They say that the bookies are rarely wrong but when it comes to Steve Bruce's position as Newcastle United boss they could have hardly been further off target this season.
Indeed, Bruce was the favourite in the Premier League's sack race back in July when bookies installed him as favourite at 4/1 to lose his job first.
And despite Newcastle chiefs making it clear they were prepared to stick with Bruce and give him time to build something on Tyneside, it didn't stop the same bookmakers twice placing Bruce as favourite again mid-August, after a defeat at Norwich, and then again in September.
But since then United have gone from strength to strength on their way to picking up 22 points from 16 games in the Premier League.
Bruce's odds have now drifted out as far as 50/1 and in the eyes of the same bookies he is more secure in his job than Bournemouth's Eddie Howe, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Nuno Espirito Santos, Manuel Pellegrini and Sean Dyche.
Oddsmonkey spokesman Peter Watton commented: "With the recent departures of Pochettino, Emery, Flores and Silva – we are firmly in the middle of sacking season, and Pellegrini is under real pressure.
"He has never been favourite before but now at 2/7 he looks firmly on course for the the axe. Others who have been big movers are Daniel Farke and Eddie Howe – with both Norwich and Bournemouth in poor form – but at 8/1 they are still some way off Pellegrini."
The former Real Madrid coach took charge at West Ham in 2018 and has overseen significant spending during his tenure, but results – especially this season – have not been good and they currently sit just one point above the drop-zone.
The pressure is now on and Bookmakers have cut his odds into 2/7, which is nearly 80% probability.
