Football betting: Next England coach

Jose Mourinho broke England fans' hearts yesterday when he announced that he would not be in the running to take the England coach's job. So with the people's choice deciding to wait for a club role the market to replace Steve McClaren was thrown wide open. Click here to get your free £25 to bet with Betfair Despite speaking with Brian Barwick and Sir Trevor Brooking about the role and the rumour of a £6m a year wage, Mourinho performed an about-face to deny he wanted the job as an international manager. Reports a day earlier had indicated that he was set to take the role and those rumours saw him matched at a low of 2.5 on Betfair. Speaking on his agent's website however he hinted that he would wait for a club role despite the interest from England. "After deep and serious thinking, I decided to exclude myself from being England manager, despite it being a fantastic position for me," Mourniho said. Because of the strength of the rumour that he would accept the role, Ladbrokes were cautious despite the news on Mourinho's agent's website and reacted by pushing him out to just 5/1 as they fearing a potential sting, but by the end of the day he had been eased to 12/1. The news also led to layers on Betfair to act with suspicion. When the news broke that he would not be taking the job, the former Chelsea manager was at 65 on the exchange, before finishing the day at 40. The Special One's rejection of the role reduces the FA's five-man shortlist to four and if the betting is a measure of popularity, there are just three serious contenders for the England job. Fabio Capello, who from the off has said that he would dearly love the coach's job, is the new favourite with Ladbrokes at 13/8 and the former Real Madrid boss is gaining support in the media and with the game's great and good. Speculation linking Martin O'Neill to the role will not go away despite his two public rejections and the Aston Villa boss is joint second favourite at 6/1 to take on the job that he missed out on when McClaren was appointed. Another Italian joins him in the betting at 6/1 as Marcello Lippi, who led Italy to last year's World Cup, continues to attract support. The fourth on the list is Jurgen Klinssman but while the German is 7/1 with William Hill he is available at 14/1 generally and thus looks to be out of the running, despite Franz Beckenbauer's recent recommendation. Brooking is said to want an English manager at the helm, with his favoured choice being being Alan Curbishley, but the West Ham boss is way down the betting and trails the best-priced Englishman Steve Coppell, who is available at 28/1 with Stan James. Click here to get your free £25 to bet with Betfair