At the bookies

[villajk]

It's just making Sky Sports News now.

[TheTimVilla]

On SSN now that betting had been suspended, and now odds reduced...

[pauliewalnuts]

Bookies are very jumpy these days. They're very wary of people getting rumours from the internet that turn out to be true and taking them to the cleaners. Therefore, there's a possibility that they might not discriminate between the reputability of different rumours as perhaps we fans should and indeed do.

Two fairly well respected bookmaking chains have stopped taking bets though. We are not talking about attention seeking bookmakers like Paddy Power

We will see. For now, we most remember the reaction following the Talksport Twitter nonsense, the Ireland Twitter nonsense, and so on. Until I see that rolling yellow band on SSN saying MON's gone I'll assume nothing.

For the prices to come in that quickly, something has happened.

That doesn't mean the bookies know or are ITK, more likely it means someone has lumped a big wager on, and the prices are just reacting to that.

But, then the person making the big bet must know something ... etc etc etc

[villajk]

SSN reporting that there were problems at the end of last season with MoN wanting to progress from 3 consecutive 6th places and Lerner wanting to balance the books.

[DB]

remember last season I think it was when one eyed Harry odds were slashed for him to leave Spuds? Yeah, bookies are very twitchy, but we shall see.

[dave.woodhall]

Bookies are very jumpy these days. They're very wary of people getting rumours from the internet that turn out to be true and taking them to the cleaners. Therefore, there's a possibility that they might not discriminate between the reputability of different rumours as perhaps we fans should and indeed do.

Two fairly well respected bookmaking chains have stopped taking bets though. We are not talking about attention seeking bookmakers like Paddy Power

We will see. For now, we most remember the reaction following the Talksport Twitter nonsense, the Ireland Twitter nonsense, and so on. Until I see that rolling yellow band on SSN saying MON's gone I'll assume nothing.

Is the best way to treat stories like this.

[Monty]

Bookies are very jumpy these days. They're very wary of people getting rumours from the internet that turn out to be true and taking them to the cleaners. Therefore, there's a possibility that they might not discriminate between the reputability of different rumours as perhaps we fans should and indeed do.

Two fairly well respected bookmaking chains have stopped taking bets though. We are not talking about attention seeking bookmakers like Paddy Power

We will see. For now, we most remember the reaction following the Talksport Twitter nonsense, the Ireland Twitter nonsense, and so on. Until I see that rolling yellow band on SSN saying MON's gone I'll assume nothing.

For the prices to come in that quickly, something has happened.

That doesn't mean the bookies know or are ITK, more likely it means someone has lumped a big wager on, and the prices are just reacting to that.

But, then the person making the big bet must know something ... etc etc etc

Like I say, with the information overload the web provides it's not difficult for there to be a snowball effect from a false start (to mix metaphors like a blender).

Also, of course SSN are reporting it, it's their betting company. As for the fall-out stuff, they've just gone straight to the last news story they had on the subject and recycled it. If there is something in this, we'll learn more details than that.

[Toronto Villa]

If this is true, I think it's more than wanting to balance the books. I've said before that I think MON was brilliant to help stabilize us, but I don't think he fits the board's plan to grow the club name globally. That goes hand in hand with MON wanting to shop at home and has led to us paying inflated wages on domestic players.

I'll be shocked beyond words if this is true, and the timing with 3 weeks to go in the window is awful. Makes the next little while very interesting though.

Edit: I agree that we shouldn't get too carried away as with the likes of Twitter, blogs etc etc, things can spiral out of control very quickly. Just recently in the States, Bill Cosby had died, only to pop up a day or so later dispelling the rumours that had started on Twitter.

[Chico Hamilton III]

Martin O'Neill backed into odds-on for Sack Race

MARTIN O'NEILL has been backed into just 10/11 with Ladbrokes for the dreaded Sack Race.

The bookies briefly suspended their market as bets poured in for the Aston Villa boss on Monday afternoon and have just gone back up with the market amidst rumours that O'Neill is on the brink of leaving Villa Park.

David Williams of Ladbrokes said: "When we see one guy being backed at the expense of nineteen other options it always catches our attention. Punters were falling over themselves to back O'Neill as the rumours swirled.

"We'll be keen to see if the short odds now stem the flow. In next to no time we're suddenly fearing news that O'Neill is on his way out of the Villa door."

Ladbrokes - Premiership Sack Race

10/11 Martin O'Neill
5/1 Roberto Martinez
6/1 Ian Holloway
7/1 Roberto Mancini
10/1 Chris Hughton
12/1 Roberto Di Matteo
14/1 Owen Coyle
14/1 Steve Bruce
14/1 Sam Allardyce
14/1 Mick McCarthy
16/1 bar

[Chris Smith]

Maybe we are selling Milner and Young because of MON?

I'm not sure i umderstand the logic of that.

[Monty]

The key word there is 'rumours', which very much leaves the possibility that something, possibly that article quoted on the transfer thread, has sparked a lot of panic. Don't forget that with online betting it takes much less time for people to read a rumour then make a bet about it then in the old days where a rumour would get around slowly and people would generally walk to the bookies or, at the quickest, phone them.

[Concrete John]

Maybe we are selling Milner and Young because of MON?

I'm not sure i umderstand the logic of that.

I'm not sure there is any.

[Drummond]

Confirmed he's gone!

[Villa'Zawg]

HE has Gone! on the BBC News 24 Channel

[Monty]

Now I'll believe it. Even though I can't quite, it's all so sudden.