Dan

That was totally unacceptable.

Yeah they got the early goal and I thought it would sail in. To be fair, Antwerp had chances too but how the hell Shakhtar didn't score again is beyond me. The one where he rounded the keeper and just hit the defender. This is getting really annoying now

Has anyone got this on I'm genuinely jinxed. I'm actually speechless.

I do think from what he was saying that he would've probably gone with that even if Oxford hadn't lost Manning though because his theory was very much that they've run hot going forward, they're scoring lots of goals from low quality chances and that Cheltenham have picked up a lot more than people realise from a side that didn't score a single goal in their opening 11 games. Not the top 20 betting show on a Thursday is the podcast, it's one of those picks that if you listen now it justifies listening to the podcast full stop and I think I'd have likely had Oxford myself if not for what he'd said. It was interesting stuff anyway. It's not really much of a change at all, it's just based on timings. I've found one I really like tonight (Shakhtar) and I'm going to have that as one of the legs of my £10 bet for the week - it's just you can choose to convert that into a double later in the week after it's settled if you wish, although like I say if it loses it's pointless anyway as you're bust. Nothing stopping anybody having one of your games tonight and another at the weekend - even if you pick the weekends game after your midweek one has settled. If Shakhtar pays out I can either convert it into a double with another game this weekend, or just cash in a single for a £15 win. Probably not a bad shout in my situation. That's my sort of research that is albeit I haven't really delved that far down and into those sorts of specifics. Some nice picks though, I firmly believe there is value out there. There's no way the bookies can be that on top of everything beyond an algorithm. I went college with a Tamworth fan years ago and he used to tell me he'd frequently win on non-league simply based on knowledge he had that they didn't. Another who works at a bookies said they're very lazy on a lot of leagues too.

I swear this only captains can challenge thing has happened about six times now.

I'm going to do something I don't think anyone has yet done, and you're actually well within your rights to do this, but I've found something I like tomorrow. I'm going to have this selection and then potentially a second at the weekend, but I haven't decided what yet. That being said, if I don't have another and tomorrow nights does win, I can also opt to just not have another and go with that. Nobody has yet done this but there's no reason not to - granted I suppose if you do lose on your early one then it's over and there's no point making a second. Tomorrow night, I am taking this: I think that's a frankly unreal price. Antwerp are on 4/4 losses in the Champions League this season, only 5th in the Belgian league following their title win last time out. They've shipped 14 goals in their 4 games, and their only way of staying in Europe this season is to win at Shakhtar and beat Barcelona while swinging the goal difference by 10 goals. Putting it simply, they are finishing 4th for sure, they have virtually nothing to play for. Shakhtar beat Barcelona in their last 'home' game and won 2-3 in Belgium in the reverse fixture, while knowing that a failure to win here could likely end their hopes of qualifying. I think it's two teams that will have to go for it, so if Shakhtar win, I don't really see it only being 1-0. The price offered is really juicy, I really don't get how it's that big.

WEEK 17 - LONDON BUS LEAGUE TABLES WEEK 17 STATS Winning bets: 3/8 Winning selections: 10/16 Weekly forum position: -£10.25 (Ranked 7/17) --- OVERALL STATS Winning bets: 32/122 Winning selections: 109/232 Total forum position: -£251.75 To be honest, I look through this weeks and think we really deserved a bit more than we actually got. I think to post a loss, albeit not a particularly damaging one, given we landed 10 selections out of 16 is really unlucky, one of those weeks where doing £5 singles would've undoubtedly landed us on a better overall score, but such is the nature. @Pyfish is back after a couple of weeks off but is let down on his short priced Friday night double by Leeds' failure to beat Rotherham. A surprising result but I have to say having seen the odds I actually had a fiver on Rotherham to win, 9/1 for a home side in the Championship! The bookies really do seem to rate Leeds, probably above even ourselves based on the game to game prices you see. PSG beat Monaco 5-2, no errors made there. @Machado is back in classic fashion. Marcelino having a dream debut as manager of Villarreal by beating Osasuna 4-1 meaning the double chance was absolutely comfortable. Squeaky bum time at Lyon v Lille as Lille scored two early goals, but that's all that happened and the under 3.5 pays out. He moves above @CaaC (John) who becomes the second member of the top three to lose on a result I'm happy to see play out for selfish reasons. Having landed from my holiday I was delighted to see that not only had we won, but Ipswich had lost at West Brom. Ideal weekend for us, not so much for John. @Storts returned to the game this weekend with a double in the Championship. Birmingham delivered, Middlesbrough didn't. A frustrating one. @RandoEFC is the form player of the game at the minute. For the third weekend running he wins one of his -1.5 picks and has the other win by a goal meaning he gets a small win. Slow and steady seeing him creep up the table with his sixth win in eight weeks, although the last three have only seen him net £11.90 profit. Zilina were a team widely tipped in circles I follow and they only won 1-0, but Slovan Bratislava did the business, winning 0-2. @Stan makes it 10 losses in 11 weeks. Winning on Chesterfield's game with Eastleigh but being let down by Oxford at Cheltenham. Interestingly on the football league podcast I listen to, one of the presenters is an Oxford fan and his long shot bet of the weekend was Oxford to lose to nil, a fantastic pick. @...Dan finally lands a double on the European scene and moves himself back off the bottom. Racing Santander beat Villarreal B 2-0 in a fairly comprehensive looking display, while Heerenveen made light work of Fortuna Sittard, winning 3-0, two of them penalties. I'm back on the bottom, 1 win in 17 is absolutely abject. This is one of the really unlucky ones as well. Fortuna Dusseldorf won their game 5-3 so I was definitely right to take the over 1.5 goals angle on that one rather than under 4.5, but Southampton chucked it late on at Huddersfield and drew 1-1, costing me what would've been a pretty healthy win. I'm happy enough to drop one on Southampton dropping points to one of the leagues worst sides though, so swings and roundabouts. Another week commences, should all be back to normal service this weekend. European action, and FA Cup replacing most of the lower league schedule for the weekend, though there is a full EFL fixture list midweek as well, so loads to choose from, and no excuses for not finding two who can win! (He says with '1 win in 17').

WEEK 16 - THINK BACK WEEK 16 STATS Winning bets: 1/5 Winning selections: 1/10 Weekly forum position: -£36.75 (Ranked 10/16) --- OVERALL STATS Winning bets: 29/114 Winning selections: 99/216 Total forum position: -£241.50 Think back to the international break. Having spent a week in Cape Verde, escaping the reality and having a break from having to face this league table, I think back to a better time, when I sat in the top 8 of this league. Only five players made selections this week and only the one landed a winner, in what has to be collectively one of the weakest weeks we've had with only one selection actually winning entirely. The wise ones were those who either didn't play, or played with Asian Handicaps. So just @RandoEFC, who takes home another little profit after Castellon ran out 4-2 winners over Atletico Baleares - a 95th minute goal meaning we didn't have another blank. Dumbarton could only manage a 1-0 win, so it was void. @CaaC (John) loses on both picks, Wales failing to beat Armenia, but unfortunately takes the wooden spoon award for having Switzerland in their failure to beat Kosovo at home - which is the shortest priced loser of the season at 1/4 (1.25). The other three players, me, @Stan and @Lucas all overlapped with our fixtures, but nobody managed any success. Stan did pick two winning teams but both could only manage 2-0 victories, not enough to get the over 2.5 goals. Lucas quite funnily took the exact same selection on Stockport but at shorter odds. He also drops it on Chesterfield's loss at Southend - another laughable one I can add to my own list. I need to compile the amount of teams I've killed the form of this season. The Salford pick didn't pay off either. A week to forget, and thankfully, I think most of us have done.

I'm talking just getting any sort of place at all rather than specifically outright owning somewhere. To me you should be able to do that without having to make major sacrifice if you're earning an average wage. I'm not saying this is at all likely to be the case but I just think if it isn't then something is wrong.

I think the fact home-ownership is almost a pipedream for any youngster earning even an average wage unless they essentially sacrifice their livelihoods or get a big inheritance which is pure chance. Any society where that is the case has failed.

Ipswich having Leeds on the 23rd and Leicester on the 26th of December is brutal. Ipswich are a good side but I do think they're letting in a few too many. It was always likely to bite them soon. Really good result from West Brom at the weekend - Birmingham should've gone for Corberan instead of Rooney. Assert dominance over a local rival and I actually think he'd have gone as well given the situation at the two clubs. I think until that game on boxing day, we have a very kind run if you gloss over the West Brom game on Saturday, although that's a ground we seem to always win at anyway. Sheff Weds A West Brom A Plymouth H Millwall H Birmingham A Rotherham H Fancy us to start growing the gap again.

I feel like almost every time we play this fixture, we go there towards the top of the league while they're struggling at the bottom, it's always around late November and early December, we take around 4,000 expectant fans there, and lose. Well we're going there on Wednesday 29th November, taking 3,800 fans, we have 42 points from our opening 14 games and sit 1st, to their 6 points, and they're rock bottom. By my calculations, it's a 3-0 loss.

Mate it's fucking Swansea. I don't think it's ever not rained when I've been there. Dreadful place as I'm sure you'll concur!

Lille were an absolutely class price. They're profiling really well on the numbers and I'm not fooled by Lyon based on one freak game last week. I did have money on Lille. I think if I'd had a proper delve into things rather than picking two sides I liked I'd have gone with that but never mind. Intending to get two weeks of tables up this afternoon.

Pretty much entirely this, you've described them as much as anything but I think the way they all work against each other. I was in Cape Verde last week, no criticism of the place, it was lovely, but it was quite hard to process that basically every day there is the same all year round. I think the variety we get in Europe, particularly places like England / Germany is actually a real blessing. The crap thing about England is the unpredictability of the rain but the climate is quite nice on the whole I think really. I like variety.

Cannon will be more important than people think is my guess. Maresca was supposedly quite pushy for that signing which tells me that he doesn't really see either Vardy or Iheanacho as that suited to how he wants to play. Only catch with Cannon is he seemed to play in a two a fair bit for Preston as well I think? Think he's a smart signing from us. Not a big outlay for a player who has a pretty good record in this level and is only 20.

I'm starting to really admit defeat on Iheanacho and just concede he's very inconsistent, very much so on his own, I don't think he can play as a lone striker. His best run for us did come in a two but the system itself was probably a detriment to the team it isn't a system I expect us go anywhere near under Maresca (though I'm probably wrong in thinking he's totally wedded to this 3-2-4-1). I think he's had a rough deal for a lot of his time here, but this was the season to really prove that and frankly, so far, he's vindicated his doubters. He really hasn't looked any better in this league. You can't really argue with what he produces per 90 in terms of goals and assists and he's absolutely a good option to have, but whenever he gets a run of games, the brutal reality is he just isn't taking it. Didn't see our game earlier - but hooked at 0-0. I'm increasingly thinking just the natural parting happens in the summer now.

That's one of those losses that I can probably accept given who it's cost but it's the usual crap luck on this all the same.

I knew there was no way on the planet our game would be sealed before then. I was very confident it'd be 0-0 by then actually. Just watched the highlights - looks like we took a long time to get going but we overwhelmed them in the end. Impressive numbers from us and a decent attacking display by the looks of it after a few games where we've been very blunt. Ipswich lose and Leeds / Saints drop points against sides at the bottom. Best weekend of our season simply.

Knew the second I put them they'd draw 1-1. Just painfully obvious.

Leeds still seemingly can't go 3/4 games without a rick. Rotherham have taken points off them, Ipswich and Southampton since October. A club after our hearts. Not going to our game tomorrow and annoyingly my 6 hour flight home leaves in about the 75th minute. We don't do early business in these games. There was a stat about us that only once all season there's been more than a goal in the game that late on, so that doesn't help my case. I think it'll be quite bitty. No Winks will take something away from our build up and Watford are low key pretty well organised under Ismael. I fancy this game to be quite low scoring. Under 2.5 goals if I was betting on it. We do usually always win this fixture though so hopefully eritage wins the day. I'll say 1-0 to us.

Don't forget to get yours in for the week if you're playing @Lucas @Pyfish @...Dan @Machado @Stan . Assume the table update is usually a reminder but as stated, not had the facility to do it this week. Should have last weeks up on Sunday. Mine this week. No big description, but simply two teams I think will win with a slight tarting up of the odds via likely goal outcomes

Freiburg.

Another absolutely corking double from me.