Give me five to recover from thrilling finale
THE Premier League season is dead. Long live the Premier League season! You've had plenty of time to recover from that thrilling end to the 2012-13 campaign so it's back to pre-season training for us dedicated punters.
Hands up who backed the 5-5 correct score at The Hawthorns on Sunday? Nobody? Come on, it was obvious, wasn't it? This is the time of the year when you see a lot of 'obvious' bets that you didn't think to put any money on. I was horrified to hear that QPR were available at 16-1 to finish bottom of the league at the start of the season. How did I miss out on that one?
Anyway, I'm not making the same mistake this time around – I'm starting to sniff out a few punts on next season's Premier League already. The only thing that's putting me off is the fact that I don't have a clue who's going to be managing any of the teams.
After Fergie's retirement, Arsene Wenger is the undisputed king of the long-serving Premier League gaffers, followed by Tony Pulis at Stoke. But after that I'm struggling – although Manchester United boss David Moyes probably comes next, just ahead of Manuel Pellegrini, who hasn't even been confirmed at Manchester City yet.
Never mind, though, I'm confident that Ruud Gullit's Fulham can finish in the top half next term and Claudio Ranieri's Newcastle will beat Zico's Norwich in a season match bet.
If you're not turned on by the idea of waiting 12 months to collect the winnings from an 8-11 shot then how about a bet on Monday night's Spanish game between Real Mallorca and Real Betis? I've not had a look at the form but I'll probably back 5-5. Football matches are always finishing 5-5 in this crazy era.
