Wagering

So,... it's Saturday so it's obviously time to have as big a mug punt as possible. And today is no exception.

I've had a throw away £20 on Sunderland to win as their price of 17.0 is almost as crazy as Martin O'Neill.

I simply cannot accept that Sunderland would only win one confrontation in seventeen against a Man City team who are feeling the pressure and without their best player who has injured his foot having suffered an allergic reaction to Joe Hart's nail polish.

I haven't got the figures back from the lab yet, but I'm pretty sure that crappy teams are priced unflatteringly when they play "big teams". I don't think a team like Swansea for example should ever be 7/1 against any other team in the Premier League regardless of where the match is played.

In a two horse race, even when one of the horses is from Wales, I don't think the disparity between top and bottom of the league can justify a price of that size in a one off game. What I like to do for fun and because it might win me enough money to buy an inexhaustible supply of Pop Tarts, is to seek out a week when there's a bunch of these types of games in one weekend and lump them all together in a Yankee or some such multi-way concoction.

And why not?

So this week, the Sunderland bet has been invested in singularly as it's so big. So our Yankee mug punt of this weekend comprises; Swansea (7/1) to beat Sperz, West Brom (7/2) to beat Everton, Norwich (4/1) to beat Fulham and finally Aston Villa 4/1 at home to beat Chelsea.

This pays nearly £9,000. Just enough for a very disappointing pasty and tank of petrol.

* * *

I understand Villa fans are planning a minute's applause for Stilian Petrov, recently diagnosed with cancer, at the 19th minute of the game.

I like this idea. It's a far more appropriate way of fans showing support to their players whose lives are turned upside down by illness and the general unpredictability of life.

Anything pre-match should be reserved specifically for marks of respect for the deceased and Delia Smith addressing Norwich fans with her foul-mouthed incoherent motivational speeches when she's shit faced.