Slightly Embarrassing.

I've been unfortunate enough to witness Rafa Benitez' last two post-match interviews. I've felt a little sorry for the guy. He's come across as a chump, with no ideas, no answers and no confidence in his team's ability to turn things around.

He's had the bottle to give a commitment that has become a potential resignation letter - 'we will finish in the top four' - but his ability to motivate the large batch of substandard players he's purchased seems to be withering. He should also be slightly embarrassed by today's lineup, after denying that he runs a two man team. Er, what more proof do you need?








It does look like we're reaching a stage where it's simply a question of whether he goes now or at the end of the season. Although the other candidates for fourth spot aren't exactly motoring away into the distance.

Skin Deep

I've noticed that a few blog lists show photos alongside the latest blog post. Unfortunately, yesterday's post incorporated a not particularly attractive photo, which may therefore distress viewers of any blog which incorporates my own offering on their blog list.

As an apology, I update my blog with an alternative picture of a female tennis player.

This photo is of the 59 ranked Russian, Maria Kirilenko. She has a career high ranking of 18, and is a five-times winner on the WTA tour. If you wish to find out further details about her playing record, you've probably got problems with your eyesite.

Feeling Lucky?

This lady is Naomi Cavaday, ranked 204 by the WTA, which makes her Britain's number 5 woman player.

Obviously she's unlikely to make much impact in the latter stages of the upcoming Australian Open but, like a few hundred other lower ranking players, she was no doubt aiming to reach the first round proper of the competition by winning three qualifying matches. Everything started well, with a three set win over the world number 142, Alexandra Panova of Russia. So who's next? Number 160? 110? 95?

Er, no, number 16. Yep, Belgium's number 2 ( for the moment! ), last year's US Open semi-finalist, Yanina Wickmayer. WTF.

An unfortunate overflow from the Flemish anti-doping tribunal over-reaction involving Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse during October was that Yanina was serving a ban ( subsequently overturned ) at the point of entries for the Aussie Open. She was later given a wildcard into the qualifying tournament.

So, for Naomi, there's always Wimbledon. Oh well.

10,000 Up.

Many thanks to all who have brought me to 10,000 hits on the blog. I’m sure there are other blogs with hits many multiples higher than this one ( particularly those who make much more money than I do! ), but it’s certainly more than I expected when I started eleven months ago. It’s an average of around 62 hits per post, and as I never bother to publicise the blog, I’m happy with that – it certainly makes it worthwhile writing.

A shocking weekend on the betting front. I’ve never been able to make profits from my three main sports simultaneously, and this weekend it’s been football that’s kicked me in the nuts. I managed to develop a new skill – turning a win into a loss. I took two big all-reds on games where the final result would have given me a profit – a lay of Everton, and a back of Inter Milan. Both games had late goals – too late for me, and I’d bailed out well before the goals came to kick me in the teeth. So football goes into the red for the year, and as much as it pains me, recent P&L’s suggest my time is better spent on horse racing! Maybe I’ll just be a little bit more cautious with the football betting for a while, certainly until I’ve managed to raise my bank balance a little.

After a further couple of setbacks today, including two successive winning lays at Southwell and another all-red taken on a football result that finished up in my favour, I packed in for the a few hours to avoid my punting becoming reckless. I had a session reading a few blogs, and found a few pictures of interest on failblog.org. The quality on the site is a bit hit and miss, but I liked the few I’ve added below.

Top Gun?

Could this be the number one tennis player on the planet? And the least charismatic?

Nikolay Davydenko ended 2009 by defeating Nadal, Federer and finally Del Potro in the London end-of-season championship. He seems to have brought the same form into 2010. Today's match against Federer in Doha was won by the better all-round player, and it wasn't Roger. One of Federer's great strengths has been to create a barrier of invincibility against opponents he has continually beaten in the past. Davydenko had a 0-12 record against the world number one until London, but now seems to have the upper hand.

It certainly helps to you have can go through a set with a 100% first serve record. I captured this screenshot at the end of the first set. Add this to a dogged determination and great speed around the court, and you have a formidable package.

So tomorrow Davydenko will take on Nadal in the Doha final. Rafa's form has certainly improved, but I think the value is with the Russian at 2.24. I don't see him as a potential future multi-slam winner, but at this moment in time, he's right at the top of his game.

Quiet, and White

The picture was taken with my I-phone this morning from my bedroom window. Actually, we’ve suffered less than many parts of the country, with the main roads into Birmingham being clear this morning, although I chose to shorten my working day with a mid-morning journey into the city, and an early escape as the skies began to darken to avoid any freezing up of the roads.

I’ve had a quiet start to the betting year, and today continued in this vain, with much of the available sport falling during the period noted above. Yet the lack of bets has made little difference to my average P&L. A couple of thoughts spring to mind. Firstly, I seem to have found a way to take away the pressure I tend to put on myself, and am finding that opportunities are arising, rather than having to search for them. I’ve no particular aim at the moment except increasing my bank balance, and possibly I’m most effective when I don’t feel the need to make substantial profit. The confidence gained from the fact that I’ve been profitable for most of the last couple of months also helps. Secondly, I’m finally finding the best way to use Betfair Mobile. I’ve never recorded a separate P&L for I-phone bets, but I’m certain it would show a red result. Having Betfair open to you 24 hours a day seems a great opportunity, but it also leaves you open to lax bets. I’ve placed plenty of bets on the I-phone with considerably less research or information available to me than I would consider whilst using the laptop. I’ve now realised that it comes into it’s own for closing out bets placed pre-match. If you do your research, you can confidently place bets in the knowledge that you always have a back-up to green out ( or red out ).

I’ve returned to tennis betting with a little trepidation after the hellish end to last season. Things have started ok, but I’ve no intention have following matches into the early hours. The last two Australian Opens have ended up as big reds for me, so I’ll just pick around the edges of this Australasian season and make sure my body clock is in proper working order – better a decent hit rate from few bets than long sessions to feather someone else’s pocket. I’m not taking many risks, and seem to be taking all-greens at the earliest opportunity, but I’m £117 in profit in the year so far on the sport, and the words ‘profit’ and ‘tennis’ have rarely been mentioned together in recent months.

I’m currently in profit on football, tennis and racing. I had a losing punt on Pakistan to beat Australia in the 2nd Test, but I’ve made a couple of quid on darts. The BDO tournament did seem a little mickey-mouse at first after watching the PCD big guns at Alexandra Palace, but it does make good television – Stephen Maher beat me to the punch with a couple of posts here and here about an amazing performance by the Aussie Tony Fleet in the first round – embarrassingly bad, he’d have been laughed out of a pub playing like that. The standard seems to have picked up, and whilst there’s nowhere near the depth of quality in the BDO, Waites, O’Shea, Chisnall and Adams are decent players at any level. Hankey – he’d sink in the PDC, because he loses his rag too easily.

December - More Promise Than Profit

Back in front of the laptop for the first time in 2010, having had a good break in London. We had an excellent view of the Thames firework display on New Year’s Eve, and I was then cajoled by Mrs B into watching the New Year’s Day Parade through the city ( a few worthwhile displays, but too many American marching bands – dull ). For the rest of the visit, I spent a little time looking cool around Camden Market and Spitalfields. Well, ok, I would have looked cool except that I tweaked my knee on New Year’s Eve, so instead I was just a bloke with a stupid hat and a limp.

I’m now heartily sick of frothy warm beverages, whether it be from half-decent cafes or the worst culprit of the chain coffee shops, Starbucks ( 40% liquid, 60% froth ). Anyone attempting to add even a bubble to my January hot drink order will be dealt with via a kick in the nether regions.

I’ll keep the December review brief ( it seems long ago ). The month started well, and I settled into a nice routine of short sessions in front of the laptop, concentrating on one sport at a time (racing or football). By mid-month, I was looking in a good position to achieve my best monthly P&L since I reduced my bank and started work again in March. The second half of the month was less successful, as I lost that routine and, as I regularly seem to do, threw in a couple of horror days to peg back my profits. Having had a red day after laying three successive winners at Plumpton, I managed to reach Christmas in decent shape and took a nice bank withdrawal to contribute to the costs of the festivities. My first day’s betting after the break was a disaster ( I posted my thoughts on the day at the time ). My heart is imprinted with the frustration of post-cash withdrawal days – the great punting god always seems to punish me for taking out money, as if to scald me for assuming I will continue to make a profit. And, of course, this always leaves me where I hate to be – with an inadequate bank. So, a modest P&L result for a month that promised much, and another hill to climb for the start of 2010 to bring my bank back into my comfort zone.

I’ve had a delayed start to my 2010 betting, but I’ve a 100% record so far, courtesy of a few FA Cup bets placed on the I-phone. Maybe it’s the start of a huge breakthrough. Umm.