Leeds manager creeping up in betting to be next Scotland boss

While a Leeds United legend remains the favourite to be the next Scotland boss, their current manager has seen his odds take a significant nose-dive towards the head of the betting.

Neil Warnock has been backed into an 8/1 shot having previously not even been given a price when the market opened, while Gordon Strachan remains odds-on to take the reins at 4/7.

It’s fair to say things haven’t gone according to plan since Warnock assumed control at Elland Road last season, with the west Yorkshire outfit expected to be amongst the front runners for promotion in this campaign after appointing a man with an exceptional record of taking teams up.

However, their well-documented financial restraints are still holding them back and they have had to endure clubs – mainly Norwich – cherry-picking their prized assets, while not having the financial clout to adequately replace them.

Players such as David Norris and Andy Gray have been drafted in to replace Premier League-bound talent meaning Warnock has had an uphill battle on his hands from day one.

It could be argued that reaching the quarter-finals of the Capital One Cup has alleviated some of the pressure that sitting 18th in the Championship brings about for a club of Leeds’ stature.

It seems unlikely that this would drive Warnock to turn his back on day-to-day club management to move into the international game, but should tempestuous chairman Ken Bates swing the axe – as he did with Simon Grayson, despite the fact that the team were doing much better – the ageing Yorkshireman may be tempted by the prospect of a lucrative, less-hands-on job to finish his career with.

This makes his sizeable odds worth a few quid as an outside bet, but it’s definitely not something to remortgage the house over.

Leeds are unlikely to get rid of Warnock until after the aforementioned quarter-final with old rivals Chelsea, and that’s only if they are prepared to take the hit of paying off his contract. But by the time this game rolls around, a decision is already likely to have been made to hand Strachan the thankless task of trying to get Scotland a ticket to a major tournament.

All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date