Sky Bet have cut Gordon Strachan to 1/5 in their next Southampton manager market after taking a flood of money on the former Celtic boss to make a shock return to St Mary’s.

Strachan has been backed down from Sky Bet’s initial offering of 4/1, which was available yesterday afternoon when new Southampton owner Markus Liebherr sacked Mark Wotte as head coach, less than 24 hours after buying the club.

Sky Bet’s Mike Triffitt said: “Strachan is the only candidate that customers have wanted to back since news broke of Wotte’s sacking yesterday. We took a steady stream of decent bets from the Southampton area at odds against last night and this morning we had several requests for four-figure bets at 8/13. We are close to suspending the market as, if the money is to be believed, Strachan will be making a return to St Mary’s.“

Sky Bet make Southampton 5/6 favourites to win their opening league fixture against Millwall (11/4, draw 9/4). Saints start in League One with a ten point penalty and are 25/1 to win the title and 8/1 for an immediate return to the Championship.

Saints travel to Bournemouth on Saturday for what is always a hotly disputed pre-season friendly against their south coast rivals and are 11/8 to win the match.

Sky Bet Odds: Next Southampton Manager
Strachan, G 1/5 Coppell, S 25/1
Keegan, K 20/1 Dowie, I 33/1
Adams, M 20/1 Wright, M 33/1
Wise, D 20/1 Shearer, A 33/1
Adams T 20/1 Souness, G 40/1
Boothroyd, A 20/1 Bond, K 40/1
Le Tissier, M 20/1 Hoddle, G 50/1
Redknapp, H 80/1

Southampton Odds 2009/10
Win League One 25/1
Promoted 8/1
Win Johnston’s Paint Trophy 16/1
Win Carling Cup 750/1
Win FA Cup 750/1

Pre-season friendly
Bournemouth v Southampton
Bournemouth 11/8 Draw 5/2 Southampton 11/8

Opening League One fixture
Southampton v Millwall
Southampton 5/6 Draw 9/4 Millwall 11/4