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ALI'S BIG MATCH PREVIEW - WEST HAM v MIDDLESBROUGH 14-9-07
Alastair Brownlee
The break for international fixtures has sharpened the appetite to see Boro back in action and to find out if they can reproduce the exciting, free flowing football that simply destroyed Birmingham City at the Riverside back on the first of September.
Two weeks will have passed since the players left the field to a standing ovation after banishing the Blues, but with Gary O'Neil and Mohammed Shawky taking advantage of the break to fully adapt to life at the Boro, it's a confident squad that travels to face West Ham.
In recent seasons Boro have struggled against the Hammers. Remember at the end of last season when Carlos Tevez inspired the home side to a 2-0 win. Boro have in fact lost five in a row at Upton Park with a Brian Deane goal in a 1-0 win back in April 2000 their only triumph in eleven visits.
At the sight of all those statistics I can see a frown breaking out on Gareth Southgate's forehead, as any journalist who gives the manager a history lesson in not doing well at a particular ground gets the usual response that Gareth is more interested in the future than worrying about the past.
There are certainly plenty of reasons for optimism about facing the West Ham challenge that are not solely centred on ninety excellent minutes against Birmingham City and one of those surrounds the form of Stewart Downing.
The winger's goal against City was his second of the season in his fifth Premier League game. Last season Stewart managed the same total in thirty-four starts.
The welcome addition of goals to his excellent approach play has many fans wondering how his contribution to England's back-to-back victories was just three minutes as a substitute against Russia?
The advantage to Boro is, however, that he arrived back at the training ground eager to get back playing again for his club.
The cameo appearance against Russia provided Stewy with his fifteenth cap and only Wilf Mannion with twenty-six caps won more whilst on Boros books. Yet when the national team fail, presumably because of a perceived link of favouritism by his former club boss Steve McClaren, he receives unjustified criticism from so called England fans.
I remember last season's game at West Ham came on the back of England's 3-0 win against Andorra. The pressure was on McClaren but at Upton Park we had the ludicrous sound of West Ham fans booing Downing.
Let's hope on Saturday he can silence the home support and inspire Boro to their second away win of the season.
The wait for an away win last season stretched to January 13 and that 3-1 win at Charlton but with three points from the trip to Craven Cottage already in the bank Boro have made a good start in the attempt to improve the points return from their travels.
One of the big questions, and the answer will not be provided until we get the team sheet, is will Gareth stick with the central midfield partnership of Arca and Rochemback which was so eye-catching in the home games with Newcastle and Birmingham?
Some wonder if they might be a bit lightweight for games away from home where you need to, on occasions, grind out results? But as Malcolm Crosby pointed out to me both players did their fair share of tackling in the recent Riverside outings and what flair and ability they provide to hurt the opposition.
If Rocky and Julio were retained then you would assume George Boateng would keep his place on the right but it underlines yet again the strength in the squad that Gareth is assembling that he has so many options with O'Neil, Cattermole and Shawky also looking for a first team shirt.
Sir Trevor Brooking's remarks that Premier League Academies are not producing enough top quality English players certainly don't ring true at Boro. Fourteen players currently on the books have progressed from the Academy to play for the first team and in recent years Boro have produced more England internationals at all levels than any other club.
Perhaps the former West Ham star would be better employed praising our Academy manager Dave Parnaby and then settling back into his seat at Upton Park to enjoy the performances of Downing, Taylor, Wheater and Cattermole.
I have put at the bottom of the column the fourteen players who have progressed from the Academy to the first team. See how many you can name!
After the long journey to West Ham, and a trip home with three points we hope, Bernie and I will be presenting Simply Red on Century FM on Sunday from 11 until 1pm.
Special guests lined up include Gordon Jones, Stuart Ripley, Jim Platt and Franck Queudrue. We will also have Sunday lunch for two to giveaway at the Bluebell and, courtesy of Ladbrokes, a pair of tickets to see the big derby, Boro v Sunderland.
You can give us your thoughts on Boro as well by calling 08450021100 or send a text on 85102.
Academy Graduates
Downing, Turnbull, Jones, Davies, Bates, Cattermole, Johnson, McMahon, Wheater, Taylor, Kennedy, Hines, Walker, Craddock. All are English apart from Brad Jones.
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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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