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Friday 25 February 2011

Plymouths Argyles plight gets worse!

On the 3rd December 2010 I raised the issues Plymouth Argyle faced and pointed out that they were a huge 9/2 to stay up this season. Since then they have sold numerous players won very few games and took a 10 point penalty for breaching finance rules and now find themselves rock bottom of the league and facing almost certain relegation. Clearly the lack of finance now is a day to day concern for the Plymouth board and the on field activities may almost be of secondary importance behind the future of the club. Its a real shame that this club find themselves in this situation however the writing was on the wall the minute England lost the race to host the World Cup. Plymouths owners seemed to be only interested in the club up to the point where there was no chance of getting their hands on some of that World Cup gold. Now unfortunately the clubs fans will have a nail biting wait to see whether they can survive as a club and then can they dig themselves out of trouble?
On the betting front clearly the 9/2 on offer in December now looks like the bet of the season!
Turning to European matters it was interesting to see another clean sweep for British clubs this week, Liverpool, Man City and Rangers all qualifying in the Europa League for the last 16 and Chelsea winning in Denmark with Man U avoiding defeat in France. Our league once again looks very strong at European level and hopefully we can go on and lift some of the Silverware on offer!
Looking ahead to this weeks fixtures, Yeovil travel to Tranmere. Earlier in the season these 2 teams were involved in a 4 goal match, Yeovil coming out on top 3-1. On that day Yeovil were 3 up inside 39 minutes with Tranmere scoring in the 89th minute for what was only a consolation goal. At that time Tranmere had only won once all season and were somewhat struggling for form. The tables have turned over recent times and Tranmere now sit 2 places and 4 points above Yeovil. Tranmere have won 6 games at home and have not lost at home in the league since December 11. Yeovil haven’t won since they beat Plymouth at home on 1 February 1-0 and days before won away at Brentford. I expect Tranmere to continue their good home form and pick up 3 points.
Tranmere 11/10 to win
In the premiership Newcastle entertain Bolton. These clubs are locke together 8th and 9th presently Bolton ahead by 1 point. Newcastle have had an up and down season but have scored 30 goals at home which is the second highest in the League together with Arsenal. Bolton have only won 2 away and have only won once at St James Park in the past 10 seasons. Owen Coyle have Bolton playing in a different style these days however with home ground advantage I go for Newcastle to win this, and expect goals!
Newcastle 11/10 to win
Amazingly Blackpool are 10/3 to win at Wolves. Given Blackpools style of play and the way they have beaten the likes of Liverpool and Spurs this season I see this as a massive price for Holloways men. Wolves may have beaten Man U recently but can the team get so pumped up when facing a team like Blackpool? Again I see goals here but 10/3 is far too big in my view for Blackpool!
Blackpool 10/3 to win
Another team that has done well away from home this season is Scunthorpe. They travel to Bristol City on the back of a 3-2 home win against Sheffield United, a 0-0 draw with Derby and a 1-0 home win to Forest. In my view that is cracking form and if Scunthorpe can continue in that form they can avoid the drop this season. Bristol City have recovered after a bad start to the season but are still only 17th in the league and far from out of danger. They recently beat Watford 1-3 but lost to Leicester 2-1 and Leeds at home 0-2. Scunthrpe have yet to draw away this season and I can see them turning on the away form to snatch a win at Bristol. Again the price of 10/3 looks incredibly large!
Scunthorpe 10/3 to win

The £1 yankee pays £259 and the £10 Accumulator £838

1 comment:

  1. I’m dispensing with tradition this week in an attempt to improve my flagging fortunes of late. February has not been a good month for picking winners – my vague theory (or superstition) that weekday league fixtures are somewhat more difficult to pick than at weekends has proved to be particularly accurate this month and the weekend betting has not been particularly fruitful either. Last weekend was a case in point – Hereford were a good price and were on a roll of wins, but flattered to deceive at home to lowly Burton. To compound the misery, a great first half for Millwall melted away against previously struggling Middlesbrough and then Crewe ‘fell at the first’ against Stevenage, despite previously having a very healthy goal ratio.

    I am therefore going to enter unchartered waters and go for a couple of goal crazy bets this weekend, something which I know you have been successful at earlier in the season IMJ! My picks this weekend are therefore as follows:

    Southampton v Swindon (2/5 home win)

    Eight years ago, the Saints were hammering Swindon 5-1 in a Premiership fixture, but this weekend’s match-up sees the teams facing each other with fluctuating fortunes in the English third tier. Nigel Adkins’ side are 5th in the table and have been strong at home this season, whilst the Robins are 5th from the bottom of the table, perilously flirting with the relegation places. It’s hard not to see anything other than a home win here (hence the short odds) and so I am predicting a home win aided by a couple of Richie Lambert goals.

    Oldham v Peterborough (2/5 both teams to score)

    Free scoring Posh have scored more away goals than any other side in League One this season, with the exception of Charlton. They travel to face an Oldham side who have been strong at home and who themselves have been scoring of late. Now here’s a statistic that points to goals galore IMJ – in the last seven league encounters between these sides, the aggregate score is 14-12 to Peterborough and their last encounter was an exciting 5-2 game at London Road in September. Given the recent history and form, it just has to be goal crazy for this one surely?

    Bury v Crewe (3/4 both teams to score)

    It usually pays to do your research in this game and once again I am going for the goals crazy coupon on this one. The aggregate score in this fixture over the past six encounters has been 12-9 in favour of the Railwaymen and although they let me down last weekend, I am confident that they will bag a couple of away goals this time round, particularly given that they have 30 to their name away from home already this season. Bury for their part have a +17 goal difference, only trailing leaders Chesterfield and third placed Shrewsbury in these stakes, so once again it’s goals crazy for me.

    Southend v Northampton (6/5 home win)

    This pick is based more on current form and ‘gut feeling’ than recent history IMJ. Both sides have enjoyed success in this fixture over recent years and there is little to split them in terms of goals and results. Paul Sturrock’s Shrimpers lie just outside the Play-off places and I wouldn’t bet against the wily old Scot masterminding another promotion push as he similarly did at this level with Plymouth Argyle and Swindon Town. At odds of 6-1 for promotion at the moment, I may just put a sneaky tenner on Southend. Back to this game though and Northampton (Cobblers!) have only won twice on their travels all season, which is only one better than rock bottom Barnet. Home win it is then......

    I’ve a good feeling that my £1 Yankee will pay out a modest £42.94. Enjoy your weekend IMJ and the very best of luck.

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