Monday, May 19, 2008

Congratulations FC United Of Manchester

So we didn't win the Unibond League First Division - North but their results were good enough to secure promotion to the Unibond Premier League.

Unibond Premier League is a Level 7 league (EPL being Level 1) and if we were to continue to gain promotion consistently year after year, they will finally reach Nationwide League 2 in 2011 and we may even see a Manchester Derby between ManUtd and FCUM in 2014!!

Imagine 3 Manchester clubs in the EPL!

wow...

Anyway, congratulations to FC United of Manchester!

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Midweek Review (21 May 2008)


Manchester United vs Chelsea
Champions League Final




"This game is so much like the 39th game plan proposed not long ago."
-Gary, 18 May 2008


This will be my last post for this season and will conclude my overall season overview as well.

Congrats to Man Utd for winning the 17th title. And our next target will be winning the 18th title to be on par with Liverpool.

A warm welcome to West Brom and Stoke City to the Promised Land of football next season. And we have to wait and see who is the the last team to enter. Bristol City or Hull City? Whichever team enter, will be easier to bet against them, due to lack of experience as quoted by Jaywalk. But then again, neither team would want to beat Derby's record for lowest points gain in the Premier League table.

Now we have one less bogey team to handle and that is Reading who is relegated with Birmingham and Derby to second-tier football next season.

And for the first time next season, both sides of Manchester will be in Europe. My heart is still with Sven Eriksson to stay at Manchester but mind is hopping mad that he doesnt mastermind another win at Man Utd.

So for the final game this season, is the Champions League final at Moscow. This game is so much like the 39th game plan proposed not long ago. How ironic. For those in the dark, organisers of English Premier League wanted all the teams to be played a one-off game in other cities rather than in England.

Anyway, coming back to this game, Man Utd is having their 50th Munich disaster anniversary since 1958. And what a way to fit the tribute if Man Utd win the Champions League. And that is also the same time Man Utd won their first European Cup. Man Utd is the only team that stays unbeaten throughout this competition.

Now, whoever wins this competition, is rightly call the Kings of Europe. But my concern is next season where one team (regardless of who) will have a hell of congestion fixtures to clear. Why? Because of the FIFA Club World Cup. And it smacks right in the mid season.

Man Utd Team News: No injuries, no suspensions. All 26 players will be at Moscow. Fergie is having a selection headache.

Chelsea Team News: John Terry, Drogba are fit for the match.

Odds and Analysis: Man Utd is giving 0.25. I would say, stay clear of the match. But if given a choice, i would pick Man Utd due to the 50th anniversary.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

We Are The Champions!






Credits to ابو السيم

We Are The Champions!

Monday, May 12, 2008

SPUG EPL Prediction League
Results 11 May 2008

Well done Cool402 for winning this season's SPUG EPL Prediction League!!!

Well, so far none of us have managed to defend our title for the second season running. Perhaps Cool402 can break this jinx?

Anyway, thanks to all for sticking through with us for yet another season. We will kick off our 5th season in August. 5 seasons already! Wow.... time really flies. I wonder if we can make it to 10 seasons?

Also next, year, I shall bring back WeiMing's Hall of Fame where a tally will be drawn up to keep track of the number of correct guesses over the season. It's a bit like my Perfect 10 except that you only need to get one of the two matches of the match weekend to chalk a score.

In the mean time... Don't forget. We will be doing Euro 2008 Prediction League. I will start posting match fixtures around 01 Jun 2008. See you guys later!

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.



SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) David.hvp (23 Dec 2007)
2) Beaver21 (23 Dec 2007)
3) Edwinsng (02 Feb 2008)
4) Beaver21(15 Mar 2008)

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros
EPL 2007/2008 - Cool402

As usual:

1) If you have spotted a mistake, please let me know where and what so that I can amend them accordingly.
2) Please check your scores for accuracy as soon as possible before I update the table during the next round of scores. Once the table has been updated, the old table will be overwritten.
3) In case you are still seeing the old table even if I have announced a new update, please refresh your browser to reload the table.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Beer Fund Raising : 11 May 2008

It's the last match day of the season and my last EPL entry of the season as well. I would like to take this opportunity to say thanks for sticking with us for another season as I sign off the EPL season with this entry.

Fret not, I will still be around to tabulate the final SPUG EPL Prediction League score (assuming no tie breaker) before I take my short break and returning to do the SPUG Euro 2008 Prediction League. Do join us!

Anyway, congrats again to Roy Keane for surviving his first season in the Premiership, I look forward to another season of the battling Black Cats but I think they won't do as well as this season unless they start spending cash on new talents.!

Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Sunday's Picks:
  • Blackburn Rovers - Eat 0.25 ball (Lose)
  • Chelsea - Give 2.00 ball (Lose)
  • Reading - Give 1.00 ball (Win)

  • Valencia - Give 0.75 ball (Win)
  • Getafe - Eat 0.25 ball (Win 1/2)
HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 2.5 - 0 - 2

Result This Season: 79.5 - 8 - 68.5 = 11-UP as at 11 May 2008

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

Weekend Outlook (11 May 2008)




Wigan Athletic vs Manchester United

"...Well, Brucie fucked it up for us in 1995 and we sure ain't going to let Brucies fucked it up again twice...."

- JayWalk, 10 May 2008

26 minutes into the game and we were 3-0 up.

Can you say kelong?

I won't be surprised to see fantastic deals between the two clubs in the summer. Perhaps ManUtd to transfer one of its young prodigies from the academy or West Ham selling one of their prized possessions for an obscene profit?

Will touch more on this later.


Usually with a result like 4-1, we would expected to see ManUtd, who incidentally was also the home side, have stats that resembled a bulldozer running over a little chihuahua. But no. Our 8 shots attempted (4 on goal) versus a slightly better 9 shots (5 on goal) is just weird. Mind you, this wasn't a tight match like ManUtd vs Barcelona. This is just your regular slaughter match against lowly West Ham. Either that or the stats suggested that it may have been a typical game at Middlesbrough where if you see a man down flat on the pitch unconscious, not because he passed out as a result of an earlier nasty concussion but that he was asleep as a result of boredom.

So how despite very subdued stats, we can still manage such a high scoring result with only 10 men?

Can you say kelong?

JayWalk The Talk: Melchiot is the only casualty on the Wigan side but even with a full squad to choose from, I don't see them any more capable of getting past even our B-team.

As for ManUtd, Saha is still out while Nani earned himself a stupid suspension as a result of the red card at the West Ham game. Rooney injured his hip and while he is still good enough to start today, I think Fergie won't be risking him today in order to start him at the ECL final. The opposite is to be said of Vidic who is finally declared fit and must get in at least (only) one senior match to tune up his match fitness in time for the ECL final in Moscow.

JayWalk The Walk:
I have always talked about "The Curse of The Final Four" every year around this time of the season where ManUtd have this jinx to screw up at least once in the final four games. This time, the curse has come true again when we dropped 5 points in the last 3 games with a draw with Blackburn and a lost to Chelsea.

So the good news is that now that we have fulfilled our "bungle quota", the next game has got to be a win.

The bookies agree with me on this as ManUtd is made to give a 1.75-ball handicap despite being the away team and a decimal odds of 1.80 to beat it! How to lose like that??! I think we can safely tie the red, white and black ribbons on the league trophy now and presented it at the JJB Stadium at the end of 90 minutes. Regardless of result from the Chelsea camp, the trophy is going home to Old Trafford.

Back in 1995, we fucked it up when Steve Bruce's last minute mistake costs us the league title to allow Blackburn to nicked it from us, even when they lost their last match at Anfield. Guess what? It's Steve Bruce again this time as he is the manager of the Lactics.

Well, Brucie fucked it up for us in 1995 and we sure ain't going to let Brucies fucked it up again twice.

Brucie has been a loyal servant to Fergie during his time at ManUtd and I'd bet it would extend beyond his football playing days. Perhaps a couple of bargains to throw in when the transfer window opens in the summer, like Curbishley?

Historical stats indicates that Wigan has never beaten any of the top 4 teams and we have a great record of 6-0-0 against Wigan, with an average goal-margin of more than 2. People did caution against the lousy playing surface of the JJB Stadium where our "RollsRoyceBoys" may not be accustomed to but when the stake are this high, the ManUtd boys will find a way to overcome it, even if it means everybody pitching in to hire a steamroller to level the pitch the day before.

I think Giggs will feature today as it would let him tie Bobby Robson's record of 758 appearances and thus breaking that record when he starts the kick off in Moscow on 21 May 2008.

I also think Ronaldo will wrap up his Golden Boot win this season with yet another goal or two or three on Sunday.

The only time ManUtd loses is when they are not driven enough as Keane has complained so many times during his days as Captain. So, with the title within reach, I do not see how ManUtd is going to lose this match. I don't even care if we are making the careless assumption that Chelsea is sure to beat Bolton.

Technically, we only need to match Chelsea's result to win the league but I say screw that. Let's just win it and take the title on our terms.

Go for ManUtd and give the 1.75-ball handicap coz we are going to win the title and win it in style!

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

SPUG EPL Prediction League (11 May 2008)

It's the season finale and the title for the SPUG Prediction League is still up for grabs. Although Cool402 is currently in the lead with just 1 point over current runner-up Beaver21, will that be enough?

Since this is the last match weekend of the domestic season, we are having a bumper weekend (or ihawk98 prefers to call it a Mother's Day Special) of 3 games.

We've picked games where the various clubs still have something to fight for, be it relegation survival or a spot in the UEFA Cup next season. That should confuse the hell out of everybody and spread out all the predictions.

Good luck!

EPL 67: SUN 11/05 Birmingham City vs Blackburn Rovers at 10.00pm SIN/HKG

EPL 68: SUN 11/05 Derby County vs Reading at 10.00pm SIN/HKG

EPL 69: SUN 11/05 Portsmouth vs Fulham at 10.00pm SIN/HKG

Good luck!

Monday, May 05, 2008

SPUG EPL Prediction League
Results 03 - 04 May 2008

Congrats to Cool402 who is in the lead by the skin of his teeth and just one more weekend to go! There are 5 of us behind him within strike range and so the game isn't over just yet.

I think I better lay out the rules for the tie breaker here in case we can't find a clear winner at the end of 38 EPL games. We shall use the FA Cup as the tie-breaker with the following rules:

  1. Those involve in the tie breaker shall submit their predictions to me via email (voxeros[at]yahoo[dot]com) only (assuming I am not involved. Otherwise, I will appoint a 3rd party to take submissions).

    This is to prevent participants from seeing each other's submissions prior to kick-off.

    Everybody else are welcome to play along but their submissions will be in the comments section.

  2. Prediction will be the result at the end of 90 minutes with Outcome = 3 points and Goal Bonus at 1 point each.

  3. Should there be yet a tie again, then we shall proceed to the European Champions League final as the tie breaker to the tie breaker where Points (1) and (2) apply again.

  4. During the European Champions League final, participants are also required to predict the side that would score the first goal and the time of the first goal according to Soccernet's Gamecast. This is in case there is another tie after Point (3).

  5. Assuming the tie breaker is required, the winner shall be the declared winner of the SPUG EPL Prediction League 2007/2008 only after the tie breaker results have been finalised.

Important Note: Don't forget. We will be doing Euro 2008 Prediction League. Don't disappear immediately after the EPL ends hor!

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.



SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) David.hvp (23 Dec 2007)
2) Beaver21 (23 Dec 2007)
3) Edwinsng (02 Feb 2008)
4) Beaver21(15 Mar 2008)

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

As usual:

1) If you have spotted a mistake, please let me know where and what so that I can amend them accordingly.
2) Please check your scores for accuracy as soon as possible before I update the table during the next round of scores. Once the table has been updated, the old table will be overwritten.
3) In case you are still seeing the old table even if I have announced a new update, please refresh your browser to reload the table.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Beer Fund Raising : 03 - 05 May 2008

I have had consecutive weeks of nett losses that I am comtemplating calling a premature end to this season of betting.

To take an old cliche. Quit while you are ahead. So at nett 11-UP from a high of almost 20, I have decided to take the money and run.

However, given that it is only just 2 more weeks, there is no way to I will end up in the red this season. I may be tempted to just punt as a result of itchy hands.

We'll see. :P

With Birmingham, Middlesbrough, Reading and Bolton all failing to secure 3-points last week, the Premiership passing mark was as a result lowered to 36 points.

In other words, Sunderland would have cleared it even without winning their last game. However, as I have said of Roy Keane, he would have preferred to secure it via the front door and that was exactly what he did as Middlesbrough gifted a 90th minute own-goal for Sunderland to take the 3 points with a 3-2 win, to take the Black Cats to 39 points.

Congratulations Roy Keane!

Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Saturday's Picks:
  • Aston Villa - Give 1.00 ball (Lose)
  • Blackburn Rovers - Give 1.75 ball (Win 1/2)
  • Birmingham Cityt - Eat 0.25 ball (Lose)

  • Athletico Madrid - Give 1.00 ball (Win)
  • Deportivo La Coruna - Eat 0.50 ball (Lose)
Sunday's Picks:
  • Arsenal - Give 0.75 ball (Win 1/2)

  • Santander - Give 1.25 ball (Lose 1/2)
  • Sevilla - Give 1.25 ball (Win)
HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 3 - 0 - 3.5

Result This Season: 77 - 8 - 66.5 = 10.5-UP as at 04 May 2008

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

Weekend Outlook (03 May 2008)




Manchester United vs West Ham United

"...Get ready the KBE medal for Sir Alex Ferguson when we are done with Chelsea on 21 May 2008...."

- JayWalk, 03 May 2008

That's it! The whistle's gone and we are off to Moscow!

A dream final for me as I have always hoped for an all-English final. Certainly, this would boost England's seeding's coefficient for a more favourable draw in future tournaments.

I was sweating bullets when we couldn't score at Nou Camp. Fergie knew that a clean sheet at Old Trafford in the subsequent return-leg would be our ticket to the Final and that's just what we did.

As you can tell from the stats, we played defensively resulting in very low shots attempted and shots-on-goal. Even possession was a dismal 38%. Still, we whacked it where it hurts the most, at the back of the net with an amazing thunder goal from Paul Scholes who guaranteed his own starting place in the final with that match winner. A bit of a bitter sweet fairy tale where the red head midfielder missed out on the final back in 1999. Finally, a chance of redemption and we wonder if it would be happy ever after for Scholesy to ride off into the sunset with a ECL champion's medal? I certainly hope so.

Fergie has been criticised for his alleged error in judgment over his team selection which led to our defeat at Stamford Bridge. Our expensive signings like Carricks, Fletcher, Nani and Anderson all bombed during the game, while Scholes, Ronaldo and Tevez were all rested at a game where the stakes are really big. One may wonder what Fergie was thinking at that time? Still, in Fergie's defence, it did take a controversial penalty to finally allow Chelsea the 3 points. These 3 points if you ask me, were part of our "budget to lose". We can afford to "throw" the match in order to have a full strength squad to take on Barcelona. A gamble, if I may add consequently, that we won now that we are in the ECL finals and still on course to secure the league title.

Get ready the KBE medal for Sir Alex Ferguson when we are done with Chelsea on 21 May 2008.

Our opponent in Moscow will be Chelsea although I was rooting to meet Liverpool. Don't be mistaken that I chose Liverpool because they are the easier team to beat, which they are at the current moment, but it's really a coincidence. Liverpool will always be my favourite opponent as our rivalry goes way back longer than that of Chelsea and Arsenal. Call me a sentimental fool but there is more romance in a ManUtd-Liverpool final then any other match ups.

Perhaps that's why from time to time, I would be found rooting for Liverpool when they play other teams for nothing is more satisfy than to play head-to-head with a worthy opponent. Results will always be secondary even though beating them is an added bonus.

Coming back, Chelsea will be relatively easy for us when we meet in the ECL finals on the following counts.
  1. Chelsea does not have any experience as far as the grand match final is concerned. There will be no more home and away legs. It will be a one-match-takes-all which Chelsea has never experienced before.

  2. This is will be on neutral ground which means that Chelsea loses the advantage of the Stamford Bridge spirit. Once we are on equal footing, ManUtd is the stronger team. However, one wonders if there is any chance of Roman Ambramovich using his Russian connections to tilt the match in Chelsea's favour since the game is in Russia?

JayWalk The Talk: Other than Saha and Vidic who are confirmed to be out of selection. Rooney and Evra will need a late fitness test today to decide if they are good to go. Van dar sar is also a question mark for the starting sheet today but I think we will still see him appear between the sticks.

The injury sheet on West Ham looks really bad at this time. Do not hold your breath when I list out the casualties. Ready?

Inhale....

Spector, Ljungberg, Upson, Ferdinand, Gabbidon, Etherington, Davenport, Quashie, Bellamy, Bowyer, Collins and Dyer are all unavailable for selection.

.... and exhale.

JayWalk The Walk:
There is no secret that Fergie and Curbs are good friends dated to a long time ago. The conspiracy theory last year was that we let West Ham beat us on the final day of last season in order to allow them to survive relegation. Perhaps this time round, it is for Curbishley to return the favour? As far as the league title is concerned, we are in the driver's seat. We just need to win the remaining two games regardless of Chelsea's outcomes.

The way I see it, West Ham has nothing to play for already. A win here won't improve their league position as they are too far away from Manchester City (7 points ahead) nor a loss would allow Tottenham Hotspur to overtake either sitting 5 points above Spurs.

Perhaps I foresee a zhun zhun 2-0 victory for ManUtd. That way, Curbishley can return the favour and the bookies dun have to lose any money on a kelong match.


The bookies are making ManUtd give up a 2-ball handicap and a 2.075 decimal odds to beat it. The wager pot now stands at a fairly even balance with 48% of the punts on ManUtd to 52% in favour of West Ham.

Verdict: Stay away.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.