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SHAWKY AND GEORGE 11-9-07
Toby Higgins
Next to wearing sunglasses at night and getting a Chinese tattoo on the back of your head that nobody can understand, but that the guy at the parlour told you translates to "Legend", international football is becoming one of the most pointless pastimes known to mankind.
Competitive matches carry with them all the excitement and anticipation of a trip to the dentist to get that achy tooth seen to and more often than not they are just as painful.
As for friendlies, why waste everyone's time? The bulk of the time the majority drop out of the squad, often before it's even been announced although, remarkably, are able to play ninety minutes the week before and after the international weekend. And those who do chose to 'represent' their country half arse their way through the game, doing everything they can not to tackle anyone, pass the ball forward or muster a shot on goal. This is an international friendly for Christ's sake; the last thing we need to break out here is a good game of football.
The decline in the appeal of international football runs inversely to the rising lure of the Champions League. The best players in the world can be seen competing in Europe against each other weekly, in strikingly different circumstances to the slow paced stroll of the international scene; because the players actually care. Clubs pay player's wages and that's where the loyalty lies. Whether you like it or not, that's modern football in a nutshell.
England's support will always remain; that 85,000 turned up to see Gareth Barry play centre midfield against Israel shows that the three lions are still enough of a lure for plenty of people irrespective of personnel or opposition. But Wembley holds 90,000 so why did 5,000 stay away? And is this the beginning of the end for die hard support that has followed England through the decades?
The images of Butcher '89 and Ince in '97 will almost certainly never be repeated because players simply won't put their long term futures at risk playing for their country. Money, and not pride or passion, dictate the game at the moment and it doesn't look like changing for a very, very long time.
Jamie Redknapp was surely taking the piss when he wrote in his column last week for The Daily Mail that in getting injured three times playing for England he ended up losing out financially because he couldn't cash in on a playing bonus'.
Tradition is something that many football fans, myself included, hold close to their hearts. But over the weekend of the 6th and 7th of October, tradition will hit an all time low and make history in the process.
On Saturday the 6th of October 2007 Aston Villa will play host to West Ham United in what will be the only 3pm Saturday kick of that weekend. Six games have been moved to the Sunday, including our game away to Manchester City, two games will be played on New Year's Day, and Manchester United will kick off on Saturday at 12.45pm, also on the 6th.
Match of the Day has been running for over fourty years having started in 1964. Just one match was shown on the first programme, Liverpool beating Arsenal 3-2. It wasn't until 1970 that a second game was introduced, and only the appearance of ITV's "Big Match" in the 70's meant that while MOTD was forced to move to Sunday afternoons, it was increased to three matches per programme. It was only as recently as 1992 that the goals from every Saturday game were shown.
All of that was for the benefit of the fan; a chance to see more football than ever before. Now, the importance of European Competition, as well as the dramatic increase in the number of live games, means that Match of the Day will still go out, but in the same format as the 70's, when just two games are shown on a Saturday night. And, given the form thus far of the teams facing each other, it could well be the first goalless MOTD ever. Progression? Regression? Both?
Tradition is dead; and where were we to stop its decline?
We look like losing tradition a lot closer to home, too. Boro, from my experience, seem to start seasons quickly - though we lost the first four games of Steve "magnificent" McClaren's first season - but lose momentum come late Autumn, and defeat on Boxing Day spells disaster for a dodgy Christmas period that could last until early March. The remainder of the season becomes a slog against the drop.
It emphasises another problem with International weekends. For us, it's a disaster. Our best league performance for years will be a distant memory by the time we turn up at The Boleyn Ground next weekend to face the in-form Hammers, and the weekend after, we entertain the Mackems who themselves will be happy for the chance to re-group. More on them, and that game, next week.
The eleven who started the game against the Brum could, based on that performance, be the eleven who start every game until the end of the season. The arrival of Gary O'Neill will put added pressure on the entire midfield, who could all at some point be axed to accommodate the new recruit.
It's hard to look at O'Neill and think that he's anything but a mistake. The last player who failed a medical and yet still found his name on our payroll was Robert Huth, who has still played no more than a handful of games. At least, having been signed on a pay as you play deal, O'Neill doesn't carry as great a risk. Still, if he appears more than 35 times in the next two seasons, I'll be pleasantly surprised.
Mohammed Shakwy sounds like a ready made replacement for Doriva, and so, with Shawky and George, the ball busters of midfield, and Fabulous, Julio and Stewy pulling strings in the final third, we could finally be in a position of relative comfort by Christmas.
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
 .
This shouldn't take you any longer than a few minutes.
2. Make the following deposits into your new accounts.
Deposit £20.00 into your new Coral account.
Deposit £84.00 into your new Betfair account.
Deposit £25.00 into your Extrabet account.
3. Now make the following bets.
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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