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Weekend football tips - Euro Qualifiersby Ben, last updated 2006-10-04 18:28:59Gerry's Picksby Gerry McDonnellWhere are you now... when I kneed youWithout constructive criticism, improvement is virtually impossible. Armed with this noble philosophy and an in depth knowledge of the beautiful game, I have decided to share a couple of potentially helpful observations with the great minds of the English FA. Steve McClaren is a tool. Macca was a poor manager at club level, he's so far out of his depth on the international stage that it's a miracle he's not suffering from the bends. His original decision to drop Beckham was flawed at best, but when offered the ‘get out of jail free' card that was the injuries to Hargreaves and Lennon, he preferred to utilise the ‘skills' of Jenas, Downing and Richardson. You simply can't back this England team at odds of 1/10 against a reasonable Macedonian outfit; although I wouldn't dissuade anyone from perming a 1-0 / 2-0 / 3-0 win at a much healthier 7/5. I'm not a great admirer of Peter Crouch as a rule, but thanks to a process of elimination i've reached the shocking conclusion that he's England's most likely goal scorer. Rooney's struggling, Gerrard's wasted on the wing, Downing's a million miles from international class and Lampard would need 29 attempts to score on an 18-30 (stone) holiday. Back Crouch at even money to keep up his incredible recent record. If the England team were picked on current form, Wayne Rooney wouldn't get a look in; he's currently giving the ball away like a ginger schoolboy. Wayne hasn't scored a competitive goal for England for over two years, my initial shock at seeing 8/13 for a Rooney goal soon faded as the realisation dawned that he'll be available at 6/5 not to score. Merry Christmas, everyone. Most people know ELO as the awful 1970's progressive rock outfit, but the ELO ratings are a tool for judging the strengths of international football teams. While FIFA have Scotland as the 34th strongest team in world football, ELO show a more realistic 40th place. Strangely, both differ dramatically from my own personal rating system, where the Sweaties are sandwiched between the Amazonian Forest and Krakatoa in 594th place. France have the luxury of a match against Scotland at Hampden; or ‘Le Bye' as it's known in Paris. Value is normally harder to find than a Scotsman at a World Cup but the French are the literal definition at 7/10. Call me paranoid, but before buying lamb from a butcher I always enquire from where the meat originated; you can't be too careful. Wales host Slovakia in their qualifier and an away win is definitely on the cards. The Slovaks have seen off Germany and France over the last year; you should get involved at 2/1. How on earth did the phrase ‘the luck of the Irish' originate? An 80 year war for independence must have been grating, running out of potatoes is always annoying and if conclusive proof was needed that luck is not on their side; they landed in the same qualifying group as Germany and the Czech Republic. The Irish have been decimated by injuries for their trip to Cyprus, the draw appeals at 16/5. Northern Ireland's recent win over Spain was perhaps the most unlikely result since Goliath took a dive against David after laying himself heavily on the exchanges. There are many phrases that could adequately describe the 2/7 on offer for a Danish side (who have recently destroyed Poland, Portugal and England) playing at home to Lawrie Sanchez's minnows; I've settled for ‘the best bet in the history of gambling'. The Italians have stubbornly refused to win in their campaign so far, somehow knowing they were the last leg of my accer. Italy destroyed Ukraine in a world cup quarter final in the summer, a repeat at 1/2 should not be ruled out. Ever since I watched Prisoner Cell Block H as a child, i've felt a strong affinity with the Aussies. Bea Smith's fight against drugs within the prison system was as inspirational as it was dramatic. Australia face Paraguay in a friendly match live on Eurosport, I like the Aussies at a criminally large 11/10. There's always something happening in the Dutch camp. An injury to Huntelaar forced the Holland manager to offer Van Nistelrooy a return to the International stable, but the Ruud boy told Van Basten where to stick his olive branch, and it wasn't in a local dike. Holland have the quality to stroll to a win in Bulgaria, the 4/5 should be snapped up. The acc of the week: This week's accer is so delightful; Paul McCartney is considering reuniting with Heather Mills as a direct result. "I may go out on a limb and ask her to come back," a loved up McCartney may have mused. Slovakia, France, Holland, Denmark and Italy are the teams, the payout is a generous 16/1. The quote of the week "I don't like diving, football doesn't need it." Wayne Rooney on the curse of the modern game; Sol Campbell is currently looking for a fresh pair of underpants. The lay man: While the fat cats hoover up all the free money laying Northern Ireland at 16/1, us normal Joes can make a profit taking on the Sweaties at 6/1. Weekend Betting: Wales v Slovakia Saturday 7th October 15:00 Live on Sky Wales 6/4 Draw 11/5 Slovakia 2/1 Selection: Slovakia Suggested bet No bet England v Macedonia Saturday 7th October 17:00 Live on BBC England 1/10 Draw 8/1 Macedonia 33/1 Selection: England Suggested bet England to win either 1-0/2-0/3-0 3 pts @ 7/5 Scotland v France Saturday 7th October 17:00 Live on Sky Scotland 9/2 Draw 5/2 France 7/10 Selection: France Suggested bet France to win 2 pts @ 7/10 Cyprus v Rep of Ireland Saturday 7th October 17:30 Cyprus 13/2 Draw 16/5 Rep of Ireland 1/2 Selection: Draw Suggested bet Lay Ireland at 1/2 (to win 2 pts) Bulgaria v Holland Saturday 7th October 19:00 Bulgaria 4/1 Draw 12/5 Holland 4/5 Selection: Holland Suggested bet No bet Denmark v Northern Ireland Saturday 7th October 19:00 Live on BBC NI Denmark 2/7 Draw 4/1 Northern Ireland 16/1 Selection: Denmark Suggested bet Denmark to win 7 pts @ 2/7 Italy v Ukraine Saturday 7th October 19:50 Italy 1/2 Draw 14/5 Ukraine 13/2 Selection: Italy Suggested bet No bet Australia v Paraguay (Int'l friendly) Saturday 7th October 10:30 Live on Eurosport Australia 11/10 Draw 9/4 Paraguay 3/1 Selection: Australia Suggested bet No bet Bet with bet365 | betdirect | bluesquare ← Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 Next → |
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