Next Huddersfield Town Manager Odds and Betting Preview: Strong support for Simon Grayson

LONDON, UK - Huddersfield Town finally gave up on Lee Clark, who was possibly unfortunate to get his marching orders earlier this week and the bookmakers are taking bets on his replacement. With The Terriers four points from the automatic promotion spots in League One, fans will be hoping that now is the best time to hire a manager capable of sending them up into the Championship.

Simon Grayson is the leading candidate according to the bookies, and punters came out in force on Friday to back Simon Grayson, who lost his job at Leeds United at the start of the month. Grayson began the day as an 11/4 shot with Bet Victor and 5/2 in other places, but he is now best-priced at evens (bet £10 to make £10 profit) with Stan James for the Huddersfield Town job, which equates to a 50% chance. Grayson has left Leeds in a difficult position, but his win percentage was excellent (49.7%), even if they struggled in their last few matches.

Grayson got Leeds promoted two years ago so he certainly fits the bill, and it is particularly noteworthy that Irish bookie Paddy Power took down their market on Friday night after being inundated with support for the 42-year-old.  

Neil Warnock started Friday as the red-hot 8/15 favourite with Sky Bet to get the job, but his odds have taken a walk out to 3/1 with Stan James. The former QPR boss has been unemployed since December, although the fact that he was slashed into 1/6 from 2/1 by Ladbrokes to become the next Leeds manager suggests that some punters already know he is heading towards Elland Road, with Lee Clark particularly weak in that market.

Nicky Butt is an 8/1 shot with Sky Bet to manage the Terriers, and given his quotes to the press last year, he is definitely one to have on the radar in these markets, as he is keen to manage a club. However, considering the position that Huddersfield Town are now in, it would be a huge gamble to go for Butt in the place of Clark.

Other candidates for Huddersfield Town to consider are Billy Davies at 14/1 and Phil Brown at 16/1. Davies has not managed a club since Nottingham Forest last year, and was said to be interested in the Leeds job. Nevertheless both Davies and Brown have been weak in the betting.

At bigger prices Mark Lillis was trimmed into 9/1 from 10/1 by Paddy Power on Friday, but punters should bear in mind that he has to be made the permanent manager for the bookies to pay out on him as a winner. Lillis is the caretaker manager of Huddersfield Town and he is sure to be a popular pick amongst the fans, having scored a total of 63 goals for the club. With this weekend’s match against Leyton Orient postponed to a future date due to a frozen pitch, Lillis has plenty of time to prepare his troops for the match against Exeter. Boylesports are quoting 8/13 that they beat Exeter in the league next Saturday and he is best-priced at 20/1 with Stan James to get the job on a permanent basis.

Brian Laws has been out of work for more than a year now, and he was trimmed by Sky Bet into 10/1, although remains at 25/1 with Stan James in what is a very volatile market.

Molde manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær is an interesting name in the market at 25/1, whilst the outsider of the field is betting expert Dale Tempest at 500/1 with Sky Bet, who scored 27 goals in his time at Huddersfield. Tempest has spent the last decade in the bookmaking industry and told his employers that he should be a 10,000/1 shot given his lack of qualifications.