Former favourite John Sheridan leads race to be next Leeds United boss

Sheridan, 51, had been available at 12-1 when the firm opened betting this weekend but the former Whites midfielder is now a 6-4 favourite.

The Latics boss, who has also managed Chesterfield, Plymouth Argyle and Newport County, enjoyed seven years at Leeds as a player between 1982 and 1989.

Sheridan is currently in his second spell in charge of Oldham having guided the club to the League One play-offs in 2006-07 when the Latics finished sixth.

Oldham - still in League One - have finished this season 17th.

Steve Evans remains head coach of United but chairman Massimo Cellino has yet to offer him an extension to his contract which expires on June 30.

Evans had still been 3-1 second favourite with Sky Bet to be head coach on the first league game of next season but the Glaswegian has now drifted out to fifth choice at 8-1.

Italy’s World Cup 1990 goalkeeper and short-lived Sampdoria boss Zenga had been odds-on favourite for the post at 4-6 but the 56-year-old is now second favourite at 4-1.

Former Italian World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro is next in the list at 5-1, ahead of

ex-Crystal Palace, Bolton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest boss Dougie Freedman at 6s.

David Moyes, Nigel Pearson and Gus Poyet are all 14-1, with former Whites boss and now Preston North End chief Simon Grayson among those at 16-1, along with Steve Bruce and Paul Clement.

Other new additions to the Sky Bet market on Monday are former Inter Milan boss Walter Mazzarri and ex-Milan manager Sinisa Mihalovic who are both 20-1.

Zenga, though, is clearly the most bizarre name on the list.

The Italian made 58 appearances for the Italian national side and enjoyed 17 years at Inter Milan where he made 328 appearances between 1978 and 1994.

The former shotstopper has managed 16 different clubs since pursuing a coaching career in 1998, most notably Sampdoria who sacked the Italian after only 14 games in charge last year.

Zenga, who initially pursued an acting career after retiring, became player-manager of American club New England Revolution for a year in 1999 before a short stint in charge of Italian Serie D team Brera Calcio.

In 2002, Zenga then moved to Romania - the country to which he now holds citizenship - and went on to manage Naţional Bucureşti, Steaua Bucureşti and Red Star Belgrade - each for no longer than a year.

At Steaua, Zenga won the domestic title and reached the last 16 of the 2004-05 UEFA Cup after eliminating Valencia.

The former goalkeeper then led Serbian team Crvena Zvezda to a domestic double in 2005-06 and has been in charge of another 10 clubs in ten years since, including Sampdoria in 2015.

The other club’s on Zenga’s CV are Turkish side Gaziantepspor, another Romanian side in Dinamo Bucureşti, Italian clubs Catania and Palermo, Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr and UAE clubs Al-Ain, Al-Nasr, Al Jazira and Al-Shaab.

Sky Bet next Leeds United head coach betting: John Sheridan 6/4, Walter Zenga 4/1, Fabio Cannavaro 5/1, Dougie Freedman 6/1, Steve Evans 8/1, David Moyes 14/1, Nigel Pearson 14/1, Gus Poyet 14/1, Steve Bruce 16/1, Simon Grayson 16/1, Paul Clement 16/1, Chris Coleman 18/1, Roberto Di Matteo 20/1, Walter Mazzarri 20/1, Sinisa Mihajlovic 20/1, Roberto Mancini 25/1, Brendan Rodgers 25/1, Dennis Wise 28/1, Alan Smith 28/1, David O’Leary 28/1.