Archive for October 9th, 2006
Wales lost 5-1 at home to Slovakia and Cyprus hammered the Republic of Ireland 5-2 to put the future Wales and Republic of Ireland counterparts John Toshack and Steve Staunton in doubt.
Both sides remain pointless in Group D and it’s an odds-on chance will all the bookmakers that Toshack fails to see out the qualifying campaign.
And after Ireland’s humiliating defeat away to Cyprus, Irish fans have begun to call for Staunton’s head. Once again the bookmakers are confident that the axe will fall with William Hill just 4/9 that Staunton will be gone before the end of the Euro 2008 qualifiers, while he’s 13/8 to keep his job until then.
William Hill’s Irish spokesman Tony Kenny said “Straight after the final whistle we were inundated with requests for Steve Staunton to leave before the end of the qualifiers. We originally offered odds of 4/6 that he’d leave, but after taking several hefty wagers, we were forced to slash that price from 4/6 to 4/9.”
October 9th, 2006
Despite failing to beat little Macedonia, the bookmakers are not changing their expectations of England’s chances of making it to the Euro2008 finals in Austria and Switzerland.
England, 1/20 chances at the start of the game, were held to a 0-0 draw with Macedonia, a scoreline available at 20/1 with Paddy Power prior to kick-off at Old Trafford.
Steven Gerrard hit the bar for the hosts late on, but the Euro 2008 favourites looked devoid of ideas throughout and deserved only a point from the match.
Wayne Rooney looked lacklustre again before he was substituted late on and the Manchester United striker is 5/1 with bet365 to be dropped for Wednesday’s game away to Croatia – and 4/11 with Hills to fail to score if he does play.
England still remain market leaders for the 2008 finals though, at no better than the 13/2 chalked up by EuroBet, and are 1/2 with the Barking-based firm to win their group and 6/5 to beat Croatia.
October 9th, 2006
Scotland have come into 3/1 (4.00) to qualify for Euro 2008 following their shock 1-0 win over France on Saturday.
The Scots, who were 5/1 to beat the World Cup finalists pre-match and 12/1 to win 1-0, maintained their 100% record thanks to Gary Caldwell’s 67th minute winner. They head Group B with nine points after three matches, three points ahead of France and five in front of World Cup winners Italy.
bet365 had initially offered the Scots at 9/2 to qualify following their Hampden Park heroics but were soon forced to chop that price into 3/1.
As far as the group betting is concerned, France remain odds-on across the board to win the section, with EuroBet offering a top-priced 10/11.
October 9th, 2006