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A FOOTBALL PROBLEM 16-10-07
Jeff Winter
As you should have been very aware Graham Fordy was a guest in the studio on Saturday evening. If you missed the show you can hear what was said via the pod cast of the show on www.jeffwinter.co.uk.
As usual some find it easier to offer criticism rather than praise. I noted from the message boards that some just took it as another opportunity to hurl infantile abuse. Also some level accusations at me for not pinning Graham Fordy to a wall or something similar.
First of all let's get something straight he came on of his own accord and despite the club preferring to have him just on being interviewed by myself he willingly said he would take caller's questions.
I received a sack full of questions via text and email, but initially few phone calls. I understand this, as usually a tiny proportion of listeners will ever actually ever pick up the phone. Pity because usually those with most to say won't actually say it when given the opportunity.
It became apparent to me very early on that I would have been shooting the messenger if we had just gone on and on about ticket prices. Perhaps I was naive, but having had Darlo CE Jon Sotnick on the show a few weeks ago, which instigated several immediate initiatives to appease the fans then perhaps I was expecting the same.
That being said the Darlo initiatives, which gave Sunday football a chance (no bigger crowd than normal attracted this weekend), a reduced match admission charge for any three games from five produced a take up of 93, did play right into the hands of MFC.
There were questions regarding many things, the white band on the shirt being a popular one, but by far the biggest criticism for falling attendances was ticket cost. It was apparent that Steve Gibson will not be budged. He feels that the price charged is competitive and fair.
The problem is that with circa 23,000 attending regularly the majority, whilst not all agreeing with his philosophy, will still cough up. The reduced ticket pricing bandwagon has been shown at both Bolton and Blackburn not to actually work and revenue has actually decreased and attendances have not gone up.
I like everyone else would love to see the Riverside full every week but it does not appear that there is a cat in hell's chance of that happening. I have received some quite ridiculous suggestions for ticket prices. Whilst the tenner and fiver tickets for cup games is helpful, even at those prices I do not recall a full stadium.
Should similar prices be adopted for all games then financially we would find that our ability, sadly lacking as it is, would be non existent against the other foreign investment backed clubs in the Premiership.
The club state that they have not increased ticket prices for four seasons now, so why all the fuss now, ironically when the team appears to be trying to play the adventurous attacking football we all craved for.
Graham, in answering a call from a Forces wife, stated that the club will look at ticket concessions for different types of groups. One thing is for sure though that someone somewhere will still have a whinge whatever they do.
If the games were not broadcast on the foreign TV's would that help draw people back to the ground? I have my doubts as people have got out of the habit of going and will now pick and choose their games.
I personally left the studios frustrated on Saturday evening. I had given the fans a platform to speak on and the club an opportunity to listen and act. Will it be successful? I have my doubts.
Whilst first and foremost a fan, I can see both sides of the argument. It is a football problem, not just Boro's, but I care about the Boro and hope an easy compromise can be reached.
Football is not cheap any more, thanks in the main to players wages. The only way that ticket pricing can realistically decreased is if the stupid wages being paid now are decreased drastically. Will that happen? No chance.
Where do we go from here, I just don't know, but like thousands of you I am embarrassed by the empty seats and somebody has to take note and act quickly!
I will continue to champion the cause for the fans though. If we don't keep up the pressure nothing will change. My number is 01642 616666, so give me a call on a Saturday evening from 5.30 till 7pm.
Whilst we all get upset by football and it takes over some of our lives, time for a reality check. Take a look at my website www.jeffwinter.co.uk or the www.tfmradio.com site and read about TFM Radio's Make a Child Smile. An empty seat is nothing to the emptiness of losing a child to cancer. Please help me and our charity to make a difference.
YOU CAN READ MANY MORE OF JEFF'S ARTICLES ON HIS OFFICIAL SITE
RETURN TO JEFF WINTER'S SOCCER SPOTLIGHT INDEX HERE
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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