Having now been appointed as temporary manager at Chelsea, William Hill have made Guus Hiddink their 4/6 favourite to be in charge at Stamford Bridge on the first day of the next Premier League season.
“Hiddink is obviously very much in pole position now to keep the job for a longer period – but he may decide that two jobs is one too many and opt for the Russia position with the World Cup coming up in 2010,” said Hill’s spokesman Graham Sharpe.
Hills offer 8/11 that Hiddink will also be Russia manager on the first day of next season and evens that he will be doing just one of the two jobs, or neither, on that date.
Bet365 are paying out on Hiddink as the next manager of Chelsea and settling the remaining bets on the manager in charge on the first day of the 2009/10 season.
Spokesman Steve Freeth said: “These type of appointments could become more and more common practice in such a results driven industry and we’re in the process of tweaking our rules on managerial markets.
“Hiddink backers will be paid, whilst we’ll be settling the remainder of the bets on the first day of the 2009/10 season.”
It’s a similar story at Sky Bet who are also paying out on Hiddink, while bets placed on any of the other selections will stand with them until Chelsea confirm their appointment of a permanent manager.
Sky Bet’s PR Director Dale Tempest said: “With Guus Hiddink placed in charge at Stamford Bridge until at least the end of the current season, it seemed the right thing to do to pay customers who backed the Dutchman to be the next Chelsea manager.
“However, bets placed on any of the other potential managers will not be settled as losers but will be kept alive until Chelsea announce their permanent manager.”
Hiddink, who guided the Russia national team to the semi-finals of Euro 2008 is 13/8 with Sky Bet to taste his first defeat as Chelsea manager when they travel to Villa Park on February 21.
It’s also 500/1 that Russia win the 2010 World Cup and Chelsea win the Premier League this season and it’s 100/1 for Russia to win the 2010 World Cup and Chelsea to win next seasons Barclays Premier League.
Following the appointment, Coral have opened betting on where Chelsea will finish in the Premier League.
They make third the 7/4 favourite and also bet 9/4 that they finish fourth and 5/1 that they drop out of the top four.
“The title already looks to be beyond Chelsea,” said spokesman David Stevens.
“But qualifying for the Champions League looks to be the very least they would hope for, meaning Guus Hiddink’s first game in charge at Aston Villa could be absolutely crucial.”
Chelsea are 4/9 with Coral not to win a major trophy this season and 13/8 to win at least one.