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ALASTAIR BROWNLEE'S SHEFFIELD UNITED v BORO MATCH PREVIEW 16-2-08
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The preparations for Boro's FA Cup tie at Bramall Lane on Sunday were given a huge boost when Stewart Downing agreed a new five-year deal to stay at the Riverside.
Despite the protracted nature of the contract discussions, Gareth Southgate never wavered from his determination to keep the twenty-three year old at his hometown club and undoubtedly the strong relationship between player and manager has played a part in an agreement finally being reached.
It has been a terrific few weeks for the club. The team are unbeaten since New Years' Day, winning four and drawing three league and cup matches since Everton recorded a victory at the Riverside.
Added to the upturn in results was the arrival of record signing Afonso Alves and now the decision of the highly talented, home-grown, England international winger to pledge his future to the Boro.
By contrast to the feel good factor around a Boro side who arrive at Sheffield United looking to book a quarter final place for the third season in a row, the Blades have parted company with Bryan Robson and Kevin Blackwell will take charge of United for the first time on Sunday.
Gareth Southgate, as well as sympathising with a fellow manager who has lost his job, was keen to emphasise all the good work Robson had put in during his time in charge of Middlesbrough.
'Robbo' took Boro into the Premier League in his first season as manager and then guided the club to three Wembley finals.
He also attracted world-class names to the Riverside such as Emerson, Juninho and Ravanelli, together with having a major influence on the club moving to the state of the art training ground at Rockliffe Park.
Robson was, in partnership with the backing of chairman Steve Gibson, one of the reasons why Boro moved to a new level within the game and he will always have the fans' thanks for his efforts.
This was in evidence when he received a terrific reception at the Riverside last season when he was the manager of West Brom, who Boro played at this same stage in the FA Cup.
Let's hope that Bryan Robson is back in a job in football soon.
Ironically, Boro face a Sheffield United side who are unbeaten in their last five games, including the fourth round victory over Manchester City. This game will be remembered for the balloons released by the visiting fans that played a role in United's first goal and set them on the way to a 2-1 victory.
The Blades have also put another Premier League side, Bolton, out of this season's competition so Boro will be in for a testing ninety minutes on Sunday.
One of the key players for Boro could be Jeremie Aliadiere. The striker scored the only goal last Saturday in the Premier League win over Fulham and has been putting in some excellent performances in recent weeks.
Gareth praised the young striker after the Fulham display and believes that Jeremie is showing the benefit of playing Premier League football week-in week-out. This is something he never managed to achieve at Arsenal.
Another major influence on the outcome could be the level of support backing Boro on Sunday. Close to 6,000 fans are making the short journey for the 2pm kick off and that will be, apart from cup semi and final ties, the largest away following for a decade.
Looking back over previous visits to Bramall Lane, I always remember one of my first away games following the Boro, when I travelled to Sheffield with my dad to watch the match on 12 October 1968.
To my delight Boro ran out comfortable 3-1 winners to consolidate their position amongst the teams pushing for promotion with goals from Dave Chadwick, Mike Kear and Derrick Downing.
Bramall Lane in those days also played host to county cricket, with football stands on three sides and the cricket pitch and pavilion on the other.
As the match wore on Boro players had great fun running down the clock by kicking the ball as far across the cricket pitch as possible, much to the frustration of the home fans and players!
Included in the Boro side that day was legendary striker John Hickton who is one of the guests on this week's Simply Red Sunday on Century Radio.
Craig Hignett and Alan Ramage will also help preview the big game, linking in with Bernie and I who will be presenting the programme from Bramall Lane from 11am until 1pm.
There will also be the usual features, including the opportunity for you to win Sunday lunch for two at the Bluebell Hotel, Acklam Road, Middlesbrough.
So why not join in the fun ahead of the fifth round tie by giving Bernie and I a call on our usual number 08450021100 or you can send a text to 85102.
Good luck to the Boro and let's hope that on Monday we are in the draw for the FA Cup quarter finals!
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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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