That Man and Robins.

Tonights CL games are uninspiring from a betting point of view, it will be interesting to see Aquilani start his first game for Liverpool as I was beginning to believe that Aquilani wasn’t actually real! I appreciate that Rafa wants to protect him and games against Blackburn and Everton could have been bruising encounters but this is the Premier League for gods sake! Most of the teams are physical, it’s a tough league!


Last nights CL games threw up a couple of shocks with Bayern trouncing Juve 4-1 in Italy to knock out Juventus and send the German team through also an injury hit united side beat German champions Wolfsburg 3-1 (not sure if that’s a shock but it seemed like it after all the publicity about uniteds makeshift defence) with that man Michael Owen grabbing a hat-trick! Chelsea also got held at home 2-2 but the game was meaningless so im not reading too much into it – although Chelsea are now winless in 3 games in all competitions.

My bet tonight is Barnsley to beat Scunthorpe in The Championship, Barnsley are on a terrific run at the moment with confidence high. I believe Barnsley are now turning into a very tough team to beat under Mark Robins and can win games ugly as well as knock the ball about with some style. Scuthorpe really don’t travel well and I will be expecting a home win tonight, available at 1.83 with most bookies.

Good Luck All.

Cagliari to see off Atlanta

Well before i mention yesterdays shocker im looking forward to Sundays games in Italy and Cagliari are available at 2.15 to see off Atlanta. My reasoning for backing a home win today is that Cagliari are finally starting to find some form (winning their last two games, 1-0 at Lazio previously) and Atlanta stuttered in their last away game at Livorno losing 1-0. Also a massive negative for Atlanta is the injury to star player Edgar Barreto received in midweek - he will be out for up to 3 months, he will be joining a growing injury list for Atlanta.

Odds of 2.15 are very decent on a home win here and should be backed, now back to yesterdays games and I will start with Middlesboro. I was really shocked to see them lose at home to struggling Plymouth, awful result. It just proves that any team can beat anyone on their day in The Championship - note taken! Now Bristol City cost me more money and im going to avoid them, a real bogey team for me. By all accounts Sheffield Wednesday should have won, even with the 5 players they had out with a virus!

Finally, Liverpool. Not much I can say there. Terrible result, more suspensions and I really fear we may miss out on 4th place - I just hope the board give Rafa time to turn it around and see where we are at the end of the season, it may be time to see Jose Mourinho step in during the summer? Who knows.

Good Luck to all having a bet today.

Gordon Strachan takes Boro Job

Poor old Gareth Southgate was sacked recently as Middlesbrough boss, it was strange circumstances as they had just beaten Derby and were a point off the top of The Championship but attendances had fallen significantly as boro fans had seen enough of Southgates football and this ultimately cost him his job. Rumours of players unrest and some poor performances contributed, most notably a 5-0 thrashing at home by West Brom.

So Gordon Strachan is the man who has taken his place, a very lively charactor whose post match interviews are normally very entertaining to watch - I remember one in particular where Delgado went AWOL after an international game and Strachan refused to talk about it insisting had had more important matters like a yoghurt that went out of date!! Genius, here is some of his best interviews - courtsey of Soccer AM and you tube.

Back to the business in hand as Middlesboro take on Plymouth this saturday and I can't see anything else than a home win, Plymouth are probably the worst team in the league and odds of 1.53 with skybet make it a maximum LUMP ON bet for me this weekend, so get on early. Betfair had odds of 1.54 yesterday but have dropped to 1.50 - I expect it to be nearer 1.40-1.45 come kick off some trading to be made here. New managers coming in normally see an improvement in performances although Boro wouldnt have to improve much to see off strugglers Plymouth (who make a 700 mile round trip to The Riverside!).

Wanted to post this early so people can still get the decent price.