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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!

3 comments:

  1. Hi Martin. In the midst of drugs controversy, Premiership headlines and £15,000 season tickets, spare a thought for lowly Torpoint Athletic this Saturday, who play the biggest game in their history in the Quarter-final of the FA Vase against Poole Town. Now I confess that I don’t know a lot about their opposition (and I am certain that there won’t be any Rooney-esque scissor kicks or drugs testing at this encounter!), but there is a tenuous family-link here that is maintaining my interest in the result. Hopefully Poole will fall in the same way that Billingham Symphonia (check that out for a club name!) did in Round 5.

    Well if your luck has been out in recent weeks, mine hasn’t been much better. This week, I am going for the following tips:

    Crewe Alexandra v Burton Albion (home win) 11/10

    They keep letting me down, but somehow I keep being drawn back to Crewe when I review the coupon each week! Hopefully persistence (and the law of averages!) will pay off here, as Crewe have had the week off to get over their disappointment of losing to high flying Bury last Saturday. For their part, Burton will be buoyed by a midweek win at Northampton, but are playing catch-up with their fixtures at the moment. Tiredness may well be a factor here – Burton have shipped two late second half goals in each of their last two games – and with Crewe’s goal scoring record this season they should take advantage. Home win.

    Northampton v Shrewsbury (both teams to score) 3/4

    Northampton have scored in eight of their previous ten matches, whilst the Shrews have scored seven goals in their last two away games. They seem to be struggling at the moment and having fired two blanks in their last two home games, may well feel that the pressure is off against the managerless Cobblers. I think there may well be some action here on Saturday, which is why I have chosen the goals crazy option.

    Hartlepool v Brentford (home win) 7/5

    Amazingly, Hartlepool have only beaten the Bees once in their last seven meetings at Victoria Park and the last three matches between these sides have ended in 0-0 stalemates. I am going for Jeff Stelling’s Monkey Hangers to right that record on Saturday though, particularly as they have lost three of their last four home games without even scoring a goal. Brentford’s last away league victory was on 11th December 2010 at Southampton, so the 7/5 price for Hartlepool is too good to resist for me.

    Bournemouth v Oldham (home win) 4/5

    Unbeaten in their last nine and second in the table, life is extremely good for Bournemouth at the moment. So what better time to extend your unbeaten run than against a completely out of sorts Oldham side who have only claimed the three points once in their last thirteen visits to the south coast club? Oh, they have also failed to score in their last five fixtures and sit 21st in the form table, so another home methinks.

    The £1 Yankee this week would pay a very respectable £72.11. Good luck with your selections.

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  2. Well done Greenman! I believe this is the first time we have achieved 8 out of 8 results! As QPR scored in the 88th minute I was a happy man until Carlisle scored to equalise at Brighton in the 90th minute of their game! But such was the way of things today Brighton grabbed a winner 2 minutes into injury time..... Happy days!

    Don't spend your winnings in one go!

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  3. Yep, a truely remarkable turn of events this Saturday Martin - with a grandstand finish to boot!. Once my goal crazy tip came up trumps after 8 minutes or so, the other home wins fell into place, and all three a 3-0 scoreline. It just goes to show that if you do your homework......

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