A leading bookmaker have slashed their odds of Sir Alex Ferguson becoming the next manager of the Republic of Ireland after a swathe of bets on the former Manchester United boss were placed this afternoon.

Boylesports have cut their odds from 66/1 to 20/1 after a "flood" of bets were placed on Sir Alex taking over from Giovanni Trapattoni, who resigned last month. Long-time favourite for the job is still Martin O’Neill with odds of 4/5 but Mick Carthy is also in there at 7/2.