UPDATE .....

Alfreton Town showed a little mercy after the break and "only" won 14-0 !

Below is an update to my freebie email of saturday ....

Manchester United 2.20, Celtic 2.03 and Brendan de Jonge up to 5.60 provided a perfect three from three over the weekend.

In July I have given 38 official ( red type) selections, so, an average of just under 8.75 per week. Three have resulted in a "push" ( stakes returned) , with 14 losers and 21 winners, a total of 50 units were invested and returns were 79.92 units, that is a terrific ROI of 159.84 %, biggest winner was 8.0 and we also " hit the woodwork" with another @ 8.50. There were four "maximum bets" given and three won at odds of 8.0, 3.10 and 2.25 !!!

A 100 euro flat stake per unit for the period, on all red type selections would have made a profit of 2,992 euros and I think the maximum stake ever tied up at any one time was 4.5 units.

However, as I always tell anyone who will listen, the newsletter and my previews are about far more than just basic results and there should always be plenty of winners "hidden" away amongst the content, so I would urge any of you that get the opportunity to read it fully each day.

Good Luck.

contact: stencelwade@btinternet.com

WHAT'S THE POINT ?

I just do not see the point of clubs sending out a team to be slaughtered, what good does that do ? If you are not going to at least try to win the game, or at least keep it competitive, then don't bother playing !

A Sheffield Wednesday XI went to play non league Alfreton Twon this afternoon, they sent a young group of players, but were they also playing blindfolded ( ?), as they are 9-0 down at half time !

The first team played at home to Stoke City yesterday, but surely Gary Megson could have mixed an Academy side up with a few experienced hands this afternoon ! This shows scant respect for opponent, the youngsters ( what good is another almighty thumping going to do for them confidence wise) and most of all, the long suffering supporters.

I have a lot of time for Owls fans, they are a big club that have had a very tough time of things, tehy should be in the EPL not League 1, but they always travel in huge numbers to games and I can guarantee that "XI" or not, a couple of hundred have turned up today and for what ? To see their side humiliated !

I don't doubt that they are taking it in good heart by now and are probably cheering each goal as loudly as the home fans, but I would be seething if my team did that and the very least you can expect as a supporter, is that your team puts out a side that can compete. Apart from providing ammunition for Sheffield United fans and those of every other Yorkshire club, what was the point of today's exercise ?

I voiced my concerns about Megson last season and he needs a very solid start to this season IMO to still be in work at Christmas.

Good Luck.

SUNDAY ....

I only had one "official"selection yesterday, Manchester United off level ball at circa 2.20 to beat Barcelona, the best club side in the world, which I made a strong ( 1.5 unit) pick. That was not posted on the blog, but I did send it out to everyone in my active data base and I hope that some of you got on.

The match in Washington was played in front of a 81,000 + crowd and despite both fielding much changed teams from the two which did battle in the Champions League final just two months ago. It was a good match and very well received in a massive, still largely untapped football market, where "soccer" is gaining in popularity on a daily basis.

United won 2-1 and despite it being a meaningless fixture, Sir Alex had to win this one, if he could not win when all the advatages were with his team and Barcelona were basically fielding a B team, when would it ever happen ? I think he was well aware of the psychological effect that could have had, after all, no one likes playing mind games more than Fergie and that is why he also rested one or two stars..... always nice to have an excuse ready and waiting. Having said all that, I have no doubt that both he and his squad really wanted this one and United enter the new season in buoyant mood.

I watched a pre season game between Aldershot Town and my beloved Brentford, these are two teams about whom I have already "shown my hand", as all of you who took part in the seven day trial should be aware and everything I said about both still stands, even more so after what I saw yesterday ! I might go into more detail later in the week.

The new UK domestic season gets underway next weekend , I can hardly wait and am already planning three maximum stake selections for the next seven days, having only had three in the last month, all of which won, so fingers crossed !

The World Cup qualifying draw took place in Rio yesterday, with Ronaldo ( the original) shoe horned into his suit and picking the top teams. Incredibly this only took $30m to stage and they accuse frugal FIFA of wasting money ! I do not think that Joe Public realises how difficult it is to pick small balls out of a large bowl and FIFA deserve credit for being able to do it at such low cost ! Well done Sepp !

Good Luck.

FRIDAY ..... THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE ....

Ligue 2 restarts in France today and don't expect a flood of goals, defences traditionally rule the roost in this low scoring league and that has especially been the case through the opening rounds, with Round 1 games through the last two seasons averaging 1.90 goals and over the last four campaigns, exactly 2.0 per match.

Having said that, I am keen on Stade Laval tonight who host traditionally slow starters Clermont. Some of these teams over train pre season and this leaves them a little "leggy" early season, before they get the benefit and finish strongly, Guingamp back in the second flight after a one year hiatus in National, were very much in this camp and always "tend to fall out of the blocks", even in the third tier they only won one of their opening four starts, scoring just a solitary goal, it will be interesting to see how they perform in the next month or so, but I am getting distracted.

Clermont have won just one in 12 of their opening six matches in the last two seasons and having had a massive shake up in personnel over the summer, it is almost impossible to see them coming out all guns blazing in the opening weeks of this campaign. A huge loss is 20 goal marksman Sloan Privat who has returned to Sochaux, they have also lost their goal keeper, two defenders and three midfielders from the squad that eventually finished seventh last season and two more to injury today. This is also quite a long trip to a venue they have not had any recent success at and they made the five/six hour road trip by bus yesterday afternoon, which is something they will not have done for several months.

Hosts are a very strong home side, 9-9-1 last season, with the sole loss coming in a meaningless last day fixture, they have lost six of their last 56 starts in the last three seasons with four of those coming once the club had achieved their objective for the season, so very impressive. A lack of goals cost them last season, only Boulogne and Troyes of the teams that survived scored fewer, but they have tried very hard to address the problem signing four strikers in the summer and the club are quite pleased the way pre season has gone, despite results not quite backing that up, but at the end of the day, the season starts here. They have won their home opener in each of the last three seasons and I expect them to register a fourth today.

Laval -0.25 2.09 asian line..... this was written at 09.38 ... now trading @1.89

Good Luck

CONTACT: stencelwade@btinternet.com

THE MEANING OF VALUE AND THE VALUE OF FRIENDLIES .....

This morning I sent out a late supplement to my daily notes, it was written in haste and briefly, because I knew the odds would tumble.

It read a lot like this ....

Update:This is interesting ...........

West Brom play both tonight at Rochdale and tomorrow at Southampton.

The match at Saints was originally put up as a WBA XI, but I think that has changed. However, it is the match at Rochdale which is of more interest.

Albion have named just a 16 man squad, so will not be rotating much at all.

Only Bednar and Reid can be considered first team players, of the other 14, only three are in their 20's and only just ( one over 21).

The other 11 are 19 ( years of age)or younger and eight played in the last U18 match of last season, so this is very much a youth/reserve squad, I can find no record of seven of them really even appearing in the B team, certainly not on even a semi regular basis, but I was in a hurry.

There is some very promising talent there, but that is what it is, promising , with little real experience.

This is Dale's penultimate friendly, so we should see pretty much their starting League 1 line up and at 4.50 for the home win....... with Boyle, Chandlers, Bwin, Unibet, Hills and similar quotes elsewhere, I have to suggest a small bet at such big odds and again, the opening asian quotes should be interesting, Unibet actually have 3.40 draw no bet, which looks very solid.

This was sent out at 08.59 this morning. Not a huge amount of content, but you get the message . The asian line opened at circa 2.0 +0.5 ball and was down to 1.69 by kick off. The 4.50 disappeared within an hour or so, but there was time to get on at prices that were clearly wrong.

Rochdale lead at half time 2-0, I am not tempting fate by writing this as the result hardly matters ( OK maybe a little), it was a fantastic price and offered true value. If we can bet regularly like this, then the results will always follow.

It also illustrates what a fantastic betting medium these friendly games are....... having said all that , I hope they win !

Good Luck.

contact: stencelwade@btinternet.com

TUESDAY ..... URGENT

PLEASE CHECK YOUR INBOX ..... I have just sent an update with news of a 4.50 chance for tonight who should probably be sub 3.0, maybe even shorter !

Good Luck.

MONDAY ....

Thirteen days ago I sent out the email reproduced in the post below, it was quite detailed, ran to some 2,300 + words and in it I discussed three football friendlies, the Copa America and a stage of the Tour de France.

If you have a spare five minutes take a quick look and read, or re-read it.

All three football teams won, all scored three goals, in addition each of those match previews gave you some other information that has already led to other potential winners.

The cyclist discussed was just touched off on the line. Uruguay won the Copa America last night and you could have secured a huge profit even before the final was played, with opponent Paraguay trading at 3.15 + on the exchanges.

Those notes were good, very good, probably the best you will read anywhere and all of you who asked, got them for free.

I write stuff like that everyday, there are plenty of losers too, but over time the result is always the same. Five years on the blog and a massive profit every single year LINK, but my notes are different, they are much better, they are my notes, my personal thoughts and selections, all of them even my "in running" selections. Everyone of you were given the opportunity to receive them at cost, for about the price of a daily newspaper and without the hacking !

Good Luck.

contact: stencelwade@btinternet.com

SENT TO EVERYONE WHO ASKED .... TUESDAY JULY 12TH

TUESDAY JULY 12TH

There are three english domestic friendlies that I would like to discuss today. Going to start with the match between non league Tamworth and League 2 Aldershot Town. The hosts only managed to avoid relegation on the last day of the season and look set for another season of strife in the Conference National. Money is very tight at the Lamb Ground and a few days ago only ten players had signed contracts for the coming season, with a number of trialists taking part in two matches against very low opposition at the weekend, looking to secure deals. Others have refused deals for the semi professional club, whom it was said have offered the same ,or similar money to the squad for the fourth year running, despite asking them for greater commitment in regard to extra training sessions and therefore expense to players, who in some cases were driving an hour or more to attend sessions.

It is a completely different story at Aldershot, don't get me wrong, they are not exactly flush with funds, but boss Dean Holdsworth who made a very promising start to life as a coach at Newport County, is ultra professional in his approach. He had half a season to find out what was working and what was not at the Recreation Ground and has had the off season to get his own men in, including a very high level( by League 2 standards) backroom team. Deano, who was a hero at Brentford in a former life, is very thorough and keen to make a fast start to this campaign. So those of you that are only with me short term, please make a note of that. Not only were the Shots one of the first teams back training, but the entire squad trained at some time through the summer four or five at a time, this means they are very fit and advanced in preparation.

This was very clear at the weekend when they travelled to Farnborough Town, one of the better BSS teams last season who narrowly missed out on promotion and could easily have swapped places with Tamworth. Shots got better and better as the game progressed and ran out 4-0 winners, with newcomers Michael Rankine and especially Bradley Bubb who is lightning quick and scored 40 goals in 88 starts in the BSS impressing. The difference between how these two clubs have started their preseason is further highlighted by the fact that one of the Tamworth players missed the first week of training as he was still on holiday ! Holdsworth would never have stood for that. hard to see anything other than another away win, with Shots fitness advantage surely telling after the break if not before.

No asian odds for this game yet, I have seen 1.91 for Aldershot in a place and other companies are sure to quote later in the morning, at 1.85 + I make them a 1.5 unit selection.

All league meeting at Gigg Lane, where newly promoted Bury, under new coach Richie Barker, entertain Championship Burnley. The visitors took all of the first team squad aside from Charlie Austin to Altrincham on saturday and played two seperate starting elevens in each half. The first group did best, going in 3-0 ahead, with the second eleven easing home 4-2. All four strikers scored in Eagles, Paterson, MacDonald and Iwelumo, which students of the Championship will appreciate is a decent number of attractive options and that is without Austin, who is hungry to get back on track after missing much of last season with injury, following his big money transfer to the Clarets. He will almost certainly start tonight and having seen his fellow strike partners/rivals all score at the weekend, will be eager to follow suit. Boss Eddie Howe still has the basis of the squad which made it into the EPL , but is close to adding a couple of players this week. I know less about Howe in pre season, but as a club, Burnley have traditionally taken these warm up games quite seriously in recent seasons and will be keen to build on the good work shown at Altrincham. Bury will be fielding a couple of trialists, four new comers and possible a youth team player or two, so hard to see how they will have too much cohesion and I have to favour the away side.

One unit Burnley -0.5 ball 2.04 + asia..... there is some 2.10 with William Hill.

Braintree Town of Essex take on Leyton Orient and this is another match with plenty of interest, both on and off the field. The hosts won the BSS last season, but had hardly finished celebrating before coach Rod Stringer had walked out in a row over money ( of course). The club is run on very tight financial lines and Stringer felt that he and the players did not get what was due and possibly promised. Almost the whole squad was out of contract, but 12 have since resigned and new coach Alan Devonshire has added a couple of his own men, any oldies reading this might remember him from his West ham days, back then he was an elegant, slim, long haired talented footballer with a moustache ( very early 80's), now he is fat and bald, but I wouldn't tell him that !

Numbers are still light at Town and needing to find £175,000 to complete ground improvements to stay in the league, the squad budget has had to suffer. Given that and with Devonshire needing time to get to know the majority of his squad and having returned to training a couple of days after Orient, they are bound to be a little rusty and behind the League 1 team in preparation.

The O's had a terrific second half of the campaign and almost forced their way into the playoffs, eventually finishing seventh. Boss Russell Slade should and will make sure he takes plenty of credit for that and Championship club Barnsley tried to speak to him about their vacant managers position, but Orient chairman Barry Hearn refused, which did not go down well with Slade at all. I assume that all is forgiven and we are two months down the line now in any case, Slade has been given money and added to his squad with Leon McSweeney ( Hartlepool), Scott Cuthbert ( Swindon) and Jamie Cureton ( Exeter City) all of whom are proven performers at League 1 level. Cureton is a little long in the tooth and will be 36 next month, but scored 20 goals last season ( he has always been prolific at Championship level and below) , included 17 in just 34 league outings, a fantastic return. He will be a great addition to the squad and this all looks very solid business. Orient passed teams to death on occasion in the second half of last season and should have too much for what is sure to be a disjointed home side.

Only Bet365 have quoted this so far and Orient are priced terribly short at 1.40 which is useless. Maybe there will be a handicap line later, if not, at least we have some early notes on these two to take into the new season .

COPA AMERICA
Chile -Peru
Uruguay- Mexico

Tonight sees the final games in Group C and all is still to play for, even pointless Mexico can still ensure qualification with a win. Winner of the Chile-Peru game will top the group, a draw would leave the door open for Uruguay to claim that spot. The situation is further complicated because the team that finishes second in the group will travel to Santa Fe to play Argentina in the quarters , but you could win the group and get Brazil, so it is a case of be careful what you wish for !

Forget what you might read elsewhere, Chile and Peru have already qualified for the next stage, they are just playing for position in the draw and Uruguay no longer need to win, a point will ensure they finish as one of the top two third placed teams.

I am not really too interested in the first game, Chile have looked the stronger of the two sides and will again have massive support in Mendoza. Peru remain without Pizzaro and Farfan and the betting line in asia has moved almost a full quarter ball in favour of the chileans in the last 24 hours and that looks very much on the skinny side, but there are just too many imponderables here. By the time the second match starts, Uruguay who are very talented and still capable of winning this tournament will have far better idea of what is required and whom they are likely to face, they will be suited by playing a mexican team that will attack them and should win with a degree of comfort. Mexico are another nation that gave priority to the Gold Cup and have arrived here with a B squad minus all their stars. It is very much Uruguay's policy to start this tournament slowly, yet they have still made the semi finals at least in eight of the last eleven Copa's.

They have goals in them, three strikers Suarez, Forlan and Abreu have 73 international goals between them, that is double anything the Brazilian forwards have managed and some twenty more than the impressive array of attacking talent that Argentina boast have posted . In addition, keeping these three on their toes and pushing for starts are Abel Hernandez and Edinson Cavani, two young strikers of almost unlimited potential who have thrilled Serie A viewers in the last couple of seasons. Cavani 's goals helped fire Napoli into the Champions League this season and Hernandez has thrived at Palermo since Cavani departed and at just 20 yo, he might have an even greater future. These five give Uruguay the best pure striking options of any nation in the competition and the five are fairly interchangable.They have a solid experienced defence and a talented midfield where six of the players helped their european clubs book Champions League spots next season.

Cavani and Caceres are out tonight, so we should get a first chance to see Abel Hernandez take his place in the starting line up, he should be nice and hungry after warming the bench for much of the two opening games.

The odds for them to win tonight are too short, but I still feel their quotes to win the competition are the best value on offer and have to suggest you take a little of the 13.5 offered on Betfair, this could look big for the World Cup semi finalists by the time we know the quarter final line up.

Tour de France: Stage 10 Aurillac-Carmaux

The rest day will have been well received after two medium mountain stages and was perfectly timed as temperatures soared into the mid 30's on Monday, but cloud cover today should see a maximum of 28 degrees. The peloton will have to work hard to keep potential breakaways in check, but chances for the sprinters are going to be limited after tomorrow and the main players are going to put all their effort into the next two days, as the tour heads towards the Pyrenees. Today sees a fairly short (158km) rolling stage, but one lacking any real difficulty, there are plenty of chances for riders to try breakaways, but the finish is gently downhill and if the pack stay vigilant, then we could have a bunch finish. You know my thinking by now, if we do have a bunch finish, then Mark Cavendish wins, if his team deliver him perfectly he wins, if things go wrong but he has a chance however small with 300 metres to go .... he wins, if someone tries to put him over the barrier but doesn't complete the job .... he wins.

MC has a perfect record in "flat" stages following a rest day and an 18th tour stage for him is on the cards today and/or tomorrow, but the bonus sprint is very early in the race today and that is a bit of a concern. I have just seen 3.50 put up by Bet 365, if only we knew it was going to come down to a sprint ! If we are 50/50 to get a sprint finish, then 1.75 ( 1.75 X 2.0) for Cav is too big, so I am assuming the odds makers feel it is a shade of odds on for a breakaway to factor in their profit margin. I also know that several tour readers believe that even if we see a sprint, that the slight downhill finish might suit one of the more veteran sprinters. Similar claims have been made previously, in particular in 2009 when it was slightly down and then uphill in Saint-Fargeau, I do not think that it is big enough to make a difference and at the business end 300-500 metres out ,it is minimal. If it comes down to a sprint I want to be on Cavendish, when he is sub 1.40 in my book.

This is a very interesting day and one I will probably just watch, but if it looks to be coming together after the cat 4 climb 15km from the finish, anything above 1.60 offers value in my book. If you feel a breakaway is unlikely to succeed, then get on this morning as I can now see 3.80 in a place.

Good Luck.

contact: stencelwade@btinternet.com

URGENT, URGENT , URGENT.....

Regulars please check your inbox asap, I have just sent information about a 39-1 shot with a very solid chance and these odds will not last long !

contact: stencelwade@btinternet.com

SUNDAY ....

We had to wait a little but finally the Copa game went "over" and eventually five goals were scored.

I am heading for a huge week , having also put Uruguay up as a maximum bet outright on July 4th at big odds and then also "suggested" them to all who took part in the trial at a massive 13.5 on July 12th. With Paraguay easy to back at 3.15 on the exchanges today, that is money in the bank.

That is the big "sweat" today of course, but I have also found two other solid selections, one at circa even money and the other at a juicy 8.50.

Good Luck.

contact: stencelwade@btinternet.com

EXTRACT FROM TODAY'S NOTES ....

Brentford scored a fully deserved 1-0 win over EPL side Stoke City last night . The visitors fielded their strongest possible side with nine starters and only made three substitutions the whole game, despite which they were second best all match to the Bees who really put in a very impressive performance. Hopefully some of you took a little of the 5.0 for the win and xxxxxxxxxxxx

The Copa America is coming towards the business end and tonight sees the 3rd and 4th place playoff match between Peru and Venezuela. Very much like in the World Cup, these games are when teams usually throw caution to the wind and go for it, obviously it is their last chance to impress and at the end of the day, few teams go around proudly boasting that they were third and you will forever be known as semi finalists, regardless of the result in this "warm up" for the final. Last four Copa's have seen all of these games go "over" and I feel that this will follow suit, Venezuela are very attack minded in any case, created plenty of chances against defensive Paraguay in the semis and only the woodwork stopped them going all the way. They looked much livelier when Miku came onto the pitch and the Getafe striker wiull surely start toninght. Peru will be without the suspended Juan Vargas and have not scored too many this tournament so far, but they are not the only culprit of that and they are likely to be sucked into the more friendly and lower key style of game and open approach of their opponent. "over" 2.5 goals at a nice looking 2.12 is a solid bet.

West Ham United make the trip across London to play Wycombe Wanderers this afternoon and are bringing a very strong squad, the same as the one which won 1-0 at FC Kopenhagen in midweek, plus Pablo Barrera and Carlton Cole, who can both expect a run out. These will mean plenty of Hammers fans will be making the trip and noise at the tiny stadium. Sam Allardyce is xxxxxxxxxx

Good Luck.

contact: stencelwade@btinternet.com

FOUR MONTHS LATER ......

This week the charges against my daughter who was arrested for peacefully protesting inside Fortnum and Mason department store earlier this year were finally dropped ,after this debacle was allowed to drag on for four long months !

I wrote about the incident at the time LINK1 LINK2 LINK3 this was a big miscarriage of justice and a complete and utter waste of public money. Legal fees and other costs for these cases run into millions of pounds, probably tens of millions.

This government ( when it suits them) has spoken in support of protesters in other countries especially Egypt and Libya ,whilst refusing their own citizens the same democratic right and using tactics, kettling, arrest without charge and deception LINK, which would be vehemently criticised elsewhere, this is at best two faced and at worst criminal.

The "protesters" had an enormous amount of support including from a number of Labour MP's, like John McDonnell who was very active, certainly not from my local representative and Home Secretary Teresa May who made some ridiculous, unfounded, ill advised comments and should be ashamed of herself. I only hope that she comes campaigning to my front door during the next election !

However, there are still 30 cases being pursued and whilst I have no personal knowledge of these, I do know that no offences took place inside the store and all were arrested as they left.

For the CPS to continue this farce makes no sense at all in the face of so much evidence in support of the protesters and I hope that these prosecutions will also be dropped.

I love my country, but the actions of David Cameron and his government, the Met and the CPS have sickened me.

contact: stencelwade@btinternet.com

WORLD SERIES OF POKER ......

Hard to say how much of this is down to Black Friday, but we finally have a true "world" series November 9 with players from Belize, Czech Reublic, Germany, Ireland, Great Britain and Ukraine joining the three home based players.

Surprisingly missing are the obligatory Russian and Canadian !

All are guaranteed at least $782k for their $10k buy in, but most will have their eyes on the $8.7m first prize, top four all earn at least $3m which is the minimum you would want for a couple of weeks work !

Czech Martin Staszko leads the way with 40m in chips, short stack is englishman Sam Holden with 12.375m, but with blinds at 250k/500k and a 50k ante ( level 36), the whole field has some play in them. Ukranian Anto Makiievskyi is youngest at just 21, old man Badish Bounahra a doddery 49 , at least in poker terms !

Big name amongst the finalist is WSOP POTY Ben Lamb, he already has a bracelet this year, several other big cashes and was 14th in the main event two years ago. Even with a mid size stack he is many peoples idea of the winner. No views on that from me at the moment, but I will definitely be previewing the final table a little nearer the time.

Good Luck.

contact: stencelwade@btinternet.com

FRIDAY ....

I am having a pretty good week so far, touch wood, three winners and one stake returned from four red type selections and as all of you who took part in the trial know, I am heavily involved in the Copa, with outright bets at big prices on Uruguay, so, an exciting weekend ahead.

Brentford ran in another six goals at Hampton in midweek, making sixteen in two pre season outings, they rested the two strikers who scored seven between them in the first, so the Bees are sharing the goals beween them, which is a good sign. They entertain EPL opposition tonight at the "Theatre of Sleepless Nights" otherwise known as Griffin Park. That is a big step up in class of course, but City also play at Aldershot tomorrow and will doubtless give all senior players an outing across the two games. Home debut for Uwe Rosler , the players will want to continue to impress him and he, the supporters. Again, those of you who took part in trial know my thoughts on the Bees this season. I believe I know exactly where they "are" and am also very confident about english football in general going into the new season. I have worked incredibly hard in the last month or two and think this is going to be a record year for me.

Good Luck.

contact stencelwade@btinternet.com

2. BUNDESLIGA ......

Second tier football returned to Germany last weekend after a summer break of just 61 days, for playoff losers VfL Bochum it meant a restart just 54 days after losing out to BMG , not long to get over such a massive disappointment and I was keen to oppose them last night.

Last season teams had a very long 103 day break either side of the World Cup and this year we have gone to the other extreme. Goals normally flow freely in this division early season and with less time to work on defensive play, especially for those teams who have been active in the transfer market, we could see that trend continue this season. The opening month normally produces 12-18% more goals than we expect over a full season in 2.Bundesliga and this could be a good arena for "overs" in the next week or two.


Good Luck.

MONDAY ..... CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM

OH MY !


Brentford did little to curb the almost unbridled enthusiasm of their success starved supporters at the weekend. Scoring ten ( yes TEN !) unanswered goals in their opening pre season friendly in the UK.


Tonbridge Angels, a regular pre season opponent, were on the wrong end of this thumping and might not be quite so welcoming in the future, this is normally a reasonably close fixture ( 0-0 last season if I recall correctly) and it was made even worse/better by the fact that the Bees changed all eleven players at the break.

Angels supporters said both eleven's looked as good as the other and each ran in five goals. Plenty of options for this squad who look well ahead in fitness and preparation.


Good Luck.

SEVEN DAY TRIAL ....

The seven day trial open to all has just ended, there were twelve actual ( red type) selections in the email and results were as follows .....

Monday : no bet

Tuesday: 1.5 units 2.04 available WON
1 unit 2.10 available WON

Wednesday : 2 units 2.25 WON
1.5 units 2.80 LOST

Thursday : 1.5 units 1.67 WON
1.5 units 1.91 WON

Friday: 1 unit 1.80 WON
1 unit 2.15 LOST after being four up with six holes to play !

Saturday : 1 unit 2.02 LOST very unlucky !
1 unit 101.0 yes, that's correct 100-1 LOST

Sunday: 1 unit 2.13 LOST
1 unit 1.877 LOST

Not much went our way over the weekend, but still a solid return and one selection was very speculative .

12 selections, 15 units staked, 16.63 units returned, which is a ROI of 10.87% and in addition I also "suggested" a bet on Uruguay to win the Copa America @ 13.5 , now trading at sub 3.0.

It was fun while it lasted and everyone who took part will be able to continue to read a very small part of my output here .

Good Luck.

UPDATE ....

I am not going to post anything on the blog this week, it seems pointless as so many of you are getting all my daily notes by email after taking up the seven day offer.

If you need to ask anything about this , please email stencelwade@btinternet.com

Blog results LINK.

Good Luck.

REMINDER ....

You have until midnight UK time tomorrow ( Sunday) to register for the free trial, details of which are two posts down. It will not be possible to add anyone to the list after that time, so please do not ask.

Good Luck.

SATURDAY ....

I am not getting involved in the Women's World Cup today, but will probably do so tomorrow. However, I have to admit to being shocked by the comments of Bruno Bini, coach of the french team, Who said after the loss to Germany "We're still in the running for second place. If we can win our quarter-final, and we want to win it, we'll be one of three teams still in contention for second place. England are a decent side - they were finalists at the last European Championships after all. It's a shame we have to play them with regard to our 2012 Olympic prospects. I would have preferred Sweden. We need to fight to ensure defend our place at the Olympics."

His team are in the quarter finals and he seems to feel that only second place is up for grabs ! This, in the most open WC we have probably ever seen is odd in the extreme and from a psychological point of view, seems a big mis-step. To take his team into a game feeling that they are second best, at best, is a mistake and his squad are already a little fragile confidence wise and face another big physical challenge from England today.

In Allsvenskan, Trelleborg host Kalmar, just seven days after the pair met in the reverse fixture, which today's visitors won 3-2, they were three up at the half and the away goals both came in the final three minutes, when Kalmar were running down the clock and had just had their goalkeeper sent off.Trelleborg have now conceded 22 goals in six starts and their defence looked very suspect every time the ball came into the box and the first two goals came directly from long throw ins, which gave the TFF backline problems all day long and will doubtless be a factor again today.

Visiting keeper Etrit Berisha is suspended of course, but I assume that the vastly experienced Petter Wasta, with over 350 starts for Kalmar, will come into the side and that should be a pretty seamless switch. The team will travel in great heart to a stadium where they have lost just once in six visits, winning three and unbeaten in six h2h games home and away, winning five. Kalmar have now won three in a row, the first really solid consistent run they have put together this season and another today will take them level at the top on points with Helsingborgs, whom they play in the next round of matches. Actually, they play three of the other top five in their next four outings and are viewing the three points on offer today as not just key, but the "easiest" they will be offered in the next month. I make Kalmar -0.25 1.87+ for 1.5 units my first "official" selection of the day.

Good Luck.

NEXT WEEK ......

We have an incredible seven days of sporting action ahead of us next week, on the football front we have the conclusion of the Women's World Cup finals, the last round of group games and quarter finals in the Copa America, to say nothing of some tasty looking pre season games and Champions League qualifiers. Golf fans will be sated by day long coverage of the Open Championship from Sandwich, Le Tour continues on it's merry way through France and we will be well into the second week of the WSOP Main Event, where I have already put up a strong selection in the "to cash" market.

I will be updating and covering all of these events and anything else that takes my fancy in my daily notes and you can receive these each and every day next week for free ( Monday July 11th- Sunday July 17th inclusive), all you have to do is send me an email to ( stencelwade@btinternet.com) BEFORE midnight on Sunday July 10th. No one can be added after that time, I repeat, no one can be added after that time, this will still not stop fifty people asking for the free week in about a month's time, but I have tried to make myself clear.

All your email has to say is "opt in" or something similar, but you have to ask, no one already in my data base will receive this offer unless they request it.

Good Luck.

MC PUTTING THE HAMMER DOWN !

THE MOST EXCITING SPORTSMAN ON THE PLANET ......

This time I am not talking about Jackie Graham, the hard as nails, supremely gifted Brentford midfielder of the 70's whom my brother and I hero worshipped and stalked from a respectful distance for about four years ( !), but Mark Cavendish.

Call me an old cynic, but unless I have a financial investment, or my beloved Bees are in action, it takes a lot to get me up out of my seat with pure excitement, but if there is a more thrilling sight in sport than MC putting the hammer down with 300 metres to go in a stage sprint finish, I have yet to see it. At 26 the man is already a legend and the fact that half of his fellow riders and the tour organisers are trying every trick in the book and some they are making up along the way to stop him. just makes it even more fun. Cut his leg open and like a stick of seaside rock, it will say "winner" all the way through . Cavendish was born to race and has an almost criminally insatiable desire to win , if only every single sportsman we ever backed had this attitude, we could just place our bets and then go and queue at the payout counter. If you have not watched it yet, go on, give yourself a thrill, take two minutes out of your life and watch the finish of yesterday's stage ( 5) of Le Tour, it's worth it ! MC passed ten world class sprinters in the last 250 metres like they were in reverse gear !

I wonder every year how many people watch the Tour sat on an exercise bike, coasting along with the peloton through the countryside and then putting their foot down for a sprint finish ? Of course they need a mountain stage simulator for the week ahead, but probably already have that in place............ sounds fun !

I have something quite exciting to post later today, please check back.

Good Luck.

TUESDAY ....

Venezuela kept Brazil at bay for 90 minutes and were never troubled with their two goal handicap start, we have now seen all twelve teams and only Chile have scored more than a single goal, but I am sure that the action will pick up through the next series of matches.

In the Women's World Cup Australia failing to win by two was hard to take, it was not the fact that they led 3-1 quite late and hit the woodwork on at least three occasions ( I missed the last 6-7 minutes), but the killer was when one of the Equartorial outfield players caught the ball as it came back off the crossbar and held it for a full 2-3 seconds, before dropping it and playing on, with the match officials completely missing the incident. This is all over the internet now , so if you have not seen it, take a look, as painful as it might be, it is quite amusing !

The pre season friendlies in the UK have now started and I will be following these closely in the coming weeks and I suggest you do likewise. They are a fantastic betting medium that I have milked in the past and all long term readers of the blog and/or subscribers will know that, with a little homework, it is possible to get a jump on the bookmakers with regard to both motivation and team news. I will not really getting overly involved until the english teams play, but the scottish teams are already in action and it will pay you to really study these fixtures in the coming month. It is unlikely that I will be able to post much from these games on the blog, but there is nothing to stop you doing the work yourself and making some holiday money !

Good Luck.

SUNDAY ....

The Copa America has not really fired up the public yet, maybe the introduction of holders Brazil who are looking for a hat trick of titles will do the trick when they face improving Venezuela.

The Samba Boys will , as always, be exciting to watch and look set to start with three up front, namely Pato, Robinho and Neymar, with Ganso in a traditional playmaker role. I am not sure that this is the best formation and am sure that we will see a lot of experimentation in this young squad which is clearly building for the next World Cup which they are desperate to win on home soil.

I have to also give a word of caution about the two goal handicap they are asked to give up today. In the six major tournaments they have played this millenium, that's three Copa's and three World Cups, they have tended to start slowly losing two of their opening games and winning the other four by single goal margins. Venezuela will pack their defence and try to frustate Brazil, just like they did in the World Cup qualifier in Rio in October 2009. Venezuela have probably improved a little since then and I guess if forced to pick I would opt for them getting a two goal start @ circa 1.84.

I am anxious to see tiny Yohandry Onozco in action today, he has yet to start for Wolfsburg, but scored an absolute wonder goal for Venezuela at the CONMEBOL Under-20 Championships earlier this year, you can watch it here and it is certainly worth a quick look.

Women's World Cup sees Australia take on Equatorial Guinea and the loser of this can pack their bags and get ready for a quick getaway after the third group game. They both come here on the back of opening 1-0 defeats, EG lost to Norway and performed pretty well, creating chances, but like so many other teams in this competition, were very wasteful in front of goal .

Australia lost to Brazil but had 12 attempts on goal and enjoyed 52% possession, they are a nation on the up, made the quarter finals in the last World cup where they lost by the odd goal in five to Brazil and were unbeaten through the group stage, including putting four past Ghana a higher ranked African nation.

EG is a tiny nation of only some 600,000, so to get a women's team here is fantastic, but they are not used to this level of competition and another game again so quickly is very likely to find them out. If Australia score first and inside the hour, I can see them running away with this . The Matildas played really well in the opening 45 minutes against Brazil with Lisa De Vanna given them plenty of trouble and making the keeper work several times. They did not bow after going behind and almost snatched a late equaliser, which perhaps would have been a fairer result. Australia -1.25 goals 1.93 1.5 units.

Good Luck.

FRIDAY ......

A few lines from my notes today....

Finally on to Wimbledon and the long awaited Mens Semi Finals and it is here I come for my two "official" selections of the day. Huge pressure on Andy Murray who faces defending champion Rafael Nadal at this stage for the second year running.

Murray is in his best form of the season and having now been in several grand slam finals, it is time for him to make the big step forward. Having not played in 2009 and also winning in 2008, Rafa has not lost at the All England club since the 2007 final, so is looking for a 20th straight win. He will be boosted by a 11-5 h2h record over Murray , he is 4-2 in grand slams and 2-0 on grass, lets start with a look at one of those, the semi final meeting last year .Nadal won in three close sets ( 33 games) in which there were very few break points for either and the match was decided by a couple of big points which the spanish superstar played better. They last met at Roland Garros a month ago and again Rafa eased home in three close sets ( 32 games), but this time Murray had the chances to win, or at least take a set or two, earning 19 break points, that gives him an awful lot of hope for today.

If he can take Rafa that close on a court which is like a second home, he has a chance on a surface which suits him better, having said that, Nadal obviously feels at home here too, but there remains a big difference between the two surfaces. My point is that this is it, it will be hard to make excuses after today, if Murray cannot take Nadal at least to the wire at Wimbledon, when is it going to happen outside of the USA? The british player upped his game against big serving Lopez and Gasquet ( who had given him problems in the past) in the last two rounds and this is about as fresh as he had been in any of his grand slam runs. Rafa does have some ankle concerns too, I expect this to go to at least four sets today and quite possible five, it is possible to bet the "over" 39.5 games at up to 1.83, @ 1.80 + it would be my strong selection, if only the 40.5 game option is available to you, I would still take it, but for reduced stakes.

Good Luck.

MONDAY ....

I sent a lot of you my pre Wimbledon notes by email eight days ago and they were reproduced on here in the middle of last week ( see below).

In addition to the double staked match winner @ 1.87 that was highlighted at that time, the email also included Sharapova to win quarter 1 @ 2.375 , she is now trading at long odds on win her quarter final , Marion Bartoli in quarter 2 was highlighted as not just a value pick at 9.0, but also to "give Serena Williams trouble in the fourth round", available at 4.50 to beat Williams the younger this morning, she duly did so in straight sets and is now a best priced 2.11 to win her section. Quarter 3 did not go quite so well, but Petra Kvitova was a strong pick to win the fourth at 3.50 and is now also big odds on to do so. Massive profits can already be secured on all three, also selected was Sharapova to "beat" Serena at 2.18 and that also obliged today.

I really hope that some of you were able to take advantage of these fantastic previews which were sent almost 24 hours before the first ball was hit at the All England Club.

Good Luck.

QUICK UPDATE TO REGULARS.....

Kindly check your inbox, I have just sent my Monday notes much earlier than originally planned, including a 1,500 word Wimbledon update and a 17.0 suggestion for tomorrow's football.

Good Luck.

SUNDAY ....

TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP GOLF

LEADERBOARD:

-16 FREDDIE JACOBSON
-15 BRYCE MOLDER
-13 JAMES DRISCOLL
-12 RYAN MOORE
-12 JOHN ROLLINS
-12 BLAKE ADAMS
-12 ANDRES ROMERO
-12 WEBB SIMPSON
-12 NICK WATNEY
-11 six players

This leaderboard is packed with players who do not know how to win, cannot win or subconsiously do not want to win !

Lets take a quick look at each....

Freddie J we discussed recently, he is very gifted, but just cannot get it together on Sunday when in contention, he has not dropped a stroke all week long, but what will happen today when he does ? He has hit relatively few greens in regulation , but putted and scrambled like a dream, which cannot continue indefinitely. He is a three times runner up on tour and has yet to win in the US at all, or anywhere for eight years.

Molder has not dropped a stroke on the back nine all week and putted and driven the ball well, but he has missed 10 of 13 cuts and has very little experience at the business end of tournaments, he has only one top ten finish all season at Pebble Beach where he was firmly in contention going into the final day ( second overnight) but faded in Round 4.

Driscoll is not a winner, he has one solitary Nationwide win and that came seven years ago, he has played the closing holes the worst of all the major contenders this week and his solid looking 2010 Round 4 stats are a little misleading, with most low rounds coming when out of contention.

Moore is talented, he could win ( finally, we have found one ! ), on the downside his only previous tour success came in 2009, but at least that came in a playoff after a closing 65 and this could again be close.

Rollins wins every three years or so, so will be due sometime in the next 12 months, he has really struggled over the front nine holes this week, but if he could get it together over the opening holes today has a chance, but he has posted just two top ten's in the last 18 months and is "in contention" rusty.

Adams is basically a 35 year old rookie, with only one top ten finish to his name and has never won a professional tournament anywhere.

Romero has a single tour win at the Zurich Classic in 2008, but can also claim eight worldwide wins and now that he has passed that all important 30th birthday ** ( see below), he could be ready to go in again, he is capable of going ultra low on sunday and has several times shot sub 64 in Round 4.

Simpson has played well this season and the 25 yo already has $2m + in the bank, mainly courtesy of two second place finishes, he has yet to make the big breakthrough, but like many others, it might be easier to do so from off the pace .

Watney is the class act on the leaderboard and is a three time winner on tour, including one already in 2011, that was especially worthy of note as he broke the rule and won a month before his 30th birthday which is very rare, he came from off the pace that day and is very solid when in contention, however, he has had one bad hole on the back nine each day ( a seven at the 13th yesterday) and his driver has been letting him down this week. If he can get it going off the tee and keep his focus and any big numbers off his card, he could win a close tournament with 15 players within five strokes of the lead.

Where does this leave us ? The guys who are most likely to keep it together and win this thing are a little off the pace, but there are a number of them and someone even way off the pace could go low today and snatch this. The two leaders are bound to be nervous and despite his talent, we have seen little from Freddie J in the last decade or so to leave us to believe that he will hold on. We could lay both him and Driscoll at circa 2.84 and 5.80 on the exchanges, meaning that we have every other player going for us at a shade of odds against, which I feel is fair value. Nick Watney have five top 6 placings in just 10 PGA starts this year, or five from 8 in which he has made the cut and played the weekend, so is a solid enough pick at 2.10 for a top five finish on the exchanges, a little bigger for small money and that just about looks the best option on the golf today.

Romero is available at circa 4.0 in this market ( top 5) and that looks a shade too big about a guy I feel is getting ready to win again, he is 24.0 to win and if you twisted my arm to pick a winner, at the odds offered I guess he would be my pick.

Tough last day and I expect the leaderboard to be spinning like a fruit machine, a day to keep stakes small.

Good Luck

** Many golfers, like humans in general, struggle in the months leading up to these milestone birthdays 30, 40 , 50, they tend to underperform just before and then relax and play better once the birthday has passed and they realise that life carries on, little changes and it is not so bad after all, being just one year older ! They also tend to play better immediately following the birth of a child, especially their first.

THURSDAY.....

Below are my notes for the first three days of Wimbledon, about half of you received the Monday email on Sunday afternoon, so I have no problems reproducing it here. Some of the notes still have value and are worthwhile reading.

MONDAY JUNE 20TH

I am leaving the Irish football alone today, but will definitely return to it at the end of this week with the next round of matches.

Only Wimbledon in this email, I am going to the Championships twice this week, got a "free" ticket for today and with the family on wednesday, so am hoping to get plenty of ideas to see us through the fortnight.

I am more interested in the Ladies Singles, so will get the Mens event out of the way first. It is very difficult to see beyond the big four and quotes of circa 3.25 for a repeat of all meeting in the semi-finals, like they did in Paris might seem skinny, but are perfectly valid, with very few real dangerous floaters in the draw, Tomas Berdych made the final last year and is the most likely to cause an upset, he is in the same quarter as Rafael Nadal and with Kohlschreiber, Del Potro and a couple of others potentially likely to do some damage, the French Open champion has definitely the worst of the draw. Having said that, Berdych is not in the same shape coming into this event. Jo Wilfred Tsonga is in Roger Federer's section, Soderling in with Djokovic and Roddick in the same quarter as Murray, but that is about it. No upsets here for me and at least three, quite possibly four of the big names making their predicted mark.

Rain forecast today, but centre court play will not be interupted and one match there, between Radek Stepanek and Fernando Verdasco is of interest. Stepanek leads the series 3-2 and won their only meeting on the surface here in 2006 in five close sets. The 32 year old Stepanek is in the twilight of a pretty solid career and in decent form, posting grass court wins over Tsonga and Ljubicic in recent weeks and taking a set off Rafa at Queens Club. Verdasco is gritty and has had a whole series of big serving battles with Ancic, Karlovic ( twice), Stepanek and Roddick on grass. Really hard to split these two, Stepanek looks a shade big at 2.50 but the spaniard is better on the surface than he is given credit for and beat Nalbandian and Mahut at Queens before losing to Roddick and the US player was not the same one who lost tamely to Murray in the final that day ! I like this to go to a minimum four sets and am strongly in the "over" camp, only Unibet have posted as I type, 1.87 "over" 39.5 games, which I am very keen on, if similar is available elsewhere that would have to be a double stake 2 unit selection. WON

Onto the Ladies, Venus and Serena Williams have won nine of the last eleven titles between them and at least one of them seems sure to put in a big run again, but they have played very little tennis ( almost none) in the last 12 months and it would be a sorry indictment of the women's game were either to win, but it could happen ! However, Serena is fast approaching 30 and Venus was 31 last Friday and this year, at least for the time being I have to look elsewhere.

Let's take a run through the quarters, starting from the top, world number one Caroline Wozniacki is not my favourite player as you might have guessed and I normally look to oppose her in the bigger events, against the better players. In her favour, she has won at Eastbourne in the past and did take a Girls Singles title at Wimbledon in 2006. Also there are no real dangers in her 16, so a chance to really play herself in, however, I do not think she is up to winning a grand slam at present and in the bottom half of her section are Sam Stosur, who was very disappointing at Roland Garros and Maria Sharapova who was not ! The Russian superstar, the biggest earner in woman's sport, changed coaches and racquets earlier this year and remodelled her service action, all changes have gone well and she was a shock winner in Rome without dropping a set and semi finalist at RG, for a player who turns about as fast as an oil tanker, they were fantastic performances and will have given her great confidence coming into an event which suits her game much better and which she has won previously.She withdrew from Birmingham, so no warm up event, but that might be just as well after the rigours of the clay court season, she starts against Ana Chakvetadze whom she leads 7-0 all in straight sets, so that should get her nicely primed, but at a top priced 2.375, it is hard to put her up as a selection to win the quarter, there is not much value in that skinny quote, but she would be my pick.

Quarter 2 has a whole host of dangerous players in it, Li Na , Serena, Ivanovic, Radwanska, Marion Bartoli and several others, it is a very tough section. Given her lack of tennis, Serena is a very short price to come out top and at circa 9.0 Bartoli, who loves the surface and added a grass court title at Eastbourne last week to her CV, which is even more impressive considering her big run in Paris, is a far more attractive quote and could give Williams big problems in the fourth round.

The third section is arguably the most interesting including the resurgent Jelena Dokic back inside the top 50 for the first time in years following a final appearance in Holland on grass last week meeting Francesca Schiavone, who is not comfortable on the surface in the opening round. Dokic was a semi finalist here as an 18 yo and the previous year,as a 17 yo qualifier beat world number one Martina Hingis 6-2 6-0 in what many consider the biggest tennis upset of all time. That is a long time ago of course, but she is still three year younger than the italian and clearly happier on grass. Schiavone admitted to being very flat and lacking in energy at Eastbourne and I think she will struggle to get her intensity back in the damp conditions in London at present.Dokic leads the h2h 3-0 including a win in Kuala Lumpur this year and at 2.25 + to beat the number six seed, is a very tempting bet and my second selection of the opening day. LOST in three close sets

Also in this group of 32 are Andrea Petkovic who is having a great year and whilst she has no real history here, she has gone deepish in the other three slams and could be dangerous, the lower half is packed full of potential, with last year's quarter finalist Kaia Kanepi who won seven matches in this tournament after coming through qualifying, the hugely gifted Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who is a certain future slam winner IMO, Daniela Hantuchova and another big talent in Victoria Azarenka. Pavlyuchenkova is a player I want to keep on my side, it is a shame we didn't see more of her at Eastbourne, she lost early to Jovanovski who was battle hardened after coming through qualification and the Russian was sluggish, but is "really looking forward to Wimbledon". This is a learning section, if pushed AP at cica 9.0 + would be my choice, we might never see quotes like that to win a section in a slam again after this year and at 50-1 she is a dark horse who could go well, but will be vunerable in the opening round or two.

Talking of dark horses, I might have found one in Vitalia Diatchenko who meets Hantuchova today and is available at 7.50 + to win the match. The 20 yo Russian has come through qualification without losing a set so will be at home on grass and has recently moved to Ireland for training, so will be used to the rain and signed two sponsorship deals, which is good news for a player no one has heard of. You know that I like Hantuchova and she has both won and lost when we wanted her to recently, which is great, but consistency is not her strong point and she might not be 100% fit today, she had to withdraw last week with an abdomen injury and said this ...."It happened at 3-0 in the first set. I was running for a wide backhand and felt a sharp pain, and it was just getting worse and worse from then. I'll hope for some magic and get as much treatment as I can. I'm seeing the doctor now and as soon as I go to Wimbledon I'll work with the physios. I'll try to do something to be able to be ready for Monday.

Such massive odds are surely worth a try under the circumstances. Diatchenko took the first set and lost the second in a tie break

Last up is the fourth quarter, which has Venus , Jelena Jankovic and Mad Vera in the bottom half and apart from Svetlana Kuznetsova, who disappointed big time at Roland Garros, only last year's semi finalist Petra Kvitova in the top section. Kvitova did us a good favour last week and is more and more at home on grass, she has a lot of ranking points to defend, so will be desperate to go deep again and looks a better player this time round. I would only be concerened if she had to play a Venus Williams who had dispelled all fitness doubts and the american has a lot of tough hurdles to overcome before the quarters and I feel that at circa 3.50 Kvitova can repeat and make the last four once again.

Finally, Pinnacle Sports have a big looking 2.18 for Sharapova to go further than Serena Williams, I much prefer the section the Russian player is in and would make her odds on to win this bet, despite being Serena's biggest fan.

Good Luck.

TUESDAY JUNE 21ST

No highlighted selection for me today, but I do have two matches to discuss, where I feel both outsiders are a little big.

Angelique Kerber - Laura Robson

Two left handed players is going to make for a very interesting match up. I am at Wimbledon today and just saw Robson and was shocked, she has sprouted up and must be six foot, maybe a little taller. One journalist told me that this growth spurt, as much as some early season injury problems was why her career had stalled. Robson won Junior Wimbledon in 2008 when she was the youngest girl in the tournament, a tremendous achievement, she also played two Australian Open finals as a Junior, but probably turned pro too soon and her ATP career has yet to take off. However, she is still only 17 years old and has time on her side, last week she sacked her french coach after serving 13 double faults in a defeat in Holland, which must have been a fun conversation !

Robson has a big serve, which is a dangerous weapon here if she can keep the df's at bay and an all round game perfect for modern day grass court play, the two met in a challenger on an indoor hardcourt when Robson was just 14 and the German won a really close three set battle, this is a match, a fit, confident Robson would win with a degree of comfort IMO on this surface, but she is far from that. However, the crowd will be behind her and if she can come close to the level which almost saw her eliminate Jelena Jankovic here last year, she can go close and at circa 2.625 she is certainly the only one I could bet in this match, but she does have problems. ROBSON WON

Sanja Mirza - Virginie Razzano

Mirza has a few grass court wins under her belt, but despite being a huge star in India, is pretty much a journeywoman player, who tends to beat whom she should beat and loses when she meets a higher ranked player, she is also becoming more and more a doubles specialist. She has played a lot of clay court tennis recently ( by her normal standards) and has complained about coming to terms with grass for such a short season under the circumstances, she lost twice to Tamira Paszek on grass in teh last fortnight and she is no force on the surface and Razzano would win this IMO if her head was in the right place. However, her fiancee died recently from a brain tumour and despite continuing to play, it is hard to know how long it will take her to get over such a traumatic experience. In 2009 the frenchwoman made the final in Eastbourne and the 4th round here, beating Bartoli , Dementieva and the older Radwanska sister in the process, an impressive bunch of scalps on any surface, but especially grass. She got her ranking as low as 16 after that, which shows her potential and at 2.50 +.. 2.625 in a place she looks big, but who knows what her mental state will be. RAZZANO WON

Robson and Razzano probably need to stay in touch with their opponent early, if they do, a return to the scene of her biggest triumph and a chance to lose herself for a couple of hours respectively, might bring out the best in them.

Wednesday looks a much better betting day.

Good Luck.

WEDNESDAY JUNE 22ND

Wimbledon tennis has been pretty good so far, Jelena Dokic was well on top for most of her game against Francesca Sciavone and I would be keen to bet her again today, if they were to replay that match this afternoon. Diatchenko, who was a massive 8.0 + took the first set and only lost the second in a very close tie break, the Russian youngster had a huge 19 break points in that match and I would not rush to back Daniela Hantuchova until she has 100% proved her well being. Virginie Razzano won and the Stepanek-Verdasco match up went "over" with ease, so we have been pretty much spot on across the board so far, with not too much luck. The Laura Robson match has been held over until today.

Not much to take my fancy on the Ladies today, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won her first round match but it was a bit laboured, she faces a tough second round match with Nadia Petrova today, if Nastia had one more match on the surface under her belt I would be very tempted to take the -3 games with Pinnacle Sport for her to cover the handicap at circa 2.0, but as I explained in my pre tournament notes, she will be vunerable through the opening round or two, after which I expect her to be strong. Having said that, Petrova at 29 yo is not getting any better and lost to a clearly out of sorts Samantha Stosur in straight sets at Eastbourne in the first round. I would not put any of you off taking a little on this handicap bet, but I will take a watching brief, we will know a lot more about Nastia on grass after today, but whatever happpens, we will make money on her on hardcourts this summer.

I like the "over" games in the Rainer Schuettler - Feliciano Lopez match. Schuettler is very much in the twilight of his career at 35 years old, but made the semis here as recently as 2008, he had a straight sets win over the seeded Thomaz Belluci in the first round, making few errors and serving well, especially on second serve, he is very shrewd and had good tactics really going after the brazilian on second serve returns. Lopez is a two time quarter finalist here and sereved really well at Queens, he dropped only five points on first serve and gave up no break points in his first round defeat of Berrer, so this match will be all about the serve and I feel we will see plenty of free points. Lopez's last six matches on the surface have seen every first set go to 10 + games, with four going to at least 12 games, something similar is surely on the cards today and will set up the "over" bet nicely. The two have met once previously at the All England Club, way back in 2002 when they played out a four set 42 game match, their most recent outdoor fast court meeting ( last year) also went the distance in three close sets. Lopez should progress, but in four sets at least.... 1.5 units "over" 39 games 1.847 Pinnacle. WON

Good Luck.

UPDATE ....

Please check your inbox if you are on my occasional mailing list, about half of you have just been sent my notes for the opening day at Wimbledon, which includes selections at odds of 2.25 and 1.87 ( double stake) and suggestions at odds of 7.50, 9.0 ( twice), 2.18, 3.50 and 51.0 !

It runs to some 1700 words and is an entertaining read if I do say so myself.

Good Luck.

SUNDAY ....

I have been a big supporter of Granada in the last six weeks or so and wrote my first blog post about them early last month ( see link), they were still available to win the playoffs at circa 3.50 a little over a week ago and got the job completed with a 1-1 draw at Elche last night. That means La Liga next season and visits from Barcelona and Real Madrid for a team that were playing 4th tier football just five years ago and I hope that some of you got involved and won a little money.

A few basic words about today's action .....

The Concacaf Gold Cup continues tonight, the USA have failed to impress so far, but almost always play Mexico in the final regardless of what happens en route, they also have a fantastic record against Jamaica who are admittedly playing well, never having lost in 17 previous meetings. However, the US have been priced very short and a word of caution, both Landon Donavan and Clint Dempsey were allowed to leave camp and attend weddings yesterday, flying back late last night and we are not talking short distances, the game is in Washington and the weddings were in California and Texas respectively, that is a lot of air miles for a one day trip, regardless of whether you are flying in a private jet or not !

US Open Golf: Rory McIlroy is playing out of his skin and is getting expensive to oppose. I do not like to "chase" money, but I have to go against him again today, he holds an eight shot lead going into the last 18 holes and will be delighted to win the tournament, which would be his first major, by half that margin, or even less. He blew a huge lead at Augusta and I don't care how well he is playing and he is, he would not be normal if he wasn't really worried about a repeat and I feel he will be very conservative today. YE Yang was very solid yesterday but little dropped for him putting wise, he is still in second place and if you did not take the 5.0 yesterday for him without McIlroy, I would suggest getting involved today in that market, he is circa 5.20 ( one unit) on the exchanges and that is a good price for someone who virtually admitted he is only playing for second spot. Other "contenders" like Lee Westwood are loathe to give up on the win and might be forced to gamble a little too much on a dangerous golf course.

Of the top ten, Westwood has played the closing holes best of all, being five under for the last five holes, Jason Day is two over and Freddie Jacobsen three over over the same sequence of holes. Westwood is paired with Day and several companies are bound to be betting in running, which could be interesting

Robert Garrigus and Jacobsen are the worst Round 4 players amongst the top ten challengers and are paired together too, this is Garrigus first major and he could be nervous, but probably harbours no dreams of winning this and would be happy with a top 3 place, he is two under for the last five holes, five strokes better than the swede and could also be worthwhile watching "in running", if that option is available. I also think he is decent value to beat Jacobsen in his two ball at 2.25, FJ far too often undoes good early work at the business end of tournaments.

However, my best bet of the day has to be Yang to beat McIlroy, he is odds against with the tie no bet option and up to 2.625 with the tie ( 1.5 units), you might find bigger later in the day. Unless the Ulsterman picks up a shot or two early , he is surely going to get increasingly cautions through his round and could easily find himself in a position where he is "happy" to finish bogey, bogey, bogey and still ease home, why take too many chances , with such a huge prize on offer ?

Good Luck.

TUESDAY ....

WTA TOUR EASTBOURNE TENNIS

Some very interesting match ups at this early stage of the tournament and I would like to briefly talk about four of them....

Going to start with Kaia Kanepi verses Francesca Schiavone, grass is not really the italian's surface, she is just about 50-50 lifetime on grass and lost in the first round at both Eastbourne and Wimbledon last year to Cirstea and Dushevina taking just one set in the process. Both are inferior to the tall big serving estonian on the surface and with Schiavone once again coming here after another emotional roller coaster ride at Roland Garros and a very tough fortnight and with no ranking points to defend, in what is a low ranking warm up event, for a tournament she probably feels she has no chance in, quite why the french finalist has been made favourite is something of a mystery. Kanepi won 12 matches on grass last year winning through qualifying at both Birmingham and Wimbledon, losing in the quarter finals in each, she has recently changed coach and is I understand very comfortable with the new arrangement and feels her game has improved. Schiavone holds a 3-1 lifetime h2h lead, but they have never met on the surface and the only recent meeting which game on a fast indoor court, went the distance and to 34 tough games, there should be plenty of "free" service points on offer for Kanepi, who was bombing them down in the early rounds of Roland Garros and all in all she is much better suited to playing on the green stuff.

1.5 units Kaia Kanepi to win 2.10 +

Serena Williams makes her return today and faces Tsvetana Pironkova. Williams has not played since winning Wimbledon last year and is bound to be a little rusty after 12 months at home, her sister also made her long awaited comeback yersterday and took three long sets to dispose of Andrea Petkovic and Venus had "only" been out since January. A fit Serena would blow the bulgarian off court, but might want to ease herself in and play a few games today, the weather forecast is nice and sunny and conditions should be perfect down in Eastbourne. Pironkova is having a terrible year ( 4-16), but made the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year, beating Venus and Bartoli two of the strongest players on tour on grass, both in straight sets enroute and gave up just a combined seven break points in the process, earning 24 herself, with Tsvetana serving at a similar speed and level to Venus which is just about as good as it gets. Obviously she is no mug on the surface and will never get a better opportunity to push possibly the greatest player of all time, definitely the best ever athlete on tour."Over" games look to have been priced pretty low to me.

1.5 units "Over" 20 games 1.90 +

I was terribly impressed with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova at Roland Garros, she looks a certain future Grand Slam winner in waiting, whether that will come on grass I do not know, but we will know more after this week and I would love to watch her game with qualifier Bojana Jovanovski this afternoon. The young Serbian will be battle hardened with three rounds of qualification under her belt and should give the ultra talented AP a good run out.

Lucie Safarova must be unhappy to be facing Marion Bartoli at this early stage, the frenchwoman was thrilled by her surprise run to the semi finals in Paris and was originally treating her national open as more of a warm up event for the grass court season, her highlight of the year. Safarova rarely comes to the UK and is 4-7 here on grass, with only one victory of note and that coming against a very young Pavlyuchenkova who is still only 19 btw. Only danger for Bartoli is that her extended run at Roland Garros might have held up her preparation for grass, so I would not rush to take 1.35, but she really ought to win this.

All in all a fine day's action and a lot to learn, hopefully it will be possible to watch most of these and I will try to update my notes tomorrow.

Good Luck.

TAKEN FROM WEDNESDAY NOTES ....

QUEENS CLUB TENNIS

Two matches to discuss Kevin Anderson - Donald Young and Andy Murray- Xavier Malisse, I think these are ideal for the "new" format, in which I can talk about events/ideas without the pressure of putting up a selection, if these thoughts coincide with your own, then maybe you will want to get involved.

Anderson and Young have met seven times previously, six were on fast courts, although none on grass, Young won the first three and Anderson the last four, five went the distance and at least one set contained a tie break in each. Anderson had a fine opening round win over Karlovic in which he didn't allow his huge serving opponent a single break point, given how quick the courts are here this year, that was very impressive.

Young lost his way and was, perhaps, a victim of too much hype, he was going to be the saviour of US tennis and turned pro at a very young age, too young and has struggled to retain a place in the top 100, however, he is still only 21 years old and a lot of these US players mature a little later than their european and south american counterparts. He was the youngest male to ever win a junior grand slam title and also won the junior championship at Wimbledon in 2007, that comes a something of a shock, as before labouring past Andreas Haider- Maurer in the first round on Monday in 31 games, he was 0-5 on grass in London on the ATP tour. Having said that, a win is a win and he might take heart from both that and a recent defeat of Andy Murray in Indian Wells, his first really big win over a top ranked player.

Anderson should win and is very short odds, but these two know each other well and I don't doubt that Young has more room for improvement, he could keep this close and "over" games or the South African to win in three sets at circa 4.33 ( bigger on the exchanges for tiny stakes) makes some appeal.

Murray is still struggling a little with his injury and with Wimbledon just around the corner, will not take any chances, he was said not to be moving well in practice on Monday, but did play doubles with his brother yesterday, which he would not have done if the ankle was a major concern ( they actually lost to Malisse and his partner in straight sets), he will wear strapping and take some medication before playing this afternoon. Malisse is another player who lost his way and has not always appeared the most committed on tour, but is talented, seems re-dedicated over the last 12 months and has got himself back into the top 50. He is a former Wimbledon semi-finalist and has gone deep here a couple of times, including last year when he beat Novak Djokovic en route to the quarter finals. He is fully capable of taking advantage of any weakness in Murray's game and looks on the big side @ 6.60, I would definitely urge caution if thinking of taking skinny odds about the british number one.

Good Luck.

TAKEN FROM TUESDAY NOTES ....

The closest I could come to a bet was the"over" in Panama - Guadelope, the pair met in the competition two years ago at this satge, with Guadelope winning 2-1. There was some very naive defending on both sides that day and whilst Panama were the better team and will doubtless be out for some revenge, they were troubled by the long range shooting and pace of their opponents. Tough group here, with Canada and the US seemingly booked for the next stage, so surely both will come looking for the three points.

SPAIN LIGA ADELANTE PLAY-OFFS

The "Segunda" play-offs get underway tomorrow ( wednesday) when Celta entertain Grenada, Elche travel to Valladoid the next night, with the return legs played over the weekend. Only three points separated these four during the regular season, but I have already thrown my hat firmly into the Granada camp and I remain confident, my original post is reproduced below.

Granada ended the year much stronger than Celta collecting 13 points more in the second half of the campaign and only lost one of six regular season starts against their play-off rivals, that came early season at home to Valladoilid and gained revenge with a 3-2 victory in the return fixture. They drew both meetings with Celta and would doubtless accept that result again in what is sure to be a tight first leg. Hosts have won only nine home games all season the fewest in the top half of the table and conceded 23 home goals, the most amongst the top seven. Eight of those nine wins came in their first 12 starts and they are 1-3-5 on home soil since early February. Feel this is a good fixture for Granada, really like them to win the playoofs and therefore have to be pleased getting a full half ball start at Celta and we have to take some of that !

Granada +0.5 ball 1.87 ( Wednesday)

Good Luck.

SUNDAY .... IT'S A FUNNY OLD GAME !

Barcelona and Stevenage Borough both got the job done yesterday and whilst it is tough to find too many similarities between the two clubs, neither are a team you want to be chasing the game against, albeit for very different reasons.

Graham Westley has his detractors, quite a lot actually, but all credit to him and his players for getting consecutive promotions and showing what can be achieved with a positive attitude and a lot of hard work.

His team will be in the same division as both Sheffield clubs next season which is incredible given their respective budgets and supporter base. As recently as 2007, both Sheffield United and Charlton Athletic were in the EPL and Borough ended that season upper midtable in the Conference, now they will be facing each other in the league, exciting times at Broadhall Way.

Actually, in 2005-06 the Conference contained Stevenage and Exeter who will both be in the third tier next season, Dagenham who played in League 1 this season and Accrington who came up short in the League 2 semi final and another four in Crawley, Aldershot, Burton and Hereford all set to play in the Football League next season. It is a pretty fine line between League 1 and the Conference in terms of ability, but finances and crowd base usually catches up with the real overachievers eventually and on the flip side, almost always enables the bigger clubs to return to their true position.

It is incredible that teams like the Blades, Wednesday, Norwich City, Leicester City, Southampton, Leeds United and Nottingham have all played in the third tier of english football in the last four years, whilst tiny Wigan have been in the top flight for six, soon to be seven seasons . It's a funny old game !

Good Luck.