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ALI'S BIG MATCH PREVIEW - FULHAM v MIDDLESBROUGH 17-8-07
Alastair Brownlee
Not good enough. That has to be the clear message after the midweek defeat at Wigan left the travelling army of supporters and those watching back on Teesside thoroughly frustrated at such a flat performance at the JJB.
Gareth must work hard to lift the team ahead of Saturday's trip to Fulham but at least the squad will be strengthened by the completion of the transfer of Mido who put pen to paper on a £6 million pounds transfer from Spurs.
The Egyptian striker was at Wigan and must be hoping that his new teammates can put that display firmly behind them, starting at Craven Cottage.
Fans may wonder if the new boy represents something of a gamble, especially as Boro will be Midos eighth club in less than eight years but as Gareth points out he has terrific skill and technique, which was shown to great effect when he partnered Didier Drogba at Marseille.
Last season, Mido struggled recreate the impact of his first season at Spurs and only made seven Premiership starts scoring once but at just twenty-four years of age his best seasons are ahead of him and let's hope they are at the Riverside.
The fans who are travelling to Fulham will hope to see the new boy in action but Mido has not taken part in any pre season games and the manager will have to consider whether it's better to start with the Egyptian striker or bring him off the bench later in the game.
It will be interesting to see if Mido and Yakubu form a partnership as speculation surrounding Yakubu's future continues.
In the sixty-three minutes before he was substituted at Wigan the Nigerian international did little to dispel the rumours that he would like a fresh challenge elsewhere and it is a situation that needs to be resolved.
Clearly if Yakubu was to move on the sixteen goals he scored last season would be missed but his current Premiership goal drought stretches back to February and possibly a Mido/Tuncay partnership might provide the spark Boro need up front.
The news that Robert Huth's comeback from injury suffered a setback in training this week is not only tough on the central defender, who has been hit hard by injury problems since his move from Chelsea, but is also a blow to hopes of getting senior players back to bolster a young defence.
Andrew Davies, Chris Riggott, David Wheater and Andrew Taylor are all giving 100% but there is a need to add to competition for places in a defence that at the moment seems, due to all the injury problems, wafer thin.
Sadly, it looks as if the visit to Fulham will come too soon for Luke Young to make his debut and it is more likely that the derby with Newcastle United will mark Young's first outing.
Fulham will certainly give Boro a tough test on Saturday. Lawrie Sanchez freshened up his squad in the close season and after an unlucky defeat in their opening game at Arsenal, they came from behind to pick up three points against Bolton in midweek.
If the Cottagers pick up the points on Saturday it will equal their best ever start to a Premiership campaign.
The most recent Boro win at Fulham was on 25 August 2004 when goals from Mark Viduka and Szilard Nemeth secured the points and a similar score line would be just the way to celebrate Gareth's fiftieth match in charge.
It is interesting to reflect that last season we won only once in our opening seven Premiership matches and went on to finish in twelfth place.
So it is worth remembering that the new campaign has only just started and the collective rush for the panic button after the Wigan setback might be a bit premature.
Don't forget that Bernie and I will be back with Simply Red on Sunday from 11 until 1pm on Century FM.
Special guests will include John Hendrie and the legendary boss who was in charge of "The Class of 86", Bruce Rioch.
Why not join in the fun by giving us a call on 08450 021100 or text 85102 and let's hope that we are celebrating our first three points of the season!
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A GUARANTEED PROFIT OF AT LEAST £41.20 ON PORTSMOUTH v FULHAM
Did you know that it is possible to win money on Sunday afternoon's Premiership clash between Portsmouth v Fulham, whatever the result?
The game kicks off at 3.00pm and we can guarantee you a profit of at least £41.20, 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, you will be at least £41.20 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 £71.00 on the Portsmouth v Fulham match and we will collect £115.00 if Portsmouth win, £112.20 if Fulham win and £114.13 if it's a draw. That's a minimum profit of 58%, 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 £26.00 into your new Betfair account.
Deposit £25.00 into your Extrabet
account.
3. Now make the following bets.
Place £20.00 on Portsmouth at 3.00 (2/1) with Coral.
Coral will now add a £10.00 bonus to your account. Place this on Portsmouth as well. You will now have £30.00 riding on Portsmouth.
Back the draw with £25.00 at 3.7 (11/4) (or higher if available) with Betfair.
Place £26.00 on Fulham at 2.2 (6/5) with Extrabet .
Extrabet match your first bet up to £25 so you will now have £51.00 riding on Fulham.
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 £71.00 on the Portsmouth v Fulham match. 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.
If Portsmouth win, you collect £115.00. That's £90.00 from Coral plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If it's a draw, you collect £114.13. That's £89.13 from Betfair plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If Fulham win you collect £112.20. That's £87.20 from Extrabet plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
5. This means that the worst case scenario on the Portsmouth v Fulham match is Fulham win and you make £41.20 profit. However, if it is a draw you make £43.13 and if Portsmouth win you make £44.00. That's a minimum profit of 58%, 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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