Recent encounters have seen a similar style being played out : few clear cut chances created, both teams content to slog out a midfield duel, passing being limited, no real flair, no real anything. It is obviously that both the Old Firm have dumbed down their squads in terms of quality. Which is why the other provincial teams are having success against the Old Firm in the league. However, that said, this was a Cup Final, a one-off, a chance to grab some silverware and flaunt it under your nearest rivals noses. You would think that would have been inspiration enough. Alas, it wasn’t. The game on occasion rose above tepid but the overall performance of quality was a poor advert for the Scottish game.

Nobody, really seems to know how to change things regarding Scottish football. The moneymen want to see these two Scottish giants go head-to-head as many times as it is possible within a season for obvious reasons. However, the average punter, and I’ll include a majority of Old Firm fans in this as well, are bored rigid, including by the looks of things the players as well.

It’s a catch 22 situation. Bring in teams from the lower division to stop the needless play 4 times in a season nonsense and you end up diluting the strength of the league. Continue down the same road and you will turn fans away from the game, tired of paying good money for groundhog day matches. The scary thing is, if someone doesn’t do something soon, then the advertising money could well shrink in size as well. Without a doubt, the state of Scottish football is at its most worrysome for years and there seems to be no knight in shing armour willing to come forward and get us out of this mess!

Real Madrid … questionable, Barcelona … perhaps, Chelsea … most definitely. You see, Mourinho and football is a love-hate relationship. You either get the Man or you don’t. Mourinho, now has a team full of gifted, flair players, something that his Bosses at Chelsea always wanted Mourinho to fill the dressing room with … instead, he filled his dressing room with fighters, winners and with players who would put their head where many wouldn’t put their foot … Mourinho filled the trophy room with cups … and now at Inter he is understanding that pretty to watch football doesn’t win you anything.

In all fairness, Inter were up against the machine that is Man Unt. But once Mourinho had the better of Fergie and Man U. Then Fergie stepped up a gear, like he always does, and Mourinho and Chelsea parted company. It really is going to be a special club that wakes up the young pretender again and once more allows Mourinho to nod his head in agreement and proclaim, “I’m The Special One!”

English football is also running up huge debts, which are worrying those in charge of the FA. Don’t let the huge TV sponsorship deals pull the wool over your eyes, only a handful of clubs are financially well-off and when you consider that over three billion pounds is owed by all the English football clubs – that’s a worrying figure.

No matter where you look, be it athletics, football, motor racing, golf, tennis … the credit crunch is biting. We haven’t even touched on minority sports and how they are coping in these difficult times. Perhaps, sports betting fans, we are being taught a financial lesson here … that professional sport should be played, first and foremost, for the love of the game and not always be centered around monetary gain. As if that will happen any time soon…

Will Carling, former England Rugby Union captain, famously described his governing body as ’57 old farts’ while English Lawn Tennis bosses have only recently begun to succumb to pressure to take tennis into the 20th century. Tennis betting fans look forward to the day when they decide to move it into the 21st. The Jockey Club is one of the worst, presiding, ostrich-like, over a deteriorating confidence in the fairness of racing, given all the recent fixing scandals. Snooker, Darts and Athletics are the same. The Olympics? Don’t get me started.

It’s an Ashes year and our cricketing bosses have just handed over a huge morale boost to a newly vulnerable Australian team which must now be rubbing its hands with glee. Cricket betting fans will be dismayed as a summer of potential cricketing triumph slowly slips from our grip like a sitter from Pietersen’s hands.

It’s long been clear to me that these cigar chomping, jobs-for-the-boys, old fogies should be swept aside in favour of a modern group of proactive and energetic individuals who understand the cutting edge of sport, as well as people-management, and who can lead us into a New World of sporting excellence. And what better and braver way than to create a democracy, with these bodies, where the guiding committee is elected by the players and athletes themselves?

The friendly against Argentina last night, I saw no glimpse of a silver lining that Burley could lead us towards South Africa 2010. And while many may cry that : 1. This game was just a friendly and 2. Remember our record in friendlies! Are only making excuses for the man and allowing him to stay in a position that looks, at best, uncomfortable for all involved.

The Scotland vs Argentina game was a chance to prove that Burley, has the tactical nounce required by so many on the international management stage. Argentina started strongly in the first 10 minutes, got the goal they wanted, then sat back, intent on hitting Scotland on the counter-attack. They needn’t have bothered! “We’re playing football as if it were 100 years ago”, to coin Charlie Nicholas.

Yes, we were playing an Argentinian side who were made up from 95% European based players. They toyed with Scotland in the first 10 minutes, such was the nature of their intent, got their goal then switched off. Scotland, showed no penetration whatsoever. More intent in hitting lost balls forward to a laughable front line than rolling up the sleeves and actually passing through the midfield.

Scotland’s friendly hoodoo is one that needs laid to rest. For 12 years now at Hampden, our national team has failed in every way possible to rack up a home win in a friendly international game. To myself it is an embarrassment. To those in charge it is a reward of mis-management that stems from the very top and reaches to those involved at the lowest level. It could be simply swept under the carpet by setting ourselves up with lower opposition. To hell with the gate receipts and sponsor money. It is time to get this monkey off our backs.

Scotland now find themselves in an unwelcome scenario where players no longer wish to play for a manager whom they feel is inadequate for the job! A support who feel let down after the past few years of dragging ourselves out of the gutter and a manager in charge, whom to be honest, has no clue as to the way forward. Anyone know Bertie Vogts’ number? Well perhaps not Bertie’s more like The Samaritans if Burley is kept in charge much longer.

Mr Boyle’s claims that elsewhere, Rugby fans can sit in their seat and drink a beer while watching a match. Football fans in Scotland, he claims, are being discriminated against by the actions of supporters who misbehaved more than 25 years ago. Is football really ready to start selling booze at the match again? For the many thousands of decent football supporters who attend matches, home and away, with not a hint of causing trouble in their minds – there are always a few idiots whose main focus is just that – trouble.

Tonight, in Manchester, Scottish Champions Celtic play Manchester United in a Champions League Game. Given the problems at the end of last season where hundreds of Rangers fans rioted and fought with Police at the UEFA Cup Final, which was held at the City of Manchester Stadium, will there be extra-vigilant policing – probably. But Celtic fans don’t have a reputation for trouble. Neither, had Rangers fans prior to the UEFA Cup riots. And let’s not forget that there were around 200,000 Rangers fans that travelled down to take in the party atmosphere. But the actions of a few, tarnish the good reputation of the many. Mud sticks, and all that.

Those images, of fans fighting and rioting in the streets, that are shown on TV and splattered across Newspapers worldwide do have an effect. The simple Math that football supporter + alcohol = violence, is going to take a while to rub out. Clubs that want to bring booze back into the game need to realise that, if things do go wrong, then they have to accept responsibility for allowing the situation to happen in the first place – the buck stops with them and no longer should it lay on the shoulders of the majority of decent football fans worldwide.

It is an exciting prospect, and Ofcom ( the media regulators ), said, “Sky would be required to supply its premium sports and movies channels on a suitable wholesale basis which is commercially viable, in particular, subject to certain conditions in relation to wholesale pricing.”

Future plans could see Premiership games being broadcast live over the Internet and opening up competition for companies wishing to stream live games. For premiership betting punters it might even allow the big betting companies a chance to integrate live streaming to account holders who would then pay an added membership fee to watch the live games.

Lewis Hamilton
Started off the campaign well but silly penalties has now seen him go 3 races without any points on the board. The next Formula 1 Betting race is at France. Can he break this duck? Can he start climbing back-up the drivers championship board?

Andy Murray
Probably our best bet in having Wimbledon Betting success since Tim Henman’s early days. Requires tons of petulance and angst to get at his best performances but when he’s in the right frame of mind there is no better on court.

Team GB
Great Britain travel to Bejing soon as Olympics 2008 Betting begins. Humidity is a danger for our sports stars though as they’ll be pushed through their paces against the best athletes the world has to offer.

The Open Golf Championship 2008
With the notable absence of Tiger Woods at this years British Open can Royal Birkdale deliver a British Winner. All golf betting fans will be watching every swing as our top stars such as Paul Lawrie and Padraig Harrington look to keep the old trophy on British soil.

We’ll if none of the above bring home the rewards at least we always have Big Brother Betting to look forward too, no wait, Kathreya ain’t British either is she? … Who would you bet your money on for British Gold this summer?

 It’s refreshing to hear somebody championing the need for sport in our schools again after moves in the 90′s to sell off school playing fields and then in the new millenium came the reduction in competition in sport. During my own school days I was was always a passionate sportsman and have experienced the highs and lows of playing in team games : football, rugby, cricket as well as the non-team game such as golf, tennis and so on. I therefore firmly believe, as do most of the country’s parents I think, that the profile of sport should increase again to a higher level.

The competitive side of sport is a contentious issue for me because while I have generally been successful in sport, there are some people who have not and have been devastated as youngsters when they have not been able to compete or even take part. But competiton is part of life and the sooner kids start to learn that, the better. It’s how they are taught to accept defeat sometimes in life, and then how they are taught to respond to it that makes them more confident and learn how to cope with it and move on.

I’m hopeful that Gordon Brown will take our sport forward in schools now. I ‘ve been worried about the pattern over the last decade and if we are to remain competitive in the major world sporting events, we need to get back more to where we were.

So, if you want to join a bookmaker with a £20 free bet offer, you sign up, make your £20 deposit which is then matched. You receive your £20 free bet to add to the deposit and so you’ve got £40 worth of free bets to play with.

Now you choose a market, for example the financial betting market. You can use this £40 budget as a one-off bet in this market, or you can split this pot to divide into other markets, i.e. £10 on financials betting, £10 on something in the music betting world and a final, larger flutter on the Big Brother BettingMarket.

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