jquery

Friday 25 March 2011

International Weekend Is Back

Its been a fairly quiet week in the build up to the International fixtures. The main talking point seems to revolve around the 2 captains of England and Wales. One a young guy that has been out for 16 months and doesn't hold down a first team place, the other an ex captain reinstated as England has no one else! As an England fan I don't believe its important who is captain, for me the 11 on the pitch and the formation is the key to success! No doubt John Terry will attempt to make money from his new position as he did last time but I guess the players to replace him are almost non existent! However another fact that you might be interested in... this could be the first time both Lampard and Gerrard are missing (not through injury) from the starting line up since the World Cup semi final defeat against Brazil in 2002! Since then one, the other or both when fit has played!

The betting front has also been quiet and another poor treble last week didn't help! However yesterday I backed India to beat Australia and today when wickets started to fall I managed to get New Zealand at Evens to beat South Africa! So for a change this week I will be picking bets from different sports.

First up I'm going for Sri Lanka to beat England in the cricket, its looks like the Group of qualifiers from Sri Lankas group is much stronger than the England group and thus expect Sri Lanka to proceed. Yardy has set the tone by being depressed before England have been beaten and returned home already! Sri Lanka are 1/2 to beat England.

Over in Wales I do expect England to win and to win comfortably, Wales will miss Bale on the wing and should be able to put away a weak Wales team. England are 2/5 to win this game, for me this is a bit short so I'm opting for over 2.5 goals at Evens. I expect England to score at least twice and can also see Wales scoring. So assuming 3 or more goals should see me right!

Finally in League 1 Brighton and playing at home to Swindon. Brighton are in great form and steaming their way to the League 1 title, Swindon are fighting for their lives in the bottom reaches of the league. Brighton as expected are short favourites at 4/9. This is the right price for me for my treble this week!

the £10 treble will return £43 which will cover my loses for the last couple of weeks!

Friday 18 March 2011

A fun week at Cheltenham now back to football business

This week I was lucky enough to go to the Cheltenham Festival on Wednesday. Armed with my Racing Post and joined by 3 keen fellow punters we enjoyed a day of expensive food, coolish lager and bets galore. All in all we managed to back the winner in 6 of the 7 races and in the race we didn't win one of the team backed the 33/1 second! So without doubt it was a good day all round and roll on next year!

Turning to football, today saw the long awaited (for Spurs fans at least) draw for the Quarter Finals and Semis of the Champions League. Spurs have drawn Real Madrid and a potential Semi with Barcelona. For me as a Spurs fan it really doesn't get better than that! To pit our wits against the top Spanish clubs after seeing off the Italian giants is a dream come true! Hopefully the Madrid games will be as entertaining as Spurs other games in the Champions League this season!

This weekend I will be looking to capitalise on my gains at Cheltenham and finish off a good betting week.

Ipswich play Scunthorpe who both of whom have had a dreadful time of late. Ipswich haven't won at home since beating Sheffield United on 5 February. recently they have conceded 3 goals in their last 2 home games. Scunthorpe haven't even picked up a point away since they won at Burnley on 28th December. Ipswich are a better side than Scunthorpe and should be too good on the day, I take Ipswich to win this at 8/13.

Preston will be bouyed by finally getting a win this week at Scunthorpe and will be looking to extend their winning run at home to Coventry. Coventry are another team on the decline and indeed lost to Preston 2-1 earlier on in the season at the Ricoh Arena. Coventry have become draw specialists of late and haven't won away since February when they beat Palace, they have drawn 3 of the last 5. Preston can win this one and do their survival hopes some good at 7/5.

This week I'm only looking for a treble and my final selection is for Exeter to beat Yeovil at home. Its a local derby and should get a decent crowd at St James Park. Back in September Exeter won the reverse fixture 3-1 back in September. Although Exeter beat Bournmouth 2-0 in their last home game so are once again showing some home form. Last time out Yeovil were beaten 3-0 at Southampton.
Exeter are 19/20 to win this one.

The £10 treble will pay £75.

Good luck with your weekend betting!

Friday 11 March 2011

Ferguson you should show more respect!

I was very disappointed this week to see that Manchester United, the biggest most successful club of the modern age wouldn't put anyone up for interview. This maybe due to the fact they had just lost 3-1 to Liverpool, their third defeat this season, or it maybe to do with Fergusons endless argument with the footballing authorities. Either way its wrong and it should be stopped. Fans pay a ridiculous amount of money to the line pockets of clubs, players and managers the least the clubs and employees can do is follow the rules and come and talk about the game! It is a fact that Fergie himself should be speaking to the BBC every week, instead he sends out his henchmen and refuses to back down. The League fine Manchester United every week, how much at this stage is unclear but clearly its not enough.

For many weeks I have gone on about the lack of respect clubs show to the common fan and this is another classic example of that!

On the opposite side of the coin we have Harry Redknapp, he too had his issues with the BBC but has managed to get over them and move on. When Spurs won in AC Milan a couple of weeks ago he went to the sky commentary position and sat and had a chat with the presenters (which i concede did include his son Jamie!) Well congratulations to Spurs on reaching the Quarter finals of the champions league, the only English side to not only keep a clean sheet in Europe this week but also not to lose! Arsenal can consider themselves unlucky on many fronts however the unluckiest thing was to draw Barcelona in the first place, the way the Spanish side move the ball around is a joy to watch even if it meant the end of one of our English sides in the competition!

Well last week I managed 4 out of 4 results! It was a welcome return to form, but also I must congratulate my good friend who also managed 4 out of 4! Hopefully we can have a repeat this week!

Tuesday sees the start of the Cheltenham Festival (horses) we will be attending on Wednesday so it would be nice to go with a pocket full of cash!

This week I'm going goal crazy! As a reminder goal crazy is a bet where you win if both teams score, so we need teams that concede at home and teams that concede away!

First up we have Charlton and Brentford. Charlton have had a tough time at home recently and have conceded at home in the past 4 games. Brentford didn't score in their last away game at Hartlepool where they did concede 3 but did score in the previous 5. Therefore I see goals galore at the Valley tomorrow!
4/5 for both teams to score

Next we have Colchester, they didnt score last time out at home to Southampton but did score in all games going back to December 11. Colchester have also lost their last 2 games so will be geared up for a win to get them back on track. MK Dons have scored in their last 7 away games, scoring 4 last time out against Rochdale. On that day Rochdale also scored!
3/4 for both to score

For goals this season you need to go and watch Sheffield Weds. Last time out they lost 2-3 at Oldham, before that 2-4 home to Plymouth! They have lost 5-3 at Peterborough, lost 5-1 at Exeter and won 6-2 at home to Bristol Rovers! A team ful of goals should be able to score at home to Notts County, these 2 played in the cup back in September when it finished 2-1. Notts County are not the most prolific away from home but with Sheffields leaky defense I feel this is a sure thing.
3/4 for both to score

Finally Crewe play Chesterfield. One word on this game - when the 2 teams played the reverse leg the game finished 5-5!
This game is 8/13 for both to score!

Next week we hope to do a podcast as well for the blog so keep your eyes open for that on Friday

Friday 4 March 2011

Kolo Toure banned for taking Drugs and more!!!

Another interesting week in the world of football! Today we hear that Kolo Toure failed a drugs test and has been suspended! I don’t subscribe to drug taking of any form in any sport and if he is guilty I hope he is dealt with properly.
Once again this week we had controversy at Old Trafford! Firstly Rooney not dealt with by the FA for his elbow at the weekend – which Ferguson didn’t say too much about but then in midweek we see Ferguson charged for his comments following the Chelsea defeat where he was a little close to the mark towards the match official Martin Atkinson! I understand he is going to appeal, however it raises an interesting point, if a manager has to do a press conference should they lie or tell the truth? Ferguson is obviously in a mood again as he is not talking to the press today! My view is that managers should be allowed to say what they like but also referees should be interviewed after games or at least provide feedback on incidents as and when they occur so that we can understand why certain decisions were taken. Also where incidents happen in a game that are not dealt with properly, such as the Flamini incident mentioned some weeks ago or the Rooney incident from last weekend, or indeed the Rooney incident from midweek they should be reviewed and dealt with. As ever this won’t happen because the people in charge don’t want to get involved – as ever they live in a different world to the rest of us! My plan to get to that world, through betting winnings, is not working! I have had a bad run recently and hope that this week will see a change in fortune, so here goes....

Portsmouth are on a great run recently and will host Sheffield United. Portsmouth are the form team in the Championship having won 5 out of 5 without conceding a goal! Conversely Sheffield United haven’t won since beating Swansea back in December! The price of 4/5 seems very tempting given the form of the 2 clubs so is an easy choice for me.
Next up we have QPR and Leicester. Here QPR are odds against at 11/10 despite being top of the league and going 2 months since defeat in the League. When these teams met in September QPR won 2-0, since then Leicester have changed their manager to Sven Goran Eriksson and have done really well until they lost at Cardiff a couple of weeks ago, their first defeat since December. However despite Leicesters fine run they did lose to a top side and I can see this happening againg. QPR at 11/10 is too good to miss!
Brighton are still unbeaten at home and welcome Carlisle at the weekend. Carlisle have done well away from home recently including a 3-1 win at Charlton. Brighton have yet to lose at home this season and as my good friend says “teams travelling a long way will struggle” on that basis I see no other justification needed!
Brighton at 4/7
Finally I’d like to say well done to Darren Ferguson (son of the aforementioned Alex) for being given the manager of the month award for February. He used to manage Peterborough before moving to Preston where he ultimately failed. On returning to Peterborough he has started really well and Peterborough are pushing hard for automatic promotion. They play an Exeter team that recently won at Charlton (as with Carlisle) however they are not the best on the road with 5 wins this season and will not be good enough to stop the celebrations at Peterborough.
Peterborough are 8/11 to win.
On the note of Peterborough, did you know that next season you can pay £15,000 for a season ticket! For that you get a padded chair in the directors box. It doesn't stop there: they will also be invited to an away match as a guest of one of the club's directors, will be guaranteed a chance to meet the squad, and will even be awarded the title of 'honorary director' of the club.
It is the most expensive season ticket in the world!
If you're happy stumping up a five-figure sum to watch the Posh but insist on getting decent value, the club have another alternative: the Lifetime ticket, a season ticket which lasts 75 years and can be passed on to a member of your family in the event of your death.
The price? A very reasonable-sounding £12,000, which works out at a fraction under seven quid per match for the 1,725 matches you could see. That's great value even in 2011 - so by 2086 it'll seem like you're going for free!
However i should also point out that Peterborough have frozen the price of the normal season tickets which is good to see and maybe a few other clubs will do the decent thing and follow suit!