|
 |
THE ROCKLIFFE FILES - JUST LIKE MOSES, BORO FANS ARE BEING TESTED 8-8-08
Toby Higgins
Anyone who told you they were pleased or relieved that England hadn’t qualified for the European Championships this summer could be one of two things; either they’re not an England fan or they’re a liar.
You either support a team or you don’t. Of course, we all talk about things like who we’d like to see win the Champions League or the F.A. Cup, but often that’s more to do with a hatred for one of the sides involved.
“I don’t care who wins the Champions League, as long as it’s not Chelsea”. Then, by default, you are supporting a Manchester United win.
There isn’t an alternative with England though, not really. If you were born outside of the island, or even if you have parents of overseas heritage (in football terms, Scotland, the Ireland’s and Wales fall into this category) you are in the fortunate position of having a choice.
But if you, as plenty of us are, have been English born and bred and follow your footy, you’re an England fan.
One witty line with reference to this summer’s competition, and England’s absence, was something like,
“It’s like having Christmas but without spending time with the family.”
Funny, no doubt, and a clever use of metaphor. But nonetheless, it’s absolute rubbish.
Christmas is special because, although we might pretend we’d rather be elsewhere, family is where you belong for that one time in the year, with the people you never see or talk to, and it wouldn’t be right without them.
The Euros without England felt equally as hollow, though thoroughly watchable.
To suggest that England not being there was in some way a blessing is just a way of tranquilising the pain administered by the elimination in the qualification group.
Anyone who says otherwise, isn't an England fan.
Imagine. You turn up to the first game of the season against Spurs. You get gassing to your mates about the summer, the signings, and the season ahead. One person chirps up,
“I’ll tell you what, I hope Boro get knocked out of the Carling Cup in Round Two and the F.A. Cup in Round Three because we’re never going to win it anyway so we might as well just get knocked out now and save the hassle. And maybe it’ll give the pre-Madonna players a kick up the arse. I hope we go down as well because we’re never going to win the League so what’s the point.”
Not the kind of thing a fan says, really. But many, many England ‘fans’ have said pretty much the same this summer regarding the national team.
Every tournament sees a star created. Some players live off that reputation and, somehow, forge a career at the very top level based on it.
For others, the tournament marks the beginning of the end – stone cold proof that a player can’t eat at football’s top table any longer.
Amongst fans, and the papers, speculation about transfers is rife.
Surprisingly, not many have made moves since Spain defeated Germany. Stars like Villa and Xavi have stayed put, so have Ronaldo and Arshavin. Even those not involved in the tournament - Lampard, Adebayor and Drogba - have settled their differences with their clubs.
The Barry saga rumbles on in the background and Robbie Keane’s move to Liverpool is probably the biggest talking point of a relatively standard transfer window.
Not particularly exciting. Reading the predictions for Boro’s season from fellow writers suggests not many are hopeful of a top ten push this season.
Didier Digard and Marv Emnes are young and untested and while the latter may prove a more exciting signing than his fellow import, neither will put any more bums on seats for next season.
Coupled with that, the departures of Rochemback, Schwarzer, Cattermole, Boateng and, at time of writing, Luke Young have been slightly odd in terms of firstly numbers, and secondly, experience.
1405 games worth of first team appearances has gone and with the only replacements, Emnes and Digard, having mustered only 147 career appearances between them, the squad looks very short on experience.
Consider this for a team on the opening day of the season:
Jones, McMahon, Huth, Wheater, Pogatetz, Aliadiere, O’Neil, Shawky, Downing, Mido, Alves
Their respective ages:
26, 22, 23, 21, 25, 25, 25, 26, 24, 25, 27 – average age – 24.4.
The average age of a subs bench - given the increased allowance to seven subs for this season - of Turnbull (23), Taylor (22), Riggott (27), Digard (22), Johnson (21), Tuncay (26) and Emnes (20) would be just 23, making the average age of an 18 man squad a frightening 23.7 years old.
With only Arca (27) missing, that’s it. Just eight days before the new season, that’s our squad.
At 27, Alves is the oldest. He’s the ‘experience’ the team will be looking to when things go wrong. He’s the reason we haven’t had a spectacular summer signing because he was it, only he was bought six months prematurely.
So not only does he have the rest of the team looking to him when the chips are down (and with the Boro, they often are) he’s got every fan, expert and pundit wanting him to prove (or not, as the case may be) he’s worth the £12million shelled out for him. It’s a tough, tough job.
With a nutcase like Pogatetz as captain and one of the leagues youngest ever managers in charge, this season could go one of two ways – though in reality, it’ll go right down the middle. Anywhere between twelfth and fourteenth and the jobs a good’n.
Just like Moses was tested by God in the desert, Southgate is testing the patience of the Boro fans.
He may be young but at the start of his third season, this is now Southgate’s team.
It’s time for him, and his players, to repay the faith shown in him by the fans and his chairman and time to start making some serious progress because in football, as in life, if you’re not moving forwards, you’re moving backwards.
Up the Boro.
BACK TO THE ROCKLIFFE FILES INDEX
CREDIT CRUNCH RELIEF - A GUARANTEED PROFIT OF AT LEAST £43.60 ON MANCHESTER CITY v ARSENAL
The Premier League returns to action this weekend and did you know that it is possible to win money on Saturday afternoon's clash between Manchester City and Arsenal, whatever the result?
The game kicks off at 3.00pm UK Time and we can guarantee you a profit of at least £43.60, 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 £43.60 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 £111.00 on the Manchester City v Arsenal match and we will collect £154.60 if Arsenal win, £155.00 if Manchester City win and £156.86 if it is a draw. That's a minimum profit of 39%, 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 Sky Bet .
Open an account with Betfair. It is really important that you enter the promotional code of FTB125 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 £48.00 into your new Sky Bet
account.
Deposit £38.00 into your new Betfair account.
Deposit £25.00 into your Extrabet account.
3. Now make the following bets.
Place £48.00 on Arsenal at 6/5 with Sky Bet
.
Sky Bet will now add a £20.00 free bet to your account. Place this on Arsenal as well. You will now have £68.00 riding on Arsenal.
Back the draw with £38.00 at 3.6 (or higher if available) with Betfair.
Place £25.00 on Manchester City at 3.1 (21/10) with Extrabet .
Extrabet match your first bet up to £25 so you will now have £50.00 riding on Manchester City.
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 £111.00 on the Manchester City v Arsenal 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. All winnings are paid out on the ninety minute result.
If Arsenal win, you collect £154.60. That's £129.60 from Sky Bet plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If it's a draw, you collect £156.86. That's £131.86 from Betfair plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If Manchester City win you collect £155.00. That's £130.00 from Extrabet plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
5. This means that the worst case scenario on the Manchester City v Arsenal match is Arsenal win and you make £43.60 profit. However, if Manchester City win you make £44.00 and if it's a draw win you make £45.86. That's a minimum profit of 39%, 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 three 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 this is the fifth season that we have been publishing arbitrage bets 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.
|
|
|
|
