Manchester United Odds Lengthen to Record for Premiership Match

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Manchester United Odds Lengthen to Record for Premiership Match
Bloomberg Nov. 1 2005


U.K. bookmakers are offering their longest-ever odds on Manchester United winning its home Premiership match this weekend against champion Chelsea, reflecting the club's decline in English soccer's hierarchy.
United, the northwest England team acquired in June by U.S. billionaire Malcolm Glazer, is a 2/1 chance at online gambling company Skybet to topple Chelsea at Old Trafford, meaning a one- pound ($1.77) wager would yield a profit of two pounds. A Chelsea victory Nov. 6 is a 5/4 shot today. Oddsmaker William Hill offers even longer odds of 21/10 on a United triumph.
“This is a milestone. It shows the shift in power at the top of the Premiership,'' Skybet spokesman Dale Tempest said in a phone interview. “Chelsea are the team of the moment so we thought this is the time to go out and try to get some money for United.''
Coached by Alex Ferguson, United won the league eight times in 11 seasons from 1993, before slipping to third place the past two years. Chelsea, bankrolled by Russian oil billionaire Roman Abramovich, took the title by 12 points last season and currently leads seventh-placed United by 13 points, having played one extra game. Chelsea is the only unbeaten team in England's top three divisions this season.
William Hill may lengthen its odds on United should the club lose tomorrow's European Champions League match against French team Lille or if a player succumbs to injury before the weekend, spokesman Graham Sharpe said.
After three draws and a defeat from its first nine league games, United's season hit a new low with a 4-1 defeat to Middlesbrough on Oct. 29.
Team Talk
Cristiano Ronaldo's late strike reduced the deficit to three goals and prevented the team's heaviest loss in six years. When United last trailed 3-0 at half-time, Ferguson's exhortations prompted his players to rally to a 5-3 victory over Tottenham at White Hart Lane in 2001.
Ferguson, who ignored Rio Ferdinand when he substituted the England defender with three minutes to go at the Riverside Stadium, called the performance “shocking.'' Ferdinand's mistakes contributed to two Middlesbrough goals.
“There is a very negative feeling after Saturday,'' striker Ruud van Nistelrooy told MUTV, the club's inhouse channel. “You could talk for hours about what went wrong. It was a bad performance and we didn't do ourselves or the fans justice.''
United captain Roy Keane, who is currently sidelined with a broken foot, has criticized the team's recent displays. According to U.K. newspapers including the Sun, Ferguson last night blocked the transmission of an interview with MUTV in which the 34-year-old Irishman lambasted teammates following the Boro game.
Queiroz's Role
Keane, who plans to leave the club at the end of the season, castigated Ferdinand, Darren Fletcher, Alan Smith, John O'Shea and Kieran Richardson, the Guardian said. United spokesman Phil Townsend didn't return a call seeking comment.
Ferguson has come under pressure from supporters, who say he's allowed Portuguese assistant Carlos Queiroz to dictate tactics that they view as unadventurous. Van Nistelrooy too often languishes alone in attack, they say. The players were jeered from the field after a defeat by Blackburn on Sept. 24, the club's first home loss to its northwest England rival since 1962.
William Hill today opened a book on whether Ferguson or Keane will be the first to depart Old Trafford. Keane is the 2/5 favorite to go, with Ferguson a 7/4 shot. Former Celtic manager Martin O'Neill is the favorite to succeed Ferguson.
Poorer Than Real
Even off the field, United's aura may be slipping. Real Madrid said last month it ended United's eight-year tenure as the world's biggest team by revenue.
United's season has also stuttered in the Champions League, a competition the club last won in 1999. Ferguson's team has drawn two of its three group matches so far, including a 0-0 home draw against Lille on Oct. 18, in which midfielder Paul Scholes was sent off.
Tomorrow night's rematch against the French team offers the players the chance to atone for recent disappointments, Ferguson said.
“That is the great thing about football,'' Ferguson told reporters. “We have had a few days to recover from a bad result and hopefully we can put things right tomorrow.''

To contact the reporter on this story:
Sam Sheringham in London on at ssheringham@bloomberg.net