Second City Blues

I'm not at all sure why Birmingham are 2.44 * to be relegated on Betfair and, for example, West Brom are 1.85 . It would seem to me that West Brom have better players, a better manager (everything being relative) and a four point start. Meanwhile at St Andrews one of the sleaze merchants who run the club said today :

"There's no point in kidding ourselves. We were useless, an utter shambles at Manchester City at the weekend ... I've never felt as low as I did after that game. Certainly, the team has to do better but somehow we've got to bring in a few new faces. Against that, we've spent all our money in the summer and we've got the highest paid squad we've ever had."

So apart from that, no problem. I am also perplexed that they are backing Steve "Judge Me When Everything's Perfect" Bruce so strongly. Bruce is also one of those guys who won't resign unless he has another job lined up, seeing as he seems to think nothing is his fault. As for his tactical acumen, his plan last Saturday was to play his best player in three different positions and then sub him, all before half time.

Looks like valyoo to me. Upcoming fixtures are Tottenham (A), Man Utd (H) and Chelsea (A), so now looks as good a time as any to squeeze a few quid out of other peoples' misery. 'Tis the season after all.

* Obviously they aren't any more because I've hoovered it up. 2.38 at the moment.

I Want it NOW

I thought this was quite interesting, if you like football, it's the BBC's South American guy talking about Sao Paulo. Especially this bit if you can't be arsed with the whole thing :

"He [Sao Paulo coach Paulo Autori] pointed out that football develops in harmony with society. Everything is now dominated by the desire for instant success. Society is quicker, more competitive, more violent, and these values obviously permeate through to football. He worried that rather than being a healthy symbol of violence, football was in danger of becoming an approximation of the real thing."

Certainly the part about wanting instant success has considerable relevance to the way many people approach poker IMO.

Lie Back And Think Of Ingerlund

Germany Backs Bigger Brothels To Fight World Cup Sex Explosion

Makes sense really, supply and demand. It's a nice thought, that emergency hookers will be bussed in to meet demand. Presumably in special buses with leopardskin seats. And although we shouldn't laugh, I did enjoy "During the World Cup all forms of sexual exploitation must be shown the red card."

All in all, keen punters should root (haha) for England being drawn to play in Berlin, rather than Cologne. I don't much like the sound of a "sex garage". Just imagine dropping your pants and your lady of choice sucking her breath in through her teeth and saying "nahhh, I don't like the look of that mate. Gonna cost ya, that is".