England Women's manager Mark Sampson is 100/1 to replace Roy Hodgson
Tuesday 28 June 2016 09:43, UK
Lionesses manager Mark Sampson is a 100/1 shot with Sky Bet to take over from Roy Hodgson as England’s next permanent manager.
Sampson is quoted at the same price as Ian Holloway, Alan Curbishley, Sven-Goran Eriksson and Sir Alex Ferguson in the early betting.
The 33-year-old may not be a household name but he can lay claim to being the most successful manager of a senior England side alive today.
The Welshman guided England's Women to a third-place finish at the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada - a feat which made the Lionesses the best performing England senior side ever to have travelled to a tournament overseas.
England beat Germany in the bronze medal match last summer, recording their first win in 21 matches - having lost 18 of the previous 20 - over the reigning European champions and two-time World Cup winners.
That came after suffering the heartbreak of defeat to Japan in the semi-finals after Laura Bassett's injury-time own goal gave the Nadeshiko a 2-1 win.
England's Women are currently the fourth best team in the world and have already secured their place at next summer's European Championships in the Netherlands following back-to-back 7-0 wins over Serbia earlier this month.
Sampson played amateur football in his hometown of Cardiff before venturing into coaching and becoming manager of Swansea's Centre of Excellence in his mid-20s during Roberto Martinez's time as first-team boss.
He later took charge of Bristol Academy, guiding them to second in the FA Women's Super League, which remains their highest-ever league finish, and into the Champions League for the first time in their history. Sampson also took Bristol to two Women's FA Cup Finals in 2011 and 2013.
