Ex-Leeds United man among frontrunners for vacant Championship job as odds drop

Former Leeds United manager Paul Heckingbottom remains in the running to become the next Hull City manager. That's according to the bookmakers, who now have Heckingbottom as a clear second favourite for the job at the MKM Stadium.

Hull owner Acun Ilicali shocked Championship fans when he decided to sack Liam Rosenior at the end of the regular season after seeing the Tigers miss out on play-off qualification on the final day of the campaign. As such, the club are now searching for a new manager to lead them into next season and there is a distinct favourite for the job as far as the bookies are concerned.

Tim Walter, formerly of Hamburg, Stuttgart and Bayern Munich's second string, is a name most second tier fans won't be too familiar with, but he's at 1/6 with Bet Victor to get the job at present. However, Heckingbottom is second in the odds list, with the same bookies offering odds of 5/1 for the 46-year-old to take the job in East Yorkshire.

The company were offering slightly higher prices of 6/1 when the news of Rosenior's departure initially broke, but the likes of Alex Rae, Will Still, Steve Cooper and Danny Rohl were also available at similarly short odds at the time. The above candidates have faded away down the odds list since the decision last week but Heckingbottom's price has remained short. In fact, Sky Bet have the Yorkshireman at the even lower price of 4/1.

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Heckingbottom has been out of work since being sacked by Sheffield United in December with the now relegated Premier League side floundering at the foot of the top flight table. He has been linked to a host of jobs since with Huddersfield Town, Stoke City, Birmingham City and Sunderland said to have considered him over the last few months.

Interestingly, he is also priced at 6/1 with Bet Victor for the head coach vacancy at Plymouth Argyle, with Paul Cook (5/1) and Rosenior (4/6) being the favourites for that job. He remains 12/1 to take over at Sunderland but Still is the leading candidate there at 1/3.

He's also 16/1 for the Norwich job and 25/1 to return to Barnsley, the job he held before joining the Whites in 2018.