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KICK IT OUT 29-8-07
Toby Higgins
There are more than a few things in life that we are told to be wary of; crossing the road without looking, men who can't look you in the eye when they shake your hand, and ramming anything metallic into a toaster, to name but three. Right up there with the best of them, is a hated striker returning to his former club wearing his new employer's colours, particularly if the new employer's happen to be local.
I was totally astonished to even see Viduka on the pitch on Sunday afternoon. Never before has the Aussie competed against a former club, which to say he has played for four British clubs and is 31 years of age is surprising, though easily explained if you consider this is the first time he has ever played for a team in the same league as one of his previous clubs.
That he scored is hardly astounding. It was his words before the game that baffled me.
"As far as the Middlesbrough supporters are concerned, I don't really know what kind of reception I will get. I loved my time at Middlesbrough and if I did score on Sunday I would not celebrate too much because it was a great part of my career there."
Naivety? Optimism? Maybe a little of each. Surely Viduka can't have expected a rousing reception from the fans he lied to just a few weeks earlier?
This time, Viduka kept to his word. His trademark close control and self assisted volley passed fellow countryman Mark Schwarzer embodied everything that Mark Viduka is about in one painfully majestic moment, and reminded every Boro fan why they had sung his name with such rapport as recently as last May.
But despite the persistent booing of his every touch, instead of wheeling away to rejoice and gloat in front of his former followers after finding the net, he stood, motionless, with a wry smile creeping slowly onto his face as the black and white shirts smothered him from view. If only he had shown such loyalty to the club and its fans when making his money motivated decision to pack his bags during the summer.
Let's not fool ourselves; Viduka would have been booed as a returning player with any club because, as fans see it, he left us for purely financial reasons. Newcastle might be a bigger club, but do they have a better team? Newcastle might be able to compete in the top four again sometime in the next five seasons, but will Viduka's tailing career allow him to be there to see it? Newcastle were prepared to throw the extra bit of cheddar Viduka's way, and the greedy get gobbled it up.
Viduka follows Bolo Zenden and current Newcastle skipper Geremi in the line of players who have turned their backs when the chance to become a Boro legend came calling. But unlike those two, Viduka hasn't signed for a club on the next level up from us, and what makes it worse is that they happen to play in black and white. At least Zenden and Geremi had good reason to move on; both having featured in high profile Champions League games last season. Viduka, not so much.
Steve Gibson hasn't been shy in telling the listening public that Viduka priced himself out of a future at the Riverside. It's easy to see why he has become so detested by those in red.
The game itself was, despite the string of second half stoppages for injuries and a flurry of yellow cards, a flowing and entertaining affair between two sides intent on winning. All four goals were special in their own way, and a draw was the fairest result possible.
George Boateng's display as a right sided midfielder will have gone unnoticed by many, but it shouldn't have been. Boateng showed the discipline that Lee Cattermole and his youthful exuberance cannot provide in holding his position and not wandering infield, providing width in attacking areas, and in keeping James Milner quiet against a home debutant short of match practice in Luke Young. He was unfortunate that Charles "Zog on the Tyne" N'Zogbia caught his right footed shot as well as he did after forcing the Frenchman inside towards a crowded penalty box.
The match will be overshadowed for all the wrong reasons. The small minded racism directed at Mido by a group of thick, ignorant Geordie fuckwits is nothing but a cancer on the game, and for that matter, the region. The first recorded racism by football fans for years comes in a game between two sides from the North East. Brilliant.
Newcastle's decision not to comment on the matter comes as no surprise; 'sorry' just won't cut it. Newcastle supporters should be banned from away games for the rest of the season as a minimum sentence. Fines and warnings simply won't affect fans, who will never suffer the burden of a fine so minute that Mike Ashley will be able to pay it by having a rummage around in the back of his sofa.
A fan ban, or points reduction, are the only ways to prevent this kind of behaviour spreading. It was only a matter of months ago that the F.A. was up in arms about racist chanting by the Spanish to England's black players. I hope they get this one right, but having seen them deal with any situation where backbone is need, I will not hold my breath.
The message remains a simple one. Let's kick racism out of football.
The Carling Cup tie with Northampton this week looks to many people like a re-run of last year's capitulation at home to Notts County, a game with Southgate admitted to having 'got it wrong'.
I, however, look at this as a re-run of our 2003 Carling Cup 2nd round game against Brighton, so expect Lee Dong-Christie to flick home an extra time winner. Keep the last weekend in February free for our first trip to the new Wembley.
Same time next week
UpTheBoro
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A GUARANTEED PROFIT OF AT LEAST £41.00 ON THE FA CUP FINAL
Did you know that it is possible to win money on Saturday afternoon's FA Cup Final clash between Portsmouth and Cardiff, whatever the result?
The game kicks off at 3.00pm and we can guarantee you a profit of at least £41.00, whatever the result of the match. All you have to do is follow the simple instructions below and then sit back and enjoy the game. At full-time (ninety minutes), you will be at least £41.00 better off, whatever the result of the match.
We must point out that if you want to take this bet, you should do it now because if the odds change, then the figures here will be invalidated. If they have changed, let us know and we will rework the bet for you.
You can still do this if you have a Betfair account but your overall profit will be reduced by £25.00 as you won't receive the £25.00 cashback as an existing account holder.
If you are unsure about this bet, you are most welcome to call us on 01642 223229 and we will help you as much as we can.
We're going to lay out a total of £129.00 on the FA Cup Final and we will collect £175.00 if Cardiff win, £171.24 if Portsmouth win and £170.00 if it's a draw. That's a minimum profit of 31%, a much higher interest rate than you will get in any high street bank.
Here's how it's done. Just follow these simple instructions.
1. Open an account with Coral. It is really important that you enter the bonus code of CORALTD when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Open an account with Betfair. It is really important that you enter the promotional code of BFB425 when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Open an account with Extrabet
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This shouldn't take you any longer than a few minutes.
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Deposit £20.00 into your new Coral account.
Deposit £84.00 into your new Betfair account.
Deposit £25.00 into your Extrabet account.
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Place £20.00 on Cardiff at 5.00 (4/1) with Coral.
Coral will now add a £10.00 bonus to your account. Place this on Cardiff as well. You will now have £30.00 riding on Cardiff.
Back Portsmouth with £84.00 at 1.78 (4/5) (or higher if available) with Betfair.
Place £25.00 on the draw at 3.44 (12/5) with Extrabet .
Extrabet match your first bet up to £25 so you will now have £50.00 riding on the draw.
The £25.00 matched bet will not show in your account but you can read all about how it works on the Extrabet site. It's the purple box that says '£25 FREE BET FOR NEW CUSTOMERS' on the top right hand side. Click here to visit the Extrabet site.
If you are unsure about placing these bets, please feel free to mail us or call us on 01642 223229 and we will talk you through it, no problem at all. There is no such thing as a stupid question.
You have temporarily laid out a total of £129.00 on the FA Cup Final. I stress, temporarily... Now sit back, crack a beer open and enjoy the match.
4. Here's what happens at the end of the game. All winnings are paid out on the ninety minute result.
If Cardiff win, you collect £175.00. That's £150.00 from Coral plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If Portsmouth win, you collect £171.24. That's £146.24 from Betfair plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If it's a draw you collect £170.00. That's £145.00 from Extrabet plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
5. This means that the worst case scenario on the Portsmouth v Cardiff match is a draw and you make £41.00 profit. However, if Cardiff win you make £46.00 and if Portsmouth win you make £42.24. That's a minimum profit of 31%, a much better rate of interest that you would get at any high street bank or building society.
6. It is absolutely vital that you click on the links on this page to open the accounts with the two bookies and enter the correct bonus codes or you may not qualify for the bonuses.
Also, before you place your bets, you should check that the odds haven't changed. If they have, let us know by mail or phone us on 01642 223229 and we will rework the bet for you.
Please feel free to contact us or phone us on 01642 223229 if you have any questions at all about this bet and we will help you as much as we can.
Please note that the bonuses are valid for new customers only so if you already have an account with one or more of the bookies we are using, you won't be able to do this. If that is the case, mail us or phone us on 01642 223229 and we'll create an alternative bet for you using different bookies.
This method of betting was used very successfully during the 2006 World Cup and you can read all about how it was done right here.
We guarantee this bet
It's understandable that some people will not believe that it is possible to do this. "What's the catch?" I hear you asking. My answer to that question is that we have been publishing arbitrage bets for four seasons now and literally hundreds of people have profited from following the advice on these pages.
Only twice has our refund guarantee been triggered and that was when we did all the figures wrong and sent refunds out to those who had followed our advice and made a small loss.
Our refund guarantee works like this. If this bet doesn't work like we say it will and you end up out of pocket, we will refund your losses. Simple as that.
That means that you simply cannot lose on this, whatever happens and even if we messed up the numbers.
The only stipulation here is that you must click on the links on this page to be eligible for the refund guarantee, not that you'll be needing to claim anyway. Just enjoy the profit and stay posted for many more of these throughout the season.
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