Mad Dog is put down

Bet365 were smarting yesterday when Martin Allen won the race no manager wants to win after being given the sack by Leicester City on Wednesday. Allen only took over in the summer but after a series of bust-ups with owner Milan Mandaric and in spite of reassurances earlier in the week that he had a 'healthy and amicable" relationship with the Foxes supremo, Mad Dog was told to go walkies from the Walkers after just four matches in charge. The former Brentford and MK Dons boss was a 16/1 shot with Bet365 when the market opened but he soon went into 10s after reports of the first set-twos with his trigger-happy chairman emerged. Those odds were further shortened to 7/2 after it became clear he was still in the doghouse. Not even the 4-1 win over Watford convinced Mandaric to give him a long leash and the Serbian tycoon proved that his bite was equally as strong as his bark by showing Allen the door. "It was the worst result in our book," said Bet365 spokesman Steve Freeth. Second from bottom Preston's Paul Simpson is now the favourite to follow in Mad Dog's tracks at 5/2, followed by 13/2 Brian Laws, whose Sheffield Wednesday side are a further point adrift. George Burley of struggling Southampton is a 9/1 shot. In the Premiership the bookies do not share the same confidence of the Sunderland board who continue to encourage Roy Keane's fevered desire to throw good money after bad in the transfer market. The recent £9m spent on Kenwyne Jones of Southampton and Stoke's Danny Higginbotham is the latest in a gratuitous spending spree on curious signings for a side who have lost their last three matches, the most recent defeat coming against lowly Luton Town in the Carling Cup. Hills have responded by making the former United midfielder 4/1 to leave the club by the end of the season. Totesport, meanwhile, make the Wearsiders 5/2 from 3/1 to return to the Championship in May. As the weather takes another turn for the worse once again it seems it's raining Black Cats and Mad Dogs. (Editor's Note: Martin Allen won't be the last manager to get his marching orders this season. Follow all the betting on the next Leicester manager and other manager markets on Bet365!)