Posts Tagged ‘Dud’

As the English team played Algeria in a Group C game, making a 2010 World Cup wager at the sportsbook on England should have been popular on Friday.

England was heavily favored in World Cup bets online to defeat Algeria and anything less than an extraordinary win was a letdown to English buffs. Actually, they were booed off the field by their own fans after the team didn’t defeat Algeria.

England is getting 1.5 goals in the match and on the three-way soccer betting line they were big faves. England is -500, Algeria is +1000 and the Draw is +500 with a total of 2.5 under. Since ESPN is airing the U.S. Open on Friday, this game will be aired on ESPN 2.

The draw wasn’t a catastrophe, but England should have beaten the united states in their first competition. If England had won this game vs Algeria as expected and then conquered Slovenia in their final competition they would practically certainly still win Group C. England has lost only one of their previous 14 games in the group stage of the World Cup so it looked improbable they will lose against Algeria.

England played Algeria to a 0-0 draw in this game. So while they did not lose versus Algeria, they certainly didn’t win. Their performance was broadly belittled, even by their own buffs. Their performance was called a dud, sullen and sluggish.

England has competed to a tie in their starting World Cup games a total of 5 times and they still made the knockout round in four of those 5 occasions. England has tied more matches with scores of 0-0 than any other team in World Cup history.

The England offense should have had more success on Friday, even though they didn’t do much vs the united states. Wayne Rooney was anticipated to break out with a major game, but just did not. He landed 34 goals in 44 showings for Manchester United this season. England’s only goal in the tie against the u.s. was won by Steven Gerrard. England is supposed to get Gareth Barry back from injury and he could see action on Friday. Robert Green, who famously fumbled the ball in the US against England game and allowed a goal, was benched for this game. As an alternative, coach Fabio Capello brought in David James in a bid to lift confidence in the defense.

This was the first ever meeting between England and Algeria. With 11 victories and four draws, the English had never lost vs an African squad. In the World Cup, England has retained a clean sheet in 4 of their five matches vs African teams. Algeria hasn’t ever held a clean sheet in their 7 World Cup games and they don’t figure to do so versus England.

England and the united states follow Slovenia’s four points in Group C with 2 points each, making Slovenia the leader at this point. Algeria’s got one point. The stage is set for a climax on Wednesday with England competing with Slovenia and the United States taking on Algeria.

The wife is no stranger to exercise. Somewhat controversially, she now concentrates solely on working her liver; I can see the logic though, it’s occasionally her second largest internal organ.

If the Government told the wife that she could only purchase her beloved Buckfast during January, she would quite rightly revolt; which admittedly, is not a major deviation from the norm.

I find it incredible that Premiership managers are handicapped in such a fashion. It’s almost impossible to do any business in such a small window, although I did manage it once in Amsterdam.

Paradoxically, Martin O’Neill’s transactions have been exceptional. He somehow managed to entice the classy John Carew, and all it cost him was a dud Czech. The Villa are bouncing, they’ll see off the Hammers at 10/11.

A little known FIFA clause allows Frank Lampard to leave Chelsea for a relatively paltry £8m. Frank may have his knockers, but that seems a fair price to me. The champions have too much up top for a struggling Charlton; get on at a well developed 2/5.

Sheffield United win the award for the most surprising transfer. You could have knocked me over with a feather when news broke that they had signed Fathi; who knew that they had a spare £8m. The Blades haven’t won in Blackburn for 20 years; the Rovers are the weekend nap at an ample 8/11.

I believe the children are the future, unless we crack down hard on them now. The appointment of Stuart Pearce to the England Under-21 setup has been met with consternation by the Manchester City board; Reading can take full advantage at 12/5.

Mohammed Al Fayed can’t believe that Reading are above Fulham in the table; he thinks it’s a Royal conspiracy. The Cottagers will triumph over Newcastle at a clandestine 13/10.

Paul Jewell must be sick of the sight of Harry Redknapp; and not just because of the annoying twitch. Wigan have already lost twice to Portsmouth this season, a Pompey treble is in the bag at a knee-jerk 13/8.

I am extremely disappointed with Lua Lua. It wasn’t the fact that he was arrested for an alleged domestic disturbance; I feel let down because he didn’t do a double back flip after striking. I’m doing somersaults about the 7/1 for a 1-0 win to Portsmouth.

Jesus is more than handy with a loaf of bread and a piece of cod, but even He would struggle to keep Watford in the Premiership. Prayers do occasionally get answered though, thank you Al Bangura. Get on Bolton to beat Watford at a sacrilicious 5/4.

Liverpool host neighbours Everton in a tantalising Merseyside derby. The Toffeemen haven’t won at Anfield this millennium; it’ll be the Liverpool fans bragging in the benefit office on Monday morning. The Reds are a steal at 8/13.

Cesc Fabregas is a little magician. As long as he avoids Debbie McGee he’s got a decent future in the game. The 4/5 for an Arsenal win over Middlesbrough is spellbinding.

Tottenham are like Paul McCartney on his wedding night, they have to get over an extremely disappointing second leg. Man U will overwhelm the deflated Spurs at 5/6.

Wayne Rooney has been labeled a tubby Eric Cantona, and there’s more than an element of truth in such a comparison. The next big thing can net the opener at 6/1.

Ever since the departure of Cantona (and to a lesser degree Sheringham), United have struggled for a quality player in the hole. I believe Rooney will prove to be the missing link. I’m going ape about United scoring three or more goals at 11/4.

This week’s accer is so alluring, it reminds me of the wife’s sister; but i’ll get into that later. Liverpool, Aston Villa, Blackburn and Reading are the selections, the payout is a feisty 16/1.