Spectre of Klopp makes Man City boss a chunky price to leave next
Published:
The next Premier League manager to leave market is always a lively one given the precarious nature of football and ahead of the 2015/16 season there looks to be a very juicy price on one top boss.
Manchester City chief Manuel Pellegrini is a 14/1 shot to make an Etihad exit before any other top-flight manager is relieved of their duties or walks voluntarily – placing him around halfway down the list of candidates and in relative safety it would seem.
This could well be a false position though. While the steely-eyed Chilean delivered the Premier League title in his first season as City manager, there is precedent to suggest such heights are not necessarily a safeguard to his employment status.
His predecessor Roberto Mancini was axed at the end of the 2012/13 season after securing the 2011/12 title just 12 months prior.
On that occasion the club cited failure to progress into the knockout stages of the Champions League in successive years as the chief reason.
Before the Italian, former City manager Mark Hughes was chopped midway through the 2009/10 season, showing patience is not necessarily a virtue where the club’s extremely wealthy owners are concerned.
In fact, towards the business end of last season when City’s title tilt began melting like chocolate on a summer’s day, the pressure piled on the Chilean’s tenure.
An unwanted development from Pellegrini’s standpoint was the coincidence of Jurgen Klopp’s announcement that he would be leaving his post at Borussia Dortmund.
Although this speculation has subsided in the relative quiet of pre-season, with the German as yet unassigned, it would only take the slightest hiccup in results for the ‘Klopp factor’ to reappear.
It may all depend on Pellegrini’s second Champions League campaign, but in the event that City come a cropper in the groups, this would surely be the death knell.
At this price, and with City’s recent record for pulling the trigger, there are far worse speculative wagers around.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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