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THE PROBLEM OF BEING YOUNG 13-8-08
Udayan Mukherjee
There's no getting out of it now. Season tickets and Boro Pride cards are nearly all sent out, despite a problem with the printers used by Boro.
In a neat package, there is a message from Steve Gibson. There is also a statement as to why your season card isn’t just a ticket because it also gets you a lot of things that you don’t want.
Boro shirts a day before everyone else? Pfft! Free entry to Reserve matches! Bah!
I want personal phone calls from Gibbo, a personal masseuse and seats that don’t feel they’re made out of material specifically designed to hurt your arse, like.
On the back of mine, there is a picture of Stewart Downing in our new black and blue away strip. It is a blown up image cut from the extraordinary poster containing several players wearing the same attire and all looking like a selection of cuttings from Roald Dahl’s scrapbook.
At first glace it looks - dare I say it – cool. And in a way it is, despite the protagonists looking like they are running towards a common goal in their action poses. This common goal is seemingly to reach the toilets in double quick time. Bass drum, bass drum, cymbal. Ahem.
In any case, despite the club's previous reputation as being out of touch with the supporters, I have been deeply impressed with the recent efforts from the PR department and there have been some excellent ideas so far.
I am talking about the recent training session at the Riverside in particular. Gareth Southgate wanted to have all of his pre-season friendlies away from home but also wanted to give the fans a view of their heroes.
In the end, despite the rain threatening to put a dampener on things, a reasonably large crowd saw warm down exercises and a small but competitive match amongst players pushing for a first team berth.
The players, who included a newly slim and toned Mido, signed autographs for fans happily. Tuncay in particular seemed to be enjoying himself, prancing about as he was with a smile as wide as the Tees.
Perhaps we shouldn’t really look into it but Mido seemed to be working with two coaches by himself, whilst the rest of the players split into two teams and underwent coaching drills.
This is perhaps an indication that he is not fully up to speed yet and with reports emanating of a slight niggle, he may not quite be able to start against Tottenham. However, with the strength we have up front at the moment, this is not too great a concern.
What may be a huge worry to many supporters is the sale of Luke Young.
For me, he is the best right back we have had for several seasons and looked a cool, composed and committed member of the backline. In the event, it seems that £6 million is a huge sum of money for a twenty-nine year old right back.
Everyone seemed to be in a state of shock when the deal went through and I certainly worry about the replacement.
One wonders who it will be. The papers say that we have lodged an official bid for Justin Hoyte amongst others who have yet to be disclosed.
Personally I believe that if Tony McMahon can stay clear of injuries, then we have a future England international on our hands.
It is clear that Middlesbrough Football Club are trying to balance the books somewhat and this is understandable given the frivolous nature of the spending in previous years, especially in regards to player sales.
“Here you go! This player is worth at least £3million. You can have him for free though because I’m quite clearly mental. I’m going to be England manager one day, you know. Treeeeemendous!”
There are two sides to this argument though. Although £6million for a twenty-nine year old is undoubtedly great business, it seems that Young was the closest thing to experience that we had.
Youthful exuberance is one thing but sadly when the chips are down this could lead to a frightening loss of confidence when all that is needed is for an older head to tell them to calm down.
It seems that we can never do things by halves at Middlesbrough. Around a decade ago, the trio of Paul Gascoigne, Andy Townsend and Robbie Mustoe had a combined age that equalled that of Alpha Centurai.
Other veritable granddads such as Pallister, Cooper and Deane (sounds like a shite lawyers firm, that) lumbered around our pitch in a manner that evoked memories of scenes from Jurassic Park. And not the exciting death-by-big-gnashers scenes either.
It seems we have gone full tilt in that decade and although there are internationals in this team, we seem ridiculously young.
I would venture that in the football world, there are very few sights worse than watching talented youngsters who could have made the very top of the game reduced to nervous wrecks due to a lack of confidence.
Gareth Southgate, I believe, will have the personal skills to deal with those crises of confidence but perhaps it is not a decision that he should have made.
I believe one or two older heads are needed. Professionals who know the game well and can lead on the pitch to guide the youngsters through games as there is only so much the manager and his staff (who also lack experience) can do.
I was ridiculously optimistic in my column last week but I am unsure as to what to feel now.
We now have a season that depends as much on the winds of fate as it does with the actual ability of the players.
We could ride the tide of youthful exuberance to a comfortable top ten finish (and believe me, that isn’t beyond us) or be crying out for the metaphorical Ritalin of older heads in January as an antidote to the spoilt brats running around at the Riverside.
All in all, I still feel optimistic but as a Boro fan that feeling that there will be an almighty cock up is never too far away.
Up the Boro
Udayan Mukherjee
BACK TO UDAYAN'S CORNER 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.
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