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ALASTAIR BROWNLEE'S BORO v MANCHESTER CITY MATCH PREVIEW 9-5-08
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After last week's comfortable victory over Portsmouth guaranteed Boro's Premier League safety, the final game of the season on Sunday will hopefully see the team round off the campaign in style with a victory over Manchester City.
It seems, however, that Gareth Southgate will not spend too much time relaxing during the close season as the manager is determined to do all he can to ensure that the club moves forward in season 2008-09.
The manager has spoken this week about his determination to repay the chairman’s faith in him and certainly there have been times this season when Gareth must have been grateful that he was working for Steve Gibson.
A run of ten Premier League games without a win and the FA Cup horror show against Cardiff when the road to Wembley seemed wide open have been low points. Yet Gibson has never wavered in his belief that Southgate is the right man for the job.
Positives can be taken from the way in which Tuncay looks to have adapted fully to the demands of the Premier League. This is a point underlined by back-to-back goals against Sunderland and Portsmouth.
Tuncays partnership up front with Afonso Alves also seems rich in promise and should considerably boost the goals for column.
The find of the season has to be David Wheater, who has gone in a twelve-month spell from being on loan at Darlington to a call up to the England squad.
The Supporters' Club Young Player of the Year Award was a fully deserved recognition of the consistent form shown by a local lad who clearly has pride in pulling on the Boro shirt.
Wheater remains not just a player but a fan. This was underlined when he missed the Sheffield United FA Cup replay due to a suspension but instead of taking up the offer of a seat in the director's box, the centre half sat with his friends behind the goal.
This was similar to former striker David Hodgson, who was also suspended for an FA Cup tie back in 1981 against West Bromwich Albion. “Hodgy” caused a stir by giving up a seat at Ayresome Park to stand in the Holgate End and cheer on the team.
The Supporter's Club Player of the Year Award went to Stewart Downing and providing that the winger starts against Manchester City, then Downing will have started every Premier League game for Boro this season.
At twenty-three he has already played over 160 games for the Boro and this season has added goals to his game, being the joint top scorer with eight.
Stewart’s signature on a new contract was another of the major plusses this season and in so many ways (particularly for his consistency), he reminds me of another great Boro winger of the Seventies: David Armstrong.
City arrive at the Riverside on the back of two defeats - to Fulham and Liverpool. They have clearly made progress this season and on fifty-five points, they have thirteen more than the team finished with last time around.
City have also completed the double over neighbours Manchester United and for that alone the manager should be secure in his job. However, owner Thaksin Shinawatra does not have the patience of Steve Gibson and it looks as if the match on Sunday will be the final game in charge for Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Eriksson has been talked about as the new manager for Benfica but a danger to Boro might be if the City players want to give their boss a good send off should the match at the Riverside be his last.
Memories of great clashes with Manchester City inevitably, for me, come down to the final match of season 2004-05 when Boro travelled to City looking for a point to qualify once more for the UEFA Cup.
With the match all square at 1-1 and moving into stoppage time, Rob Styles awarded City a penalty. It was the ultimate football shoot-out as Robbie Fowler had the chance to score from the spot and put City, not Boro, into Europe.
Thankfully, Mark Schwarzer made a great save and a certain commentator made him “the greatest Australian hero since Ned Kelly!”. This was a comment that even made the sports pages “down under”.
There is the possibility that Sunday might be the final time we see Schwarzer in goal for Boro.
Personally, I hope he stays and is still our number one in August. If he does move on however, I hope that the fans will recognise that to stay eleven years plus at one club in these modern times is a remarkable achievement.
It is the final Simply Red of the season on Century Radio on Sunday and Bernie and I will preview the Manchester City game and look back over the season.v
Up for grabs, as always, is Sunday lunch for two at the Bluebell Hotel, Acklam Road, Middlesbrough and guests will include Gordon Jones and Craig Hignett.
So why not join in the fun from 11am by giving us a call on 08450021100 or send a text to 85102.
This is my final column for the season and I hope that you have enjoyed reading my previews during the past year.
I wish all Boro fans a great summer and let's come back in August ready to cheer on the team to hopefully a terrific season.
Enjoy your break and Up the Boro!
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A GUARANTEED PROFIT OF AT LEAST £41.00 ON THE UEFA CUP FINAL
Did you know that it is possible to win money on Wednesday evening's Uefa Cup Final between Rangers and Zenit St Petersburg, whatever the result?
The game kicks off at 7.45pm 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 £80.00 on the Rangers v Zenit St Petersburg match and we will collect £122.63 if Rangers win, £123.90 if Zenit St Petersburg win and £121.00 if it's a draw. That's a minimum profit of 51%, 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.
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 £34.00 into your Extrabet account.
3. Now make the following bets.
Place £20.00 on the draw at 3.20 (11/5) with Coral.
Coral will now add a £10.00 bonus to your account. Place this on the draw as well. You will now have £30.00 riding on the draw.
Back Rangers with £26.00 at 3.9 (14/5) (or higher if available) with Betfair.
Place £34.00 on Zenit St Petersburg at 2.13 (11/10) with Extrabet .
Extrabet match your first bet up to £25 so you will now have £59.00 riding on Zenit St Petersburg.
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 £80.00 on the Rangers v Zenit St Petersburg 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 it's a draw, you collect £121.00. That's £96.00 from Coral plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If Rangers win, you collect £122.63. That's £97.63 from Betfair plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If Zenit St Petersburg win you collect £123.90. That's £98.90 from Extrabet plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
5. This means that the worst case scenario on the Rangers v Zenit St Petersburg match is a draw and you make £41.00 profit. However, if Rangers win you make £42.63 and if Zenit St Petersburg win you make £43.90. That's a minimum profit of 51%, 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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