Following his resignation from Fulham, the odds of Mark Hughes becoming the next Chelsea boss has been slashed to 5s.
Within hours of announcement that Sparky had left his post with Fulham, the odds on him being the next boss at Stamford Bridge went from 14s to 5s – putting him second favourite behind Guus Hiddink.
Should he return to the club where he won the FA Cup in his last season and scored 39 goals in 123 games then it is expected he will bring his own backroom staff, which would include ex-Blues Eddie Niedzwiecki and Kevin Hitchcock.
The two players who both played in goal for Chelsea have worked with Hughes since he started managing in the Premier League back in 2004 and Niedzwiecki also assisted him when he was the Welsh boss.
The Welshman had a good season leading Fulham to eighth in his first season but was thought to be worried about available funds to develop the squad, this followed a break from the game after his stint as Manchester City boss.
Whilst in charge of City, Hughes had the luxury of a large transfer budget but having been appointed by the old owners his days always looked numbered and despite holding fourth place and awaiting a League Cup semi-final against rivals United he was harshly dismissed.
At Blackburn, Hughes managed to get his team into three consecutive cup semi-finals and made a name for himself buying cheap players, getting the best out of them before selling them.
There is no doubt that Sparky is good manager, but can he cope with the pressures of the Chelsea job – he is a good people manager but has never managed a team in the Champions League.
The current situation is that he has a 30-day notice period and cannot speak to any club until next month, so it is a case of wait and see …
Scott Balaam
Twitter @theshed11