Content is King .............
Paul Casey is also a very hard worker and tough on himself and knows he should have won last year, he apologised to his caddy for not winning the Tour Championship and bonus, which would have made his bag carrier and friend $1m + and the two are said to be highly motivated and confident about 2018.
March 11th .............Just 10 days later Casey hits a six under par 65 to hold off Tiger Woods and win the Valspar Championship at odds of 50-1.
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Written March 12th:
Bourg Peronnas have a budget of about 18% of that of Lens and a fourth year in Ligue 2 would be a great achievement, after only previously having spent four years at even third tier level. It is going to be tough, they sit in the relegation playoff position and several of the teams directly above them, including Lens are bigger, more experienced clubs, but after a dire run they have found a little form and a lot of goals, taking 7 points from a possible nine and scoring eight times in the process. I like Bourg Peronnas, they have always played open, attacking football through their time in L2 and they would be a loss to the division and I would love to see them finish 17th or higher. That recent run has taken them five points clear of the bottom two, so a little breathing space in that regard and I feel they can give tonight a "go". They are completely ill suited to playing for a draw in any case and they will be up for tonight like so many teams to come to Lens, motivated by the stadium and usually bumper crowd and RCL have already lost 7 times here this season (winning 5) and whilst they can lose this by 3-4 if things go against them early, their chance of winning has to be greater than 14-15% and the best value on a night when there is precious little of it, football wise.
Result: Bourg Peronnas scored a late winner to claim a vital three points.
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Written February 20th:
Birmingham City now lose key defensive midfielder Maikel Kieftenbeld to suspension, they are 1-1-6 without him this season, with a 4-16 goal difference, last season he missed nine games (1-1-7 and goals were 4-17). An already defensive team give up pretty much two goals per game in his absence and are weaker than normal in the area when Brentford are strongest, with the Bees having to leave players like Judge, MacLeod, Woods and Marcondes on the bench at the weekend.
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Shakhtar Donetsk restarted their league campaign last week with a 5-0 home win over Chornomorets to blow away some of the cobwebs and as seasoned european campaigners used to dealing with this stage of competition, they will be as well prepeared as possible after the Winter break.There was much to like about Roma's 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge at the group stage, but we saw them at their best that night and otherwise, their CL road form is very suspect, they have won just 1/13 (Qarabag) and not kept a cleansheet in the competition since 2007 (25 games), through which they have conceded at least twice in 10/15 and Donetsk to score two or more for the seventh game running ( done so v Real Madrid/Napoli/Manchester City) looks well over priced at circa 2.50 and has to be the best value on offer tonight and, if you can find that,or close, I would have to suggest 1.75 units. 5.0 for Donetsk to win and BTS also feels too generous.
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Spartak showed enough in road group games in the Champions League , even that frightful loss to Liverpool, to suggest that they can cause Athletic problems and there is also the "safeguard" ( I am going "over") that they could throw the towel in in things go against them. There is plenty of 3.10-3.40 around for Spartak to score twice, pretty certain they will score at least one and I feel that offers good value.
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Written March 6th:
These two clubs are quite similar in that both try to play good football and are of a similar size, with smallish squads and a limited playing budget. However, the hosts are mid table and safe from relegation fears. Dale are bottom of League 1, 12 points from safety albeit with 4-5 games in hand "courtesy" of the recent weather, a poor playing surface (which has now been relaid) and a great FA Cup run and if you saw their two games v Tottenham you know what lower league watchers have always been aware of, and that is that Dale and head coach Keith Hill always play football, a very good passing game that is pleasing on the eye regardless of score , or situation. It is to be applauded and I hope they get out of trouble, but it will take a super human effort, with 16 games to play inside 60 days, but that will be easier sooner rather than later especially after a six day break, which will soon be a rarity. Walsall were one of the few teams in the lower leagues who played last weekend, so have had less time to prepare.
Dale assistant coach Brian Barry-Murphy spoke about how his team immediately started thinking about the league after the loss at Wembley and then this, when their trip to Plymouth was called off, allowing them to fit in three full training sessions in preparation for this, the Saddlers probably just a light run through yesterday..........."Once the Spurs game finished, our focus was straight back on the next game, which was Plymouth, and that was reinforced by the manager in the dressing room at Wembley, so the lads were tuned into Plymouth from Wednesday night onwards. “When that was postponed on Friday morning, we started our preparations for Walsall, and trained as normal on Friday and Saturday for the match, so the lads are ready for the game and we’re fully prepared. "It’s one we’re looking forward to and we can’t for Tuesday night.”
Players feel recent performances in the league were deserving of more points and BBM added:“We’ve been in good form performance wise over a period of time, but results haven’t reflected that, which, at the end of the day, is all that matters. "The lads are well aware of that, so if we can play as well as we know we can do, then we’re more than capable of getting a result. "
Their last league game was a 1-0 loss at title favourites Wigan Athletic where the local Wigan newspaper said "Dale were left to rue several missed chances - namely from skipper Ian Henderson - as they left with nothing." Henderson had three golden opportunities, two which were easier to score than miss and he is normally reliable with 15 goals in all comps this season, 19 last and has scored on his last two visits to Walsall.
Huge, huge game for Rochdale, they have won on their last two visits here and by a combined 5-0, keeping a clean sheet in 4 of 5 trips to the Bescot.
Result: Basement club Rochdale won 3-0 on the road with Henderson scoring and again 1-0 at Rotherham United (at big odds) just four days later and United were unbeaten in 14 prior to that !
Good Luck