Saturday, February 26, 2011

SATURDAY ....


EPL
ASTON VILLA - BLACKBURN ROVERS

There have been some incredibly high scoring encounters between these two clubs at Villa Park in recent seasons and given the team news today, I see this being little different. Last five h2h meetings here have ended 3-2. 3-1, 6-4, 3-1 and 3-1, the last of which was a FA Cup tie less than a month ago. The reverse league game at Ewood Park "only" produced two goals with Villa failing to register, but it was not for want of trying as they had 11 attempts on target, a big number on the road in the EPL. Hosts have struggled to keep clean sheets all season and can claim just one in 20 outings going back to late October, that came against Manchester City and the highflying Blues had 24 attempts on goal, so it is clear where Villa's problems lie, those problems have been compounded today with the news that they are without both starting centre backs in James Collins and Carlos Cuellar. Rovers are perennial poor travellers and have conceded a league high 31 times on the road, with a massive 23 allowed in their last 8 away starts in all competitions. Their giant defender Christopher Samba is expected to play but has been suffering with a virus this week and might be less than 100% fit, all in all, goals look very likely .

"over" 2.75 goals 2.19

Good Luck.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

WEDNESDAY .......

I hope that some of you made use of my pre match notes yeseterday, as there were some solid clues there. These are in addition to my standard previews and are meant to be used as an aid to betting "in running", my notes clearly indicated that Coventry struggled against the top sides and that Swansea might be the more motivated of the two, also that Portsmouth had a poor first half record, yet were generally playing well.

My half time notes, sent within a minute or two of the first half ending by email, indicated that I thought Swansea might do enough to win ( then -0.25 2.13), but that I rated Portsmouth, who had totally dominated the first half a very solid bet @ -0.25 1.90 (my only in play selection). Pompey completed a 1-0 win which was far more comfortable than the scoreline might suggest.

There are real profits to be made on the "in play" markets, but the bonus is that by watching these lower league games live, you are picking up so much information for the future, I have never watched a game that I have not learned something from and I would urge you to get out there and visit your local club.

Good luck with all your bets today.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

"LIVE" GAME PRE MATCH NOTES / TEAM NEWS

CHAMPIONSHIP

COVENTRY CITY - SWANSEA CITY

Hosts have managed just one clean sheet in ten starts and a very poor record against the top six, losing all ten starts this season. Swansea are unbeaten in eight h2h starts against the Sky Blues and arrive in good form with seven goals in their last two matches, with a big promotion "six pointer" with Leeds at the weeeknd they will be desperate for maximum points tonight and with Coventry having a big derby game on saturday and little to play for in the league, at least subconsiously their priorities might be elsewhere.

confirmed : Beattie, Pratley and Britton return.

Swansea City: De Vries, Williams, Taylor, Tate (c), Pratley, Beattie, Dyer, Sinclair, Rangel, Gower, Britton

Subs: Ma-Kalambay (GK), Van Der Gun, Dobbie, Moore, Allen, Agustien, Richards

Coventry: Keiren Westwood (C); Richard Keogh, Stephen O'Halloran, David Bell, Marlon King, Lukas Jutkiewicz, Martin Cranie, Aron Gunnarsson, Carl Baker, Richard Wood, Nathan Cameron.

Subs: Daniel Ireland (GK), Sammy Clingan, Freddy Eastwood, Chris Hussey, Gary McSheffrey, Jordan Clarke, Roy O'Donovan

PORTSMOUTH - CRYSTAL PALACE

Palace's miserly record at Selhurst Park has served them well recently, it is well over 12 hours since they conceded a goal on home soil and those points earned have enabled them to climb out of the drop zone and open up a five point lead over Sheffield United and co. On the road things are very different, they do not have a clean sheet in 12 starts and only one in the league all season, collecting a Championship low total of six points from a possible 48. Palace fans are very optimistic at present and many are expected to make the shortish trip down to the south coast this evening, problem is they were only given 1400 tickets, which have been sold out and a number already have, or are, planning to buy tickets for the home section, with Pompey not always the friendliest of venues, this could get "interesting",of course, we are only concerened with on the pitch activities, but games are sometimes affected by these events. Hosts have won their last two without conceding and now have a nice cushion over the drop zone, they are looking to win three in a row for the first time since October, they had previously outplayed both Derby and leaders QPR for long sections of the game and have now played pretty consistently for four consecutive matches, the 1-0 win over Barnsley on saturday might appear a bit laboured, but they stopped the Yorkshire side from registering a shot on target.

Portsmouth have a poor first half record, collecting a Championship low 32 points before the break.

confirmed :

Jonathan Hogg returns for Pompey following suspension,Liam Lawrence misses out after limping off with a calf injury, in a direct swap.

Pompey: Ashdown; De Laet, Halford, Rocha, Hreidarsson; Ward, Mullins, Hogg, Cotterill; Kitson, Nugent
Subs: Flahavan, Dickinson, Mokoena, Kilbey, Ciftci

WATFORD - BRISTOL CITY

We saw two sides of Watford last week, they were pretty poor against Preston, when they defended too high and were very fortunate to claim a share of the spoils. They were much better at Reading over the weekend and the Royals had to rely on their keeper to keep them in the game on several occasions, having said that, they again allowed their opponents a lot of joy out wide and balls into the box.Hornets are a very young side and consistency is going to be a problem, however, they did show their potential at times on saturday, the first time in several outings and we already know that on a going day they can beat anyone at this level.City are the side that the bottom three will have their eyes on catching, they have won just once since NYD, that's 9 starts, conceding 16 goals, with their only victory coming against woeful Preston North End, they are six points clear of trouble at present, but have played more games than most of the teams around them and face some relegation rivals in the coming weeks. I have already aired my doubts about Keith Millen, who spent a decade at my beloved Brentford in central defence, as a head coach and I just get the feeling that it is going to be a long couple of months for supporters of the Robins. However, let's see how the first half unfolds.

First goal here might be key, with both solid when ahead at the half, (10-2-0) and ( 6-1-1 only 4 goals conceded) respectively.

confirmed : Nicky Maynard makes his first start of the season, left back McAllister misses out, always a key position.

Good Luck.

I will send the usual update by email at half time, with a brief outline of what has happened so far and hopefully, one or two "in running" suggestions.

TUESDAY ....

I know from experience that the next month or two is likely to be very fruitful for the gambler prepared to "put in the hours" and do a little homework. Most teams in the UK are going to be playing twice per week and with a lot of these being rearranged fixtures, there is not always going to be the standard home/away mix and there will be a lot of tired legs, spending hour upon hour on the motorway, with little recovery time between games. When you take this into account, along with team news/ squad size, there is clearly going to be some advantage to be gained by the hard working punter. That is all we should be looking for, an edge over the oddsmaker.

We have almost a full lower league domestic programme in England today, several teams have had a horrendous weekend travel wise, one will have spent around 25 hours on a bus since Friday by the early hours of the morning and will have played six road games in the last five weeks ! That is very tough on the body, regardless of fitness levels.

Another has had to make a very similar 7-8 hour road trip twice, played on an incredibly draining surface that cut up badly on saturday and must play a team that is refreshed after a ten day break and who has just strengthened their squad with three higher league signings !

A third is totally devoid of confidence, have been clocking up the road miles and must now face one of the better teams in the division, with no options to freshen up the team, with over half the squad injured or unavailable.

Those are just three tales of woe and there are plenty out there, do a little research and I am sure the rewards will come.

Good luck , back later.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

CANARIES BREED WINNING MENTALITY ..........


CHAMPIONSHIP
LEEDS UNITED - NORWICH CITY

I have had to censor some of my thoughts about this game and the two teams, as I do not want to post certain things on a open forum at the moment, so just basic notes.....


It is rare that I oppose United, being impressed by their quality and never say die attitude, but when games come down to a battle, which this surely will, you do not want to oppose City, who under the very impressive Paul Lambert, are probably the hardest team in the Football League to finish off. Last season I lost count of the number of games they turned on it's head to win in the second half, or with very late winners and this season is going the same way, with 16 points earned from losing positions and in the last month alone, they have notched 94th minute winners against both Millwall and Reading and an injury time equaliser when playing Cardiff, three of the better Championship teams. They did lose 2-1 at Burnley, but were all over the home side at 1-1, but for once condeded on the break, they are outplaying a lot of teams, creating plenty of chances, averaging over 13 attempts per game, the second highest in the division and will thump someone soon.


The whole club is geared up for success and is typified by the winning goal against Reading, time was all but up and the ball booted by a visiting player high up into the directors box, the City Chief Executive raced to get the ball and threw it immediately back and from the quickly taken throw in, the Canaries scored, with executive David McNally getting an assist ! They are relentless and from top to bottom the club has become used to winning, they expect these late goals to come and so they do. Like I often say, so much sport is played between the ears.

Norwich City +0.25 2.03

Good Luck.

SATURDAY ....


I have written four previews today, including one double stake selection, think that I will post two of them on the blog, one is below and I will add the other later in the morning.

DIVISION 1
COLCHESTER UNITED- WALSALL


Walsall did us a big favour in midweek with a 1-0 win over Dagenham, that might have appeared a little hard earned, but they once again dominated the game, created an enormous number of scoring chances and are playing at a completely different level from two months ago, when they looked certain to be playing fourth tier football next season. Coach Dean Smith has done an amazing job in his short spell in charge and his team could actually find themselves out of the drop zone with a win today. Smith has bought in a number of experienced players to work alongside his youngsters, who he can handle well having always previously been a youth team coach, this combination is working well and he has also given his players an attacking freedom which they didn't have under former boss Chris Hutchings. A brief word about Hutchings, he has only ever coached struggling teams ( Bradford, Wigan and Walsall) and never been able to instill a winning mentality into his teams, with barely a 30% win rate, losing becomes a habit and the Saddlers clearly needed a change and more positive approach. I am a firm believer that you need to be a winner, to know how to win ( which is not as simplistic as it sounds) and personally, I would rather take a lower league coach with a winning record, than one who has performed poorly at a higher level.


United have a reputation as a strong home team, but they have won the second lowest total of home starts amongst the top half teams and only Peterborough have conceded more goals. They have won just three of their last 13 starts, once was a very fortunate defeat of Swindon with a 94th minute goal and they trailed in the other two, this is another team who have lost their way a little and a good looking opponent for the inform and newly found confident visitors.

Walsall draw no bet 3.10 + ..... 3.25 in places.

Good Luck.

Friday, February 18, 2011

FRIDAY ......


Today sees a very welcome return to Friday night Ligue 2 football and the start to the weekend has not been the same in it's absence. I have been swimming against the tide most of today and trying to find the time to pad out my three basic previews for tonight's french matches, but have decided against it. Would have had a little more time to complete the task, if I had not suddenly realised I had just spent 30 minutes of my time staring through my office window at the blossom which has recently appeared on the plum tree in my garden, but I guess there are worse ways to spend half an hour !


Anyway, I will definitely post a preview, maybe two, on here tomorrow so please check back and good luck in the meantime.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

THURSDAY ...... AFTER THE LORD MAYOR'S SHOW !


After the excitement of Arsenal- Barcelona yesterday, when the Gunners fought back to earn what looked an unlikely victory at the break, we are left with slightly less thrilling fayre today. Five of my six early bets have won this midweek and I hope that you/we enjoy similar luck with number seven. It is an unusual one for me, as I rarely bet "under" the goal line, but someone has to bring the excitement levels down a peg or two and Rangers at home in europe usually fit the bill !


Europa League
Glasgow Rangers- Sporting Lisbon

Rangers have normally played a very defensive 4-5-1 formation in europe, even in ties at Ibrox and in their last 13 european games here, have failed to score seven times, scored a single goal on six occasions and a brace just once . Even three years ago when they reached the UEFA Cup final, three of their five home games ended 0-0, including a quarter final meeting between these two sides. They have pledged to be a little more adventurous tonight, but I am not so sure, they have the Old Firm derby with Celtic at the weekend, a match which is going to go a long way towards deciding the SPL title and one, given the rivalry between the two clubs, that has to always take priority. Sporting also have a derby game with Benfica, but as they trail the big two by a distance and are seemingly booked for third spot in the table, almost regardless of what they do between now and the end of the season, for them, the match this evening will surely take precedence.

Both these "big" clubs are struggling financially and each sold their top striker in the transfer window, the Rangers squad is a little thin and still fighting on four fronts, something is going to give sooner or later. I like the draw tonight, all the while the score is 0-0 I do not expect Rangers to be too concerned, or too push too hard, they have usually found a goal on the road in europe and are confident in their ability to stop their opponent scoring twice in the return leg. However, maybe the "under" bet is better, very hard for me to see either team scoring twice, unless we get a very early breakthrough and given that Rangers have only conceded once inside 25 minutes all season at Ibrox and kept Manchester United at bay for 87 minutes here and 90 at Old Trafford, that seems unlikely.


So, under 2.25 goals for me, I must admit that the 9.50 about 0-0 or no goalscorer was tempting, as was the half time draw at a juicy 2.10, but the less adventurous option for me this time.

"under" 2.25 goals 1.92 .

Good Luck.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

SUNDAY ....

I have previewed three games today, but only written basic notes, so am not prepared to post them on here, as I have no wish and do not see the point in writing a 3-4 line match preview on the blog, although I did send a copy to several of you this morning.

I think there was plenty to take from the pre match notes posted yesterday and if any of you played those games in running, which is what they are designed for, you should have been able to turn a profit.

Good luck with your bets today and please check back in midweek when we have a hugely interesting domestic and european programme.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

SATURDAY .....

I previewed four matches earlier today, not posting any of those on here, but am also covering three games "in running", below are my pre match notes for these which you may find of some help ......

I will update these three games by email at half time.

CHAMPIONSHIP

BRISTOL CITY - LEEDS UNITED

After drawing blank in five straight games, City scored four unanswered goals at Preston last week, but that probably says more about the problems at North End than any newly found attacking prowess by the home team. However, they have received a major boost this week with the return of Nicky Maynard, who is fit to play after missing all of the season so far and last season's top scorer will almost certainly take his place on the bench. This is a big game for the home side, the first time they have hosted Leeds in over 30 years in the league and it will be played in front of an almost sell out crowd. United are very ambitious and are looking for more than a playoff spot, they battled back from two down to earn a share of the spoils at Hull and then grinded out a 1-0 home win over Coventry, when they were very wasteful in front of goal, their breakthrough goal came coutesy of South African international David Somma who has been on fire in the last season and a bit for Leeds, on loan at Lincoln and for his country, totalling 20 goals in 32 outings, he looks a tasty 3.0 to score at anytime, something he has done in the last two games, providing he passes a late test. New loan signing from Aston Villa, US international defender Eric Lichaj will definitely start and will give them a further touch of class at the back. The cup games with Arsenal were a major distraction, but the win last week should have got them back on track and with massive games against Norwich and Swansea later in the month, they need maximum points today to keep the pressure up in the hunt for what increasingly looks like one remaining automatic spot. For me, the jury is still out on City boss Keith Millen, I am not sure he is a head coach, but do not want to go into that here at the moment, suffice to say I think that Simon Grayson has the edge in the tactical department. Visitors have had 208 attempts on target this season a division high total, yet still been denied by the woodwork 17 times ! United and Burnley are the only teams to have won three games when trailing at the half, yet Leeds have won just 5 of the 9 matches in which they have led. They do not sit back regardless of the score and their games have produced an average of 1.97 goals in the second half, City's games are producing 1.53 and we should see this open up after the break, but let us see how the opening half pans out.

Maynard on bench, City unchanged, Somma and Paynter on bench, attacking line up as usual for visitors and options for Grayson.

WATFORD - BURNLEY

Both these two are looking to get involved in the post season and with each sitting five points off the pace, we can surely expect these two attack minded teams to go all out for three points today. Burnley have lost just once under new boss Eddie Howe, but showed great character to bounce back last week and beat a very strong Norwich side in an extremely open encounter, City were a bit unlucky to be honest. Watford have impressed many people with their attacking play this season and their average of 1.89 goals per game, is the highest in the division, they are without a win in four, but one came in the cup and the two losses were against Forest and Cardiff two of the strongest Championship sides. Burnley might not score as many as the Hornets, but they have created 88 more goal scoring chances, almost three per start, they have been denied by the woodwork 17 times and only on fire Leicester have had more attempts on goal. However, one word of caution, the visitors have won just two of the 14 starts in which they have gone in level at the break, only PNE can "boast" a worsE record, but most of those game came under the former management.

Austin out ( illness) for Clarets, Iwelumo in ,straight swap and only change.

DIVISION 1

COLCHESTER UNITED - SWINDON TOWN

We watched Swindon on Tuesday at Orient and the margin of the 3-0 defeat was not really fair to Town who received a major blow just before kickoff with two players picking up injuries, one I believe in the pre match warm up although I am not 100% sure about the timing of that, however, they started the brighter of the two teams and could have gone ahead early before conceding, they then regrouped, hit the woodwork and were again well on top, when Orient were given a second despite a clear foul on a Swindon defender, they were still arguing about this with the match officials when the third goal went in almost immediately. They continued to press after this with 18 attempts on goal, 11 on target and perhaps half of these were really good chances, but the Orient keeper was in good form and it was just one of those nights ! They added Spurs striker Jonathan Obika on loan, he signed on Tuesday morning and came on in the second half, but looked a little rusty, he is very quick and with a couple of days training with the rest of the squad, will be more in sync with his team mates today. Boss Danny Wilson must be on very thin ice now, he lost top scorer Charlie Austin to Burnley, but looks to have spent some of the money wisely with the addition of Elliot Benyon from Torquay, who came off the bench to score a late equaliser at home to Rochdale on saturday and giant 2m central defender Aden Flint, who was a commanding presence on his debut in the same game. Flint was signed from non league Alfreton Town, but has been watched by any number of Football league scouts for months, a number of clubs were interested and it says something about Swindon that he choose them over Colchester, who had offered identical terms to the player and club. Hs fee of £150,000 plus sell on clause is massive in the current economic climate for a sixth tier player, but if all the reports are correct, the 21yo is a little bit special.

Rochdale came into that game on an unbeaten seven match run and with their slick pasing game, the visitors were probably suited by the very windy conditions, so a point for Town was a solid result and it could have been more as they had two cleared off the line, hit the woodwork and enjoyed 61% possession, which is not easy against a team as hard working as Dale, so plenty of positives for Danny Wilson's men. In their two previous outings they had much the better of Exeter in a 0-0 stalemate and lost by the odd goal in five at high flying Bournemouth, when they left very unhappy with the match officials. It is worth remembering that the core of this squad came within a whisker of reaching the Championship last year and I think that they are a little too good to go down , but they need to start picking up points and soon. Huge sequence of games now for Town, who have played more matches than the other teams around them at the foot of the table, the defence needs to sort itself out and the experienced pros like Andy Frampton need to give more help to the youngsters.

United will be happy to be back at the Community stadium after consecutive road losses without scoring and have defensive problems again today, they will want to prove to Flint that he chose the wrong team and with a draw being of little use to either, this could develope into an open encounter, but surely the visitors will want to try and keep this tight early and not lose the game in the opening 30 minutes like in midweek. Very interesting match up.

United are struggling to finish matches off and have drawn four of the seven games in which they have led at the half, but won two of the six in which they have trailed at the break. Overall they have the poorest second half record in the division, posting just six wins and losing twelve.Town have lost two of the four matches in which they have gone in ahead and their games have seen 51 goals in the second period, the third highest number in the division.

Good Luck.

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

TUESDAY .... IT'S ALL GRAVY !



Tuesday morning,the sun is shining in West London and the Bees are going to Wembley ! However, with the JPT final set for Mothering Sunday, there are going to be a lot a Brentford supporters negotiating with wives and mothers in the coming weeks ! Come on ladies, do the right thing, just tell the man in your life the only present you really want is a pair of tickets for the final !


Nicky Forster has a 100% record as a coach and taken a team to a Wembley final after just five days in charge, which must be a record that will never be beaten, it's all gravy for Bees fans at the moment, what a difference a week makes !


Pretty quiet day betting wise for a Tuesday, I do have one solid bet but will not be able to post it on here, so you are on your own, please check back later in the week.


Good Luck.

Monday, February 07, 2011

TODAY'S NOTES .....


I am a bit late today, sorry, I was looking at the english non league games today, but could not find anything of value.

However, we will be heavily involved in these in the coming month or two, so many non league teams have a massive number of fixtures to play and will be forced to play three matches per week, for several weeks, in order to complete their fixture list, in the Conference North for example leaders Nuneaton have played 25 matches, third placed Alfreton just 18 and the league will NOT be extended beyond April 30th. Many of these players are part time and have commitments outside football and their club is also likely to be involved in lower league cup compettitions too. They will have to pick and choose the matches they will focus on and a little team news is going to go a long way !

This has all come about because of the dire weather at the turn of the year, which has also left the pitches in a bit of a state, which is further likely to take it's toll, playing three games in a week on heavy, broken up pitches and working a 5 day week at the Post Office too, is a far cry from the EPL........... unless you are a Wigan player ! I think the groundstaff at the DW Stadium will be working overtime this week !

Only going to discuss the JPT Southern Final second leg today, which is a bit of a mouthful, between tiny Exeter City and the mighty Brentford, not that I am biased in any way, shape or form.

The tie is finally balance after a 1-1 draw at Griffin Park ( The Theatre of Sleepless Nights) and both clubs will be very motivated to progress and earn a day out at Wembley later in the year, which will brighten up what has been a dismal 2011 for both teams so far. City have won just once this year, beating Walsall, who were fairly hapless at the time 2-1 at St James Park, with the visitors having a lot of goal scoring chances. Brentford had lost six from seven in the league before beating Plymouth 2-0 on saturday, that was a good solid performance from the Bees, but I should add that many home fans were of the opinion that Argyle were the worst team they have seen this season, but, to be fair, the team in green have had a lot of off the pitch distractions to deal with.

This will also be the third start in six days for both and there are bound to be some very tired legs on the pitch tonight, even allowing for a little squad rotation, it is worthy of note that City faced both Southampton and Huddersfied last week, two of the better team in the division, they did a lot of running and to concede six on home soil in four days, is not good for the confidence, so advantage Brentford there. The two teams know each other well and in addition to the two 1-1 draws at GP, the Bees earned a famous 4-2 win in the league here three months ago, when everything in the garden looked so much rosier ! That was an incredible game, as City thought they were hard done by, despite Brentford having a "good " goal disallowed and missing two penalties ! They could have scored seven on the road, yet the highlight of the day was three Bees players arguing for what seemed like minutes over who was to take the second penalty !

So, three previous games, both teams scored in each, City have yet to win but might argue that were the better team for long periods in two of them. I am not so sure ( of course not !), Brentford could have scored 5-6 here and also dominated the league match at Griifin Park, I don't doubt that these are two very well matched teams, but Brentford have the better squad IMO and have a weight lifted off their shoulders after coach Andy Scott left the club last midweek. I have some sympathy for Scott, who's record at Brentford looks very good on paper, but his playing budget was huge compared to recent incumbents at the usually cash strapped club and the level of expectation from board and supporters alike in TW8 is so much higher now. Losing with a touch of style has been the Bees motto since I was in short trousers, but the football dished up this season has been poor, with just one or two exceptions, there were too many instances of terrible team selection, confidence was shot and a long relegation battle was fast becoming likely. So, the cries of Scott out were finally listened too and Brentford striker, hero, crowd favourite and all round good egg Nicky Forster was put in temporary charge of the club, with the aim of stopping the rot, collecting three points at the weekend ( so far so good) and getting the bees to Wembley.... simple !

Forster is a very different character to Scott, the former boss never endeared himself to the supporters who are used to a close relationship with their manager, so, when the results turned, so did they ! NF has been very open, talking to everyone either through the media or social network sites and immediately got everyone behind the team. The lift in the mood at GP Towers over the weekend was palpable and when the second goal went in, the change in the players was amazing, there were a few turns and flicks, that would not have come off the previous week, or even been attempted, and shock, horror several consecutive passes between team mates ! Here is a section from one of Forster's post match interview ...

(NF): Yes, I thought the lads were fantastic, I really did. From the start, all the way to the end. At the end I said in there that the players managed the game themselves. From the moment we scored we grew in belief. In the second half we won that comfortably I thought. As I said they managed the game themselves and there wasn’t a lot for us [the management team] to do.

I thought the crowd was instrumental today. They started off in great spirits and the goals lifted them as well and both helped each other. I don’t think those on the sidelines or behind the scenes deserve the credit. I think the players deserve the credit today, and the fans too.

Interviewer: You asked the players to express themselves and they did it?
NF: I thought they did and I thought Myles Weston was back to his best. Talking about managing themselves, I put Myles on the left and Sam Saunders on the right, and half way through the first half I realised they had swapped over and I hadn’t told them to do that!

Myles thought he could get at Duguid and get crosses in and they did. I challenged those two players to get crosses in and feed the two boys up front.

I’m not going to single anyone out, as a team I thought they were fantastic.

I know it is only one win, but it is more about the mood at the club, everyone is moving in the right direction and Forster has the respect of the players, which Scott had probably lost. Incidently, I heard that within 60 minutes of the decision being made to part company with Andy Scott, that Brentford had received 46 applications for the job ! Many people have said that former boss Martin Allen is favourite for the job, I cannot see that, to my mind that would be a backwards step and not what I would expect from the current board/ owner. People have short memories, many fans would be happy to see him back, but far too often Allen didn't have a plan b, let alone plan c and his style of management seems a little dated to me, I would be surprised if he was seriously considered, but what do I know ? I understand that he, Dennis Wise, Gary Johnson and Ray Wilkins were all at the match on saturday, for no reason other than something to type, I can tell you that Wilkins has a strong family connection with the club, his brother Graham and father George both pulled on the famous ( in my household) red and white stripes and "Butch" was born in nearby Hillingdon.

Back to the game, City striker Jamie Cureton ALWAYS scores against Brentford ( three already this year) and despite missing the last two games, you can almost guarantee he will pass a late test and play tonight, he will get plenty of stick from the travelling supporters and give them some back when he scores his usual goal ! Ben Hamer, who has had four ( I think) loan spells at Brentford is also likely to be passed fit to take his place between the sticks tonight for City, last game he played for the Bees was that 4-2 win here back in October, football is a funny old game, Hamer will geta warmer reception from the visiting fans.

I feel both teams will once again score, the game is likely to get very stretched especially in the second half , I believe fitness levels at both clubs are good, but the two games against stronger sides last week might just have taken a little more out of City and they always concede at home ! I will take Brentford with the handicap start and refound confidence. By the way, did I say that Cureton always scores against the Bees ?

Brentford +0.25 1.97 +

Good Luck.

Sunday, February 06, 2011

SUNDAY .....

I am unable to post anything on here today. I do have bets for one UK match, one Italian fixture and the Superbowl, but my notes are fairly basic and not anything I feel happy posting on here, sorry.

Many of you got my notes yesterday, so have had something from me this weekend and I will probably post a preview of the JPT game live on Sky tomorrow night and also discuss the related events from Brentford of the last week.

Until then, good luck with your bets today.

Saturday, February 05, 2011

SATURDAY ....

I am not posting any match previews on the blog today, but have sent my notes by email to a number of readers this morning. Should you wish to receive a copy, please email me at stencelwade@btinternet.com and I will forward one as soon as possible.

Otherwise, please check back tomorrow, when I will definitely be posting some thoughts on here on a very busy day of sport.

Good Luck.