smith brace and an Ashley Barnes penalty turned the game in Brighton's favour. However, Ross McCormack earned Leeds a point in the last minute with his 8th league goal of the season to level the match 3-3. McCormack is still 12/1 to finish the season as top scorer in the league despite being 2 goals clear of Southampton's Ricky Lambert.

Steve McClaren's job as Nottingham Forest boss looks safe for another day after they beat Watford 1-0 at Vicarage Road. McClaren remains joint favourite to be the first Championship manager out of a job at 5/1 despite this win. Watford now sit 17th in the table just a point above the drop zone. You can get odds of 3/1 for Watford to get relegated with Forest at 12/1.

Elsewhere in the Championship Birmingham's difficult start to the season continued as they needed a late strike from Chris Burke to earn them a point at home to Barnsley. Barnsley took the lead in the first half through Jacob Butterfield but Burke's leveller ended the game 1-1. Birmingham and Barnsley now sit 16th and 17th in the table respectively with Birmingham now as low as 7/1 to drop down to League One with Barnsley at 3.75.

Bristol City and Hull's match also ended in a 1-1 draw. Robert Koren gave the visitors the lead in the second half before substitute Brett Pitman levelled for City. Bristol City now sit 23rd in the table with just 1 win from 8 matches and are 3.50 to get relegated to League One.

Portsmouth picked up a much needed 3 points after seeing off Blackpool 1-0 at Fratton Park. Erik Huseklepp was the Pompey hero after grabbing the only goal of the game with an acrobatic volley. Blackpool drop to 8th in the table with their title odds increasing to 28/1.

Coventry and Reading also drew 1-1 with early goals from Gary McSheffrey and Simon Church. Coventry sit 22nd in the table on just 6 points with Reading 2 points better off in 15th. Struggling Coventry are now 2.38 for the drop after picking up just 1 win from their opening 8 league matches.

John Oster's goal gave Doncaster a 1-0 win and a much needed 3 points against Crystal Palace. Despite winning the game Doncaster remain big favourites for the drop at 1.57.

Sunday's match between Cardiff and Leicester ended in a goalless draw. Early season title favourites Leicester currently sitting 9th in the table are now 9/1 to clinch the title with 6th place Cardiff at 25/1.

McClaren favourite to be first managerial casualty

Sep 202011
 

Steve McClaren is the bookies favourite to be the first Championship manager axed this season. After their woeful start to the new campaign Nottingham Forest now sit 22nd in the table and our good friends at Victor Chandler are offering odds of 3.5 for the ex-England boss to be the next Championship manager to leave their post. Forest have picked up just 1 win from their opening 7 league games and are currently on a run of 3 straight defeats. That includes a home defeat by arch rivals Derby County in which Forest had a goal and a man advantage after just 5 minutes of the match.

Bristol City manager Keith Millen is close behind McClaren at 3.75 to be the first Championship manager for the chop. City have had an equally poor start to the new season picking up just 1 win and currently sit 23rd in the table.

Coventry boss Andy Thorn will also be sweating over his future after picking up just a single victory this season. Coventry lost their opening 3 matches of the season and now sit 21st in the table, just 1 place above the drop zone. You can get odds of 4.33 on Thorn being the first Championship managerial casualty this season.

Sam Allardyce can carry on sleeping soundly at the moment. Big Sam is a 25/1 outsider to be first for the chop after picking up 4 wins from 7 league matches to leave West Ham in 5th position.

Boro claim top spot – Championship round-up

Sep 182011
 

Elsewhere in the Championship Middlesbrough climbed up to first place after in-form striker Marvin Emnes gave them a narrow 1-0 victory away to Crystal Palace. Emnes is one of the bookies favourites for the Championship golden boot at 10/1 after notching his 5th league goal on Saturday. Boro now have a 3 point lead over West Ham with 17 points and have dropped to 8/1 to claim the Championship title.

Brighton finally slipped up away to big spending Leicester City after a Yuki Abe goal earned the Foxes all 3 points. Leicester are now 7/1 to lift the title with Brighton slipping to 9/1.

Steve McClaren's reign as Nottingham Forest boss is looking ever more tenuous after failing to beat rivals Derby County at home. Derby even had their keeper Frank Fielding sent off after just 5 minutes allowing Andy Reid to score from the spot. Derby came back with goals from Jamie Ward and Jeff Hendrick to turn the game around and leave McClaren sweating over his future at the club. Forest are now 10/1 to drop out of the Championship come the end of the season. Following their win Derby replaced the Hammers in fourth place but still remain huge 66/1 shots to win the title.

Promotion hopefuls Blackpool and Cardiff City shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw at Bloomfield Road. Don Cowie gave Cardiff the lead but veteran striker Kevin Phillips earned Blackpool a point with a great strike from outside the box. Phillips is now 12/1 to finish the season as the league's top scorer after netting his 5th goal of the season.

Leeds made it back-to-back wins after seeing off Bristol City 2-1 at Elland Road. Goals from Adam Clayton and Ross McCormack either side of a fantastic strike from Leeds old boy Neil Kilkenny gave Leeds all 3 points. McCormack's 6th goal of the season makes him the current leader of the Championship golden boot and joint 8/1 favourite.

Emile Sinclair enjoyed a dream debut start for Peterborough after scoring both their goals in a 2-1 win over struggling Burnley. Keith Treacy pulled a goal back for the visitors but Peterborough held on for the points to move up to 10th position in the league.

A goal a-piece from Marvin Sordell and Andy Gray earned Barnsley and Watford a point each to leave them in 16th and 17th place respectively. Barnsley are 3.50 for relegation to League One with Watford close behind at 3.75.

A single goal from Robert Koren was enough to secure Hull a 1-0 win over Portsmouth to lift them to 8th in the table.

Doncaster's terrible start to the season continued as Reading picked up just their second league win of the season. Goals from Simon Church and Adam Le Fondre gave the Royals a 2-0 win at the Keepmoat Stadium. Doncaster are huge favourites to get relegated at 1.50 after picking up just one point from their opening 7 games and already 4 points from safety.

Southampton have the chance to overtake Middlesbrough to top-spot when they host Birmingham City later on today.

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