Smoke, mirrors and red herrings - according to one national newspaper Bowen isn't .......

interested anyway.

Bluff, double bluff or complete red herring? That was the less-than-simple question for a hundred and one different people to answer as at least one national tabloid suggested that bookies' favourite Mark Bowen was all set to turn down any approach from the Canaries.

Under the headline: 'Not Rover yet for ex-Canary Mark', a three paragraph story in the Daily Mirror today insisted that the 43-year-old Blackburn coach is all set to stay at Ewood Park and carry on alongside his long-time pal Mark Hughes as Rovers' UEFA Cup adventure gathers pace.

"Bowen," the Mirror story read, "who first teamed up with Hughes to coach Wales is not yet targeting a manager's role yet, despite the pull of Norwich."

Were that to be the case, it would blow the race for the Carrow Road managerial vacancy wide open given that Bowen has long been both the fans and bookies' favourite to land the post.

This afternoon a quick peek at 'Jimmy The Book' still has Bowen way out fron at 7-4 with Ladbrokes - suddenly chased by deposed Leeds United chief Kevin Blackwell at 5s.

Clearly having recently signed a new, long-term contract with Rovers - Bowen is now tied to Ewood until 2009 - and with this week's UEFA Cup draw having handed Rovers the chance to lock horns with Dutch gianst Feyenoord in their qualifying group, there are plenty of reasons why Bowen would want to stay put.

Another one emerged yesterday at the Williamson Motors Stadium, Darlington, where another ex-Canary - striker David Hodgson - found himself booted firmly into touch by Quakers' chairman George Houghton having found himself linked to the vacant Bournemouth job.

"I need 100 per cent commitment from my senior management team," said Houghton. "I cannot reconcile this requirement with the manager's discussions with another club. It has to be Darlington, first and always."

There is, of course, the possibility that with the Quakers sat mid-table in League Two, Hodgson's apparent interest in the Cherries' vacancy was just the excuse Houghton was looking for, but given the small village that football is events at Darlington will have reminded everyone currently in a job that they are playing with fire if they publically go a-courting another club.

Which is why the likes of Steve Tilson at Southend United and Steve Cotterill at Burnley will be studiously keeping their mouths shut for as long as their names crop in speculation linking them to both the Canary vacancy and the opening at West Bromwich Albion.

Likewise Bowen, who not only has a lucrative, three-year deal at Ewood on the line, but also a 30-year friendship with his long-time Welsh international pal Hughes. He is not going to risk either lightly - however much the Canary position looks his dream job.

Thus today's three paragraph story in the Mirror - presumeably coming from a 'source' close to the Rovers' No2 - can easily be seen as Bowen making it clear to his current employers that his first loyalty is to Rovers.

Smartly, however, there are no actual quotes which could come back to haunt him.

All of which merely underlines one very pertinent fact to the whole Canary manager debate - it is an awful lot simpler, and cheaper, to employ someone currently out of work and looking for a job, than someone in work and desperately trying to make sure that they don't fall foul of their current pay-masters and end up losing both the job they want and the job they're in.

Palace chairman Simon Jordan proved that point in no uncertain fashion when he slammed Steve Bruce on gardening leave as Birmingham came calling for his services; likewise, he is still pursuing ex-Eagles boss Iain Dowie through the courts after his summer switch to Palace's fierce south London rivals Charlton Athletic.

People aren't nearly so keen these days to let valued - and proven - managerial staff walk away for nothing.

Which, in turn, may partly explain why Kevin Blackwell's name has suddenly shot to the fore in the bookies' minds and why someone like ex-Rangers' chief Alex McLeish enjoys something of a head-start on his rivals - be they at Carrow Road or The Hawthorns. You can add ex-Doncaster Rovers boss Dave Penney to that list and - with even bigger pinches of salt - Bryan Robson, David O'Leary and Joe Royle.

Similarly it can also explain why Glenn Hoddle was today apparently closing in on the Leeds United vacancy. Yes, he clearly has long-standing Chelsea links with Elland Road chairman Ken Bates, but equally, having parted company with Wolves he is a free agent - ready to sign up for someone else at the drop of a hat.

Fascinatingly - and this will equally apply to the Norwich job over the forthcoming days - it was the bookies telling the world where the job appeared to be going as they followed the money; just as, infamously, they did with Harry Redknapp's controversial switch back to Portsmouth from Southampton.

It was in the betting patterns; as, it seems, it is with the sudden flurry of new money on Hoddle.

Ladbrokes' spokesman Nick Weinberg told the Yorkshire Evening Post: "Hoddle is the latest manager with Chelsea connections to be well backed for the post following gambles on Dennis Wise and Claudio Ranieri.

"Until late Monday Brian Kerr had been the target of the most significant gamble to date. But punters started to come for Hoddle in increasing numbers. And they picked up from where they left off yesterday, prompting his price to fall away."

Ladbrokes had been forced to cut Hoddle to 2/1 from 7/1 in a market which has both Kerr and caretaker manager John Carver at 11/4, Ruud Gullit 6/1 and Alan Curbishley 7/1.

Hoddle was even hotter at 7/4 with Hill's, whose spokesman Graham Sharpe said: "It's the number of new account holders specifically tailoring their bets to Hoddle which has put the cat among the pigeons."

Right now City still seem to be deciding which pigeons they fancy; the cat may be a-while yet making an appearance.

Posted By: woody, Oct 5, 15:45:34