Matt

Those stats are misleading though- Bellamy was not the main striker, Shearer was. A comparison of goals and assists would be more accurate.

My switch to overpriced bottles of water has paid dividends this morning. The Academy was toxic, you could hardly breathe on the bottom floor, they need some bloody air-con in there! Nice to see you gents.

You do remember checking it into the cloakroom at the Academy, don't you?

He may be an odious toerag but he always gave 100% when he played and hasn't turned round and slagged the club off in the way that Ginola or Hamann did.

It's as if they knew where they needed to strengthen, found the players well in advance and got them for buttons. Amateurs.

Glytone Serious Shaving Cream. Smells a bit like Savlon but works a treat, leave it on for a couple of minutes first. Then got this stuff called Tend Skin which is great for stopping razor rash and ingrowing hairs- it's pretty strong though. I wouldn't shave just before you go out as you'll smell like Isopropanol. Switched about a month ago, great difference.

Aye, usual palava. See you there half an hour later than I originally say. See you all at 1ish.

D1 Oils, I assume?

Has to be said, at least he's got an original comeback.

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We'll be fucked if he picks up anything. Imagine going into the Liverpool game with Sibierski leading the line. We might as well save the effort and give them the points in advance.

Tiscali come down pretty heavy on those who use a lot of bandwidth- my boss switched his home provided because they slowed his net access right down after his son played online games every night.

You do though don't you though? When you win. Hope you dont put too much money on, themags, HF is correct- most markets are 5% commission on winnings, asian handicap markets are 1%.

Rob, have ever been on Betfair? Loved the betting tax comment though.....

The game's a sellout, so enjoy getting turfed out when the Liverpool fan who has your seat comes calling.

Yep, you are limited by liquidity, so put those millionaire dreams away. Interestingly, on the 'total goals' market, nearly all the liquidity is on '1 goal or more' which suggests that you are in good number in making these bets, while there are just as many people willing to take you on at such short odds. There's about £100k sitting either side of the fence on the Liverpool-Everton game for example.

The key is that this market is Asian Handicap, which means that commission is 1% and not the usual 5%.

By the way, are you backing on these bets, or laying 0-0- in which case are you laying £2 at 11, with a resultant liability of £20 Or am I missing a 'back a goal' option?

Fair enough you can roll your winning over early on, but then you have to look at splitting your bets. Seeing as it is inevitable that sooner or later a game will be 0-0, you are relying purely on self control. Why not get to say, £200 then split 2 or even 3 ways. If you're betting strategy is that good, it won't take you too long to get back to where you were before and seeing as patience is the key, why piss away good winnings on 1 result?

"Ce bus est plein de racailles", which is my experience of the 43, is less cool.

Howard Webb, wasn't it?

3-1 is not so much papering over the cracks, but putting a tarpaulin over the Grand Canyon. The number of basic ball-control errors we made tonight was alarming. We need to get out on the training pitch and learn how to track runners as well, every time Villa got men over on the wing while 4 of our lot were stood in the centre. And what was up with Dyer? Sauntering around for most of the second half, if he's knacked- take him off! As soon as Butt went off we lost our shape and Parker went into headless chicken mode.

West Ham are stupid to offer that much and Charlton likewise for turning it down.

Harte has been out for a year with a serious injury and they aren't sure he'll ever be able to make a top-level return.