If money talks, then Rafa Benitez is a goner as Liverpool boss - despite the denials yesterday from Anfield.
A 20-1 chance for the Sack Race on Tuesday evening, the Spaniard was backed down to evens in the space of a few hours before Hills shut up shop.
Other bookmakers who preferred to believe that this was just another unreliable chapter in the long-running Liverpool saga kept their books open - and watched punters steam in again and again yesterday to back the Spaniard to bid Anfield adios.
Last night he was anything from 1-4 to 2-5 to be gone by the end of the season. That's bookmakers' shorthand for 'farewell Rafa'.
We've trodden this road before of course. Benitez was reported to be clearing his desk earlier this season after one too many bust-ups with his American owners, only to somehow retain control.
But you suspect these latest rumours - and the market moves they have triggered - are more than Merseyside hot air.
The 'faces' involved and sums wagered tell you this is not mug money.
And it's the timing of the betting plunge that's so significant - hours before Liverpool tackled Real Madrid, who have made no secret of their admiration for the Kop chief, and in his Spanish homeland to boot.
It's almost as if he's stage-managed the whole episode.
There's talk Benitez was issued an ultimatum this week - sign a new deal or go - but ultimately the issue is over control of Anfield transfer policy.
Rafa wants it, but he ain't gonna get it.
What he'll get instead, the clever money says, is the boot.
A 20-1 chance for the Sack Race on Tuesday evening, the Spaniard was backed down to evens in the space of a few hours before Hills shut up shop.
Other bookmakers who preferred to believe that this was just another unreliable chapter in the long-running Liverpool saga kept their books open - and watched punters steam in again and again yesterday to back the Spaniard to bid Anfield adios.
Last night he was anything from 1-4 to 2-5 to be gone by the end of the season. That's bookmakers' shorthand for 'farewell Rafa'.
We've trodden this road before of course. Benitez was reported to be clearing his desk earlier this season after one too many bust-ups with his American owners, only to somehow retain control.
But you suspect these latest rumours - and the market moves they have triggered - are more than Merseyside hot air.
The 'faces' involved and sums wagered tell you this is not mug money.
And it's the timing of the betting plunge that's so significant - hours before Liverpool tackled Real Madrid, who have made no secret of their admiration for the Kop chief, and in his Spanish homeland to boot.
It's almost as if he's stage-managed the whole episode.
There's talk Benitez was issued an ultimatum this week - sign a new deal or go - but ultimately the issue is over control of Anfield transfer policy.
Rafa wants it, but he ain't gonna get it.
What he'll get instead, the clever money says, is the boot.
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