Back to the grindstone

Training

After spending last weekend drinking Friday, Saturday, Sunday and a couple of quiet ones on Monday, I can categorically state the training took a few steps in the wrong direction.  Tuesday, I was back to work to make an honest living, it also proved to be the tail end of the dreaded drink downer, and the culmination of a guilty conscience; and feeling like Augustus Gloop from Willly Wonka and his infamous chocolate factory.

6am came early on Wednesday morning, after a quick breakfast I adorned the multicoloured and partially illuminous cycling gear laid out in wait from the previous night.  After glancing through the window it was obviously wet, but I wouldn't dare venture anywhere near the balcony for a real taste of temperature.  The last thing I wanted was another reason to go back to bed, which I was contemplating should truth be told. 

Thirty minutes later I was en route to Edmonston Rd and panting like a dying dog climbing to the viewing point.  It was surprisingly warm and the first taste of spring weather which I revelled in, along with a few stimulating tunes on my ipod (low volume of course).  As I climbed, the sun rose and my lights which where initially essential for guidance were merely flashing at oncoming traffic to make them aware of my presence as I reached the peak, the day was born.  A quick descent home, washed the bike and off to work feeling a lot better and content.

Thursday morning was an exact replica, another 20km+ to Viewing point via Edmonston Rd.  I shall add 150km to that tomorrow, my longest session of the season to date.  Route here.  Good news is, I will have company, two guys also attempting the Marmotte this year, its their route not mine.  1600m of climbing and around 7 hours in the saddle should burn a few calories no doubt.

Sunday I am planning on heading out with ThinkBike.ie, 60km route as a recovery, that's recovery as in wearing out the last of my legs until the following weekend.

Sports Betting

Soccer handed me my ass for February and it really pissed me off having so many nearly bets for 1-2k.  It still irks me as I write so I will be refraining from venturing a bet this weekend on any soccer games.  I shall still list a few potential predictions for tomorrow (Saturday) should anyone wish to further analyse the merits of their case.

Both Teams to Score

Bury v Crewe,  Accrington v Torquay, Brentford v Bristol Rovers, Oxford v Hereford, Barnet v Lincoln, Hoffenheim v Mainz

Greyhound racing, the Tote Gold Cup begins tomorrow evening (Saturday) at Shelbourne park and should prove to be a good night's racing.  Their are joint ante post favourites in the form of Bling Bling Buzz & Razldazl George both quoted at 8/1.  Full market here.  Both are pacey greyhounds in their own right but at 8/1 there is better value elsewhere.  Bling Bling Buzz has never raced competitively around Shelbourne and if he doesn't take to the track he'll be heading back to kennels tomorrow evening with the proverbial tail between his legs.  If he does take to Shelbourne (which I think he might) he will prove difficult to beat in Heat 2, at 9.00pm.

Razldazl George has undoubted ability and will progress to be top class greyhound should he avoid any injury woes, but with only 4 races under his belt it is asking quite a lot to take down a tournament of this quality so early in his career, especially at odds of 8/1.  My 3 fancies for tomorrow nights heats are as follows.

Heat 4 - Trap 2 :  Tyrur Carey

There could be some bumping early doors in this race as trap 5, Slippery Bob, prefers the rails and should venture towards trap four shortly after trap rise, potentially hampering both their chances of success.  Meanwhile, 1&2 can lead up on the inner, with two taking charge down the back straight and should prove hard to peg back should this be the case.  Tyur is lightly raced, but has an abundance of trials and this kennel's young dogs are always well schooled pre racing.

Heat 5 - Trap 5 : Allowdale Prince

This dog has won his last two races around the track and is in good form, and will certainly not be in need of the run.  Fast up, good back straight pace and cuts the third bend hard from outside to inside, he will be short priced and difficult to peg back with his usual smart pace to the corner and take charge from there, also not a lot of early pace from dogs on his immediate left.  The danger may lie with the two dog, Moe's Tavern, who also has some decent early pace.  His latest line of form can be ignored as he was wrote off during first bend trouble, but is rising in grade from A2, albeit he did romp home in the lower ranks.  With a little luck I would expect Allowdale to be a potential candidate for overall glory, currently priced at 12/1 to lift the trophy.

Heat 6 - Trap 1 : Tyrur Domingo

Lots of pace, likes the inside but not the sharpest when considering track craft, a little like a Ferrari without a steering wheel.  3&6 are potential threats to preventing glory for Tyrur, however, I would expect him to lead round or alongside the others and use the inside line to gain a length or two before entering the back straight where he can open up and take charge.   That's the plan at any rate, there is also some value in his ante post price of 20/1.

My gym sucks.......

Training

Took Monday off after two good sessions on the bike at the weekend, managed two days at the gym midweek which was a stretch to be honest.  Ever since I moved apartment I was forced to also locate a new gym.  My old gym was small with limited members, had a swimming pool and a studio with a punch bag.  It was also 50 metres from where I lived, all boxes checked, I never missed.

My new gym is huge, and it has about a billion members.  You can't turn around without bumping in to someone, tripping over countless dumb bells strewn aside like plastic cups at a concert.  Gotta queue for a machine, etc, man it sucks.  Plus there are so many posing idiots pumped up like Popeye overdosed on spinach if you know what I mean.  I really need to find a new gym.  I used go twice a day sometimes at my old place, now I can barely put in three days a week.  Anyway, the two days I got were short 45 min sessions but intensive as I could make it and I have definitely benefited from them which is a plus.

I'll be spending the weekend in the comfort of my girlfriend's home town, and also hooking up with a few mates from my home town to boot so the (liquid) calorie intake will soar and the exercise rapidly decline over the next 3 days (well it won't decline, it will just evaporate).  In my defence, I should be playing a few games of darts at the local watering hole, just a different form of sport but I shall still be an athlete in training.

Sports Betting

There are two greyhounds running tomorrow night at Shelbourne Park which I think have good chances.

Second Race - Trap 4 - Busters Choice

This dog has good early gears and is opposed by trap 6, for the third time recently, who four has beaten twice already and there is no reason to see why he cant make it a third time.  The other 4 opponents are all coming back after lay offs over the winter and could be in need of the run.  Even if they don't need the run the 4 dog is in good form and handles the track well, with a similar run from previous outings he should prove hard to stop.  Price wise he wont be big, I would probably think he'd return around evens or 6/4 at best.

Ninth Race - Trap 5 - Quick Lee

Lots of early pace in this race.  Five can lead the outside with 1 & 3 charging to the corner also, trap one doesn't stay too well and 3 is an obvious danger, however, the five has slightly more gears down the back and has a few lengths on the clock to boot. Should return around 2/1 - 5/2 depending upon support in the ring.

Tranmere were the value price of the midweeks soccer, however, I got a little greedy and combined them with Watford who leaked an early goal (4th minute), then a second soon after, and could eventually only muster a draw against the defensively woeful Preston.  Burton, had they scored, would have salvaged some profit for the evening but no success materialising from their corner either.  Still in the red for February so seeking some retribution from Saturday & Sunday's fixture list.  Shortlist below with some good value, in particular Crewe who are a good price to overcome Stevenage, personal favourites highlighted (29/1 accum), although I will have various combinations of the below.

Both Teams To Score

Leverkusen v Stuttgart

Colchester v Walsall

Stockport v Macclesfield

Portsmouth v Barnsley

Montpelier v Lille

Lecce v Juventus

Over 2.5 Goals

Leverkusen v Stuttgart

Colchester v Walsall

Peterboro v Tranmere

Home Wins

Udinese

Napoli

Crewe

Fiorentina

Millwall

Hannover

Beaten Docket

Training

Missed a night in the gym towards the end of the week, but I'm not too concerned as I managed two days out on the bike at the weekend.  Five hours and 110km on Saturday alongside a a new training buddy who is also training for La Marmotte.  Could begin to get competitive as we near the event possibly, however, I think I need to drop the pounds as this guy is small and lean, I've seen more meat on a butcher's knife, otherwise he'll leave me sitting on the climbs.  My day was good on Saturday, however, my training partners' was anything but.  We travelled to Dalkey to meet a third member of our group, why I'm not so sure because he was only the third member for about 30 mins before declaring himself unfit enough to continue with the likes of ourselves and set off on a detour to return home.  Its not like he was out with Stephen Roche and Sean Kelly for Christ's sake.

During this 30 mins as a trio I ventured the usual periodic glance behind to confirm the group was still in tact, not because I'm so quick that nobody can keep up, more logistics, traffic, accidents and of course punctures.  I quickly noticed there was now only two of us, myself and the 30 minute man; my Marmotte training partner had vanished like a fart in the wind.  Slowly, slowly for the next few minutes but still no sign of him catching up.  I retraced our route to find him repairing a puncture at the roadside, his third for the week he declared in a pissed off tone.  He had forgotten his pump so I produced my little hand pump and proceeded to inflate the deflated tyre, after he had inserted a new tube.  About 2 mins later with the wheel nearing the required pressure and my arm about to fall off with the effort, BANG!, the fucking tube blew up.  Christ, a fucking hand pump blew the tube, shit tubes those Continentals we reckoned, I retrieved a Schwalbe tube from my saddle bag and for the second time began the pump, pump, pump action of a man possessed.  And yes, we had already checked the tyre for debris, glass, etc.

That tube held until we neared Ashord, then the familiar cries of "Jesus, not again!", forewarned of another impending session with my hand pump, yep, another feckin puncture.  This time however, I cut a strip from the punctured tube and lined a particular section of the rim of his wheel where there was what appeared to be a manufacturing impairment (raised edge on the inside of the rim), which was probably nipping the tube, causing our anguish, or his anguish more like.  At least it was a dry day, would have been a lot more miserable had we been repairing the punctures in a downpour. 

After spending so much time repairing punctures we changed our route to avoid the bigger hills as it was closing in towards sunset, still a good spin though and I could feel it on Sunday when I ventured out again on the ThinBike club spin.  Sunday was my first time to scale "the wall", a hill near Djouce with gradient of 19% (according to my garmin), thankfully its not that long.  After two hours I was beginning to bonk and needed to stop at a shop for some well deserved chocolate which provided ample fuel to guide me home during the half hour following.  Resting up today, after being out for a meal last night treating the Mrs to a valentines dinner.

Reading a new book on training, or should I say my first book on training.  Whether I implement any of it or not only time will tell.

Sports Betting
No joy at the weekend, all dockets beaten.  Inter couldn't muster a goal against Juve (Juventus 1 v 0 Inter) for the four timer, both to score bet.  MK Dons, likewise, could only share the points with Brentford (1 - 1 draw) to scupper the home wins bet.  The greyhound longshot at 10/1 finished second to the favourite.  Happy with this bet as it required the fav to find a little trouble to enable a victory but such was not the case.  He also returned 5/1, half the odds available the day prior to the event.  Well, as I self proclaim many a time, 'can't win every day'.

February is titter tottering from profit to loss, currently back in loss territory.  There are a few games on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, English leagues and Champions League.  The Champions league games look tight enough, plus it becomes increasingly difficult predicting these games, especially for a win, draw, loss scenario, as they are played over two legs and team/management strategies play a large part. 

As a Spurs fan I will be shouting on Harrys men against the Italian so called giants AC Milan.  Spurs are quite capable on their day of lowering the flag of such mighty adversaries, however, it will be a tad more difficult without the very talented Gareth Bale.  They will still field a strong team and their opponents are ageing in a few departments which could prove to be their inherent weakness over the two legs.  I would be happy with a draw Tuesday evening, with everything to fight for at White Harte Lane during the second leg.

Same pattern as before, 'Both Teams to Score' & 'Home Wins' are the predictions midweek, below:

Both Teams To Score
Exeter v Swindon
Torquay v Burton Albion
Sheff Utd v Reading
Southend v Wycombe
Tranmere v Sheff Wed
Aldershot v Lincoln

Accumulator with first four pays approx 7/1
Accumulator with first five pays approx 12/1
Accumulator with all six pays approx 20/1


Home Wins
Tranmere
Hamburg
Watford

Treble pays approx 7/1

Another Day, Another.......

Training
Put in another evening on the bike and another evening in the gym. Was heading towards Edmonston Rd again (where else would I be headed), with five lights and a high vis jacket as per usual, I'm all for the Christmas tree effect.  Better safe and blinding drivers than being knocked over by blind drivers.  The plan was to scale up the heights of the Viewing Point and descend Stocking Lane, returning home.  About an hour cycle and approx 20km and a few hundred metres climbing.

About half way up the hill I noticed a blinking red light up ahead, another cyclist was the obvious first thought and I was correct.  However, as I got closer the person was walking with their bike, a young woman, mid twenties.  She waved at me as I was approaching. "Hi, I'm looking for Ballinteer", she says, "think I might have taken a wrong turn".  No fucking shit you took a wrong turn I thought, you are heading up the mountain to pitch black wilderness, are you fucking stupid?  When I opened my mouth to speak my thoughts softened to "Christ, Ballinteer, you're going the wrong direction".
"Oh, can I keep going this way and turn off up ahead or is it just another hill?".
"The last place you want to be heading at this time of night is further up this hill."  I'm not one for generalisations but she was blond, just a fact I'm pointing out.

She informed me what part of Ballinteer she was looking for, I input the address in to the Garmin and gave her directions to return down the hill and take a right at the Roundabout (where there are lights and people around).  It's really silly things like this that's ends up with people going missing and nobody hearing from them ever again, wandering around the middle of nowhere like a sheep blindfolded with a flashing red light attached.  Her front light had died so I offered her spare batteries which I carry with me, unfortunately it was a USB charger that powered her dead Cat-eye.

I continued on for another km or so, and then got this real eerie feeling from my surroundings, not sure why nor what it was.  I have been up that road many times, day and night and never had much bother, but history has proven that it is good to follow my instincts.  I immediately turned around and retraced my route descending Edmonston Rd, deciding to finish the remainder of the hour cycle on the level roads below.  I also thought I could guide the lost lady to the plains below as she had no front light, probably something I should have offered initially, but there was no sign of anyone.  She must have had no problems finding her way back to civilisation thankfully.  I reached home 1 hour, 23km and one good deed later, happy with getting another midweek session in.  Planning on one more trip to the gym and two days cycling at the weekend.

Sports Betting
The midweek selections sailed in, the accumulator returning 7.5/1, I also added Exeter v Brenford, both to score, from the night before, which buffed it up to a healthy 14/1 winning bet.  Even though Exeter waited until 4 minutes into injury time to convince their fans they have what it takes to hit the onion bag, first minute or last, a goal is a goal.  That bet turned a losing February into a winning February for month to date.
This weekend's selections below:

Both Teams to Score
St Etienne v Lyon, Blackpool v Aston Villa, Juventus v Inter Milan, West Brom v West Ham, Valenciennes v Brest, PSG v Lens.

Accumulator on first 4 selections pays circa 11/2
Accumulator on first 5 selections pays circa 12/1
Accumulator on all 6 selections pays circa 28/1

You can increase that to odds of 183/1 by adding:
Aldershot v Macclesfield, Barnet v Torquay, Charlton v Peterborough, Walsall v Bournemouth.

Home Wins
Arsenal, Lille, MK Dons, Oxford
Accumulator pays circa 15/2

Shelbourne Park - Race 10 - 10.00pm Saturday Night
This is the Joe Dunne Memorial Puppy Final, and with puppy comps anything can happen in a final.  The six dog is favourite, puppy derby winner, and worthy to be favourite but not at skinny odds of 4/5.  This is way too short for me.  On the other hand the dog in trap three, Mutual Decision, is a huge price at 10/1.  He won his semi final and from watching the videos I can see him leading the inside to the first corner and coming off the second bend in front.  He hasn't the fastest pace along the back straight and 2 & 6 will be baring down on him approaching the third bend.  Both 2 & 6 will track out on the back straight as the 3 dog rails and they will have no room on the inside, hopefully 2 & 6 will collide at the third fighting for the same ground leaving 3 with a small lead which he can maintain to the line as he stays on strongly enough. At 10/1 odds I would bet this every day of the week, great value, and worthy of a small bet.

Tale of the Scales

Training

Two nights in the gym, relatively easy work outs if I'm honest and only one day on the bike at the weekend. The wind was howling like a wolf on speed Friday night and I was doubting the validity of getting out for a few hours on Saturday without risking life and limb getting blown all over the road. Thankfully, the wind had receded by Saturday morning and was replaced by a dreary miserable wet, actually very wet, gloomy day. The whole day had a feeling of dusk about it, such was the darkness of the sky but I carefully located my happy glasses and set off wrapped up like an onion hoping to stay out for as long as possible.

When I first bought the bike and all the paraphernalia that accompanied it, one item purchased was a pair of Oakley jawbones (215 squid) for those sunny days and to make you look cool and feel faster than you really are. Getting blinded by the sun was never a worry throughout the summer months, however, put those bad boys on on a day like Saturday past and its like Prozac in reverse. Its like cycling blindfolded, and makes a depressingly bad weather day even more gloomy and depressing than before. To counter this I visited the store that has a little of everything and a lot of nothing, yes, our good old friend Argos, who efficiently relieved me of €14.99 and I now had a pair of 'Happy Glasses'. Insert the yellow lenses and the gloomiest day is now bright and cheerful, and your mood lifted, for a fraction of the price of the designer what nots.

Off to Edmonston Rd again and towards Sally Gap, only to encounter lots of water running over the road at Glencree which put me off climbing the last hundred metres up to the gap, so I decided to play it safe and descended to Enniskerry. The lower plains were fine with nice comfortable temperatures, but it began to chill somewhat as I rose to Glencree so my mind was made up to stay lower down. Plus if the weather turned to Mr Nasty I wouldn't be too far from home if I stayed this side of the hills. From Enniskerry up the main road towards Stepaside, turned off at the roundabout and up by Johnny Foxes and Pineforest Road to Viewing Point for the second time. Descended stocking lane with the intention of executing another loop of Edmonston, Cruagh, Stocking lane but I felt like a drowned rat at this point and my feet were freezing. My weakest link is the feet, once they are wet its the beginning of the end.

Overshoes aren't worth a monkeys as far as keeping the feet dry is concerned. I need to invest in a pair of waterproof cycling shoes if such contraptions exists, maybe a cross between a pair of Sidi's and a pair of wellies would suffice.

I sauntered home with circa 60km and 3 hours in the saddle, determined that Sunday would be another opportunity to get the legs turning. Yeah right, I could barely get to sleep Saturday night with the racket the wind was making and when Sunday morning was no better there was little point in venturing out in a gale, safety first; or maybe its laziness first and safety as a valid excuse. After the cycle I duly decided to hop on the scales and test how truthful the better half is when she constantly maintains I'm losing weight. I was pleasantly surprised to read 13st 8.5lb on the display, down from 14st 0.25lb and still having a few beers at the weekend to boot and a night dining out, result!

Pet Hates

Watched the rugby Saturday afternoon with a mate and his girlfriend, then we all joined my girlfriend afterwards to watch 'The Fighter' in the cinema at 6.30. Save yourself 2 hours of your life and don't get tricked by the advert proclaiming its the best thing since sliced bread, or Rocky, or whatever they claim. Average at best.

One thing that really shakes my palm trees the wrong way are doormen with attitude and an over inflated ego of self importance. After leaving the cinema all four in our party decided to try out the new bar that has opened recently in Rathmines, called 'Copan'.

On approach it was quite easily to see it wasn't that busy as there were four doormen loitering outside, looking menacingly at passers by like they were considering whether to mug some unfortunate soul, a bit like something you would see in the Sopranos; if Scorcese himself jumped out and shouted "action!" you wouldn't have batted and eyelid.

I led the group and attempted to weave my way through the scrum of bouncers when the small fat foreign one stepped into my path. "Where are you coming from?" he spouted, "the cinema", I replied. He repeated himself for some reason, "where are you coming from", so likewise I repeated myself, "the cinema", I again replied. I was already getting pissed of with this asshole, what fucking business of his is it where I'm coming from. Before I gained my professional qualifications I worked for approx 7 years in the bar and hotel industry, both behind the bar and on the door. When I come across guys like this it really is annoying, they just give everyone a bad name.

Not happy with my first two answers he then asked "where do you live?". At this point I calmly looked at the others in the group and said "Lets go somewhere else", thinking to myself 'what a fucking prick to have on the door of a new bar with zero regulars greeting people'. Its bad enough that publicans rob you blind with their prices but now we have to pass a fucking questionnaire in order to be privileged enough to allow them the pleasure to over charge us? That's one bar I wont be spending any money in.

As I walked away one of the girls questioned why he asks such irrelevant questions, 'its a standard question' he retorted, and right on cue, two girls walked straight past and into the premises without answering any of his so called standard questions. I don't know where he worked previously if he thinks that is standard. I would love to take him up to the north of our Emerald Isle and stand him at a door and let him ask the same random questions, I would be surprised if he made it past midnight intact.

At the next local watering hole we were warmly greeted with a kind hello and and a warm smile by their doorman, which could explain why Copan was empty and Rody Bolands busy.

Sports Betting

Damn you Hereford, I'm gonna say that again, damn you Hereford! Five out of six of the 'Both Teams to Score' selections were triumphant only to be let down by the Hereford 0 v 1 Lincoln result. That left me with 3 nearly winning accumulators priced at 6/1, 12/1 & 20/1.

Another option may be to bet 6 x five timers and 1 x six timer for 7 bets and reduce the stakes for each individual bet. That way any 5 winning would likely double your money, and all six winning would return somewhere in the region of 14 times your original total outlay (obviously these returns will vary slightly with varying prices). Food for thought at any rate. Not much happening football wise midweek, other than internationals, which are only worth betting if you have too much money and need relieving of it, alternatively stay as far away as possible. There are a few League 1 & 2 games taking place Tuesday evening. Might partake in a 7.5/1 accumulator (4 selections), should further analysis agree with the stats.

Huddersfield to win

Leyton Orient v Swindon - Over 2.5 goals

Hereford v Macclesfield - Both teams to score

Morcambe v Alderdshot - Both teams to score

Remember Hereford, you owe me!

Just One More Goal

Training
Not much to report, flat spin to the heights of Phoenix park, legs felt good even after the weekend where I was reluctantly attempting to ruin all the good work from the wrong end of a beer bottle. Slow pace, middle range HR, yet my average pace did increase so signs of improvement. I know I am dropping weight but not venturing anywhere near the scales just yet. Dropping weight can be deceiving, as you burn fat you gain muscle, yet the weight doesn't fall as much as you would have assumed, therefore I can do without staring at the numbers on my scales in disbelief. I'll let the trousers and the shirts whisper their approval as I begin to get lost in them.
There will be 2 nights in the gym to add, plus the Weekend's spins.




Sports Betting
Midweek footie is like Jekyll & Hyde, all goes according to predictions or it chews you up and spits you out like used chewing gum. It was all going according to plan, except I just needed one more goal on Tuesday, and yes, on Wednesday too.

5 of the 6 'Both Teams to Score' I listed came in. I had 3 accumulators, the first 4 teams, the first 5 teams & the first 6 teams. First 4 steamed in, the 6th was up and now I was waiting on QPR v Portsmouth to collect a nice Little earner from a small outlay. Pompey did everything but score apparently, finishing QPR 2 v 0 Portsmouth.......... still small profit for the evening.

Wednesday, got a mail from a colleague who delves into the footie roller coaster himself. He doesn't know it but his worst bets are the Draw No Bet market (I record his selections and assess them for trends and profitability). Every time he picks a team for Draw No Bet, they get hammered, its no joke. He recommended Blackburn ( versus Spurs) & Blackpool (versus West Ham), both Draw No Bet. Off the top of my head the Blackburn bet was a no no straight away, however, I may have leaned towards Blackpool had I been forced to release a prediction. That suddenly changed to 'Spurs & West Ham were now bankers' because he fancied their opponents with the disastrous 'Draw No Bet' prediction.

I got adventurous and added Liverpool (won), Bolton (won), Fulham (won), and Man City (draw) for an 87/1 accum. Come on Man City....just one more goal!!! No joy. Was only a small bet but it would have been a handy 1k+ on a Wednesday evening..... small loss for the evening.

My stats analysis programme has thrown more shortlisted fixtures than I can shake the proverbial stick at so will list the highest 6 ranked (and do a crazy bet myself including them all).

This Weekend's Shortlist:

Over 2.5 Goals
M'Gladbach v Stuttgart, Peterboro v Southampton, Hereford v Lincoln, Sevilla v Malaga, Barcelona v Ath Madrid, Rotherham v Crewe.
Accumulator (6) pays circa 15/1

Both Teams To Score
M'Gladbach v Stuttgart, Hereford v Lincoln, Almeria v Espanyol, Carlisle v Walsall, Auxerre v Lille, Exeter v Huddersfield
Accumulator with first 4 pays circa 6/1
Accumulator with first 5 pays circa 12/1
Accumulator with all 6 pays circa 20/1


I'll probably bet the Both To Score accums, and add another 12 teams on top for an adventurous monster accum of 18 teams returning 15,400/1, has to be a sure thing, bye bye work, hello New York!

If you want the other 12 games, they are - Portsmouth, Montpelier, Inter, Sevilla, Morecambe, Wigan, Northampton, Chesterfield, Peterborough, Hoffenheim, Southend, Villareal.

Cross those fingers now.