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Following the news that Steve Kean will be in charge of Blackburn at least until the end of the season, Max Liu profiles five Premier League bosses the Venky's Group will be hoping their man can surpass...


In politics there was Lyndon Johnson, George Bush Senior, Gordon Brown and many more. In football management the list of second lieutenants who have failed when the number one job finally came their way is even longer. Frequently described as "real football men" by those within the game, these characters come to their roles with a backroom steeliness about the eyes but soon look lost and feckless on the touchline before leaving the club after less than a year. With Kean, 1.3 to get the job on a permanent basis, here are five number two's who became number one's whom he will be desperate not to emulate.

Les Reed was nicknamed "Les Miserable" by the press during his humiliating six weeks in charge of Charlton Athletic. The former-FA Technical Director became Iain Dowie's assistant at the Valley in the summer of 2006 but was put in charge of the team when his boss was sacked as they slid down the table. Reed's tenure was utterly uninspired as he watched the Addicks' become relegation certainties and exit the League Cup against a team from three divisions below. Reed was sacked on Christmas Eve and replaced by Alan Pardew, who failed to keep Charlton in the Premier League.

Steve Wigley got the Southampton job in 2004 when Paul Sturrock departed St Mary's after just two games. Wigley, who had been Sturrock's assistant, didn't fare much better and lasted only 14 games. Big things were expected of the former Nottingham Forest player, who was regarded as one of the most talented assistant managers in England, but, although he did manage to win a South Coast derby against Portsmouth, his tenure was woeful.

Having twice failed to make the step up, Chris Hutchings might well be the daddy of assistants who make bad managers. He has twice succeeded Paul Jewell - at Bradford in 2000 and Wigan in 2007 - and on both occasions made an impressive start before his teams embarked on disastrous runs which lead to his sacking. The Derby board were wise to this in 2008 when Jewell left Pride Park and Hutchings took charge as caretaker manager. They only gave him one match in charge before the appointment of Nigel Clough.

Brian Kidd occupies a special place in Manchester United fans' hearts, not only for scoring in a European Cup final but also for his exuberant, semi-religious celebrations of Steve Bruce's destiny-changing brace against Sheffield Wednesday in 1993. The same cannot be said of Blackburn supporters; Kidd left his position as Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant to take charge of Rovers in December 1998, spent £20 million on new players, got the club relegated and was sacked less than a year into his tenure.

Sammy Lee was an able midfielder for Liverpool for ten years and impressed as a member of Graeme Souness, Roy Evans and Gerard Houllier's backroom staff at Anfield. However, when he got the Bolton manager's job in 2007 it seemed inevitable that his reign would end in disappointment. The man they called Little Sam, following his predecessor Big Sam, was sacked after winning only one of eleven games.

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The troubling thing about Barcelona is that it actually took them a little while to get going this season. They lost to Sevilla in the first leg of the Super Cup. They lost at home, startlingly, to Hercules, in the second round of league games, and dropped two points against Mallorca in the sixth. But like all great teams, they reacted to those hints of weakness by marmelising everything else that has come in their way.

3-1 down after that first leg of the Super Cup, they won the second leg 4-0. Apart from the Hercules and Mallorca games, they have won all 14 league games they've played. They drew a couple of away games in the Champions League, but still qualified for the second phase without breaking sweat. Recently, the victories have become increasingly impressive: 5-0 over Sevilla, 3-1 at Getafe, 3-1 over Villarreal, 8-0 at Almeria, 5-0 over Real Madrid, 3-0 at Osasuna, 5-0 over Real Sociedad, and then, on Saturday, 5-1 at Espanyol.

This Barcelona simply doesn't have a weakness. Teams have tried defending deep against them, but Barca are good enough to find a way through, and the use of Sergio Busquets as an auxiliary centre-back allows them to push both full-backs forward to spread the play wide and outflank even a massed defence. On Saturday, in the Catalan derby, Espanyol attacked them, tried to rattle Barca physically, and had a packed crowd baying for blood, yet Barca still walked away with it.

Perhaps, in Pablo Osvaldo's goal, there was an indication of vulnerability; Barca play a high line and Carles Puyol isn't quick on the turn. Isolate him, knock a ball over the top or play a through-ball and he's unlikely to catch the forward. But it is a tiny chink, and it is a by-product of one of Barca's great strengths, which is their pressing. What was striking in that first 20 minutes of the Champions League quarter-final against Arsenal last year was less Barca's technical mastery of the ball than the way they hounded Arsenal in possession.

If an Arsenal player went to close down a Barca player, he was often alone, or backed up by only one team-mate. When Barca pressed, it was in three compact lines. There is a fallacy that they play a beautiful carefree game; they play a beautiful game, for sure, but it is rooted in hard work and immaculate organisation. Arsenal simply couldn't breathe with the ball; they were crushed by wave after wave of Guardiola's hordes. That is a defining principle of Total Football; the high line is only effective if the opponent is always hurried in possession and so is unable to pick his pass.

And in possession, of course, Barca are supreme. They can keep the ball, frustrating opponents, teasing them and wearing them out as a fisherman might with a pike; as Manchester United found in the 2009 Champions League final, once you've gone behind against Barcelona it is all but impossible to come back.

Whether they are one of the greatest sides ever is open to debate. The modern format of the Champions League - essentially a cup competition between 10 of the dozen best sides in Europe plus six others - probably makes it harder to win than ever before, which is why the periods of sustained success enjoyed by the likes of Real Madrid, Ajax and Bayern Munich no longer happen, but they could do with at least one further success to cement their place in the pantheon (they are 3.3 to win it this year).

Of course but for an ash cloud over Europe and the 18-hour bus journey to Milan it necessitated last season in the semi-final, but for a wrongly disallowed goal late in the second leg of that tie against Internazionale, it might have come last year. And what's really fascinating is that the architect of that defeat, Jose Mourinho, might yet deny them a third straight league title; for all Barca's brilliance, Real Madrid are only two points adrift and still have a clasico at the Bernebeu to come. Real Madrid are 2.76 to win La Liga this year, having traded as low as 1.9 but it would take a brave man to be laying Barca, who trade at 1.57 going into Christmas.


By Jonathan Wilson

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The Dancing On Ice 2011 line-up is out and we can start building our betting portfolio long before the stars don their skates for the first time on January 9.

But how can we tell our Ray Quinn's from our Todd Carty's before they've even skated? Well, we can't quite do that, but there are several key trends that can point us in the right direction, even at this early stage.

The first thing to note is that gender is irrelevant. In five previous series we have had two male and three female winners, which tells us that there is no gender bias on the ice (as opposed to, say, I'm A Celebrity, where the winner is normally a man).

Secondly, age is crucial. It makes sense that the winning skater would be relatively young - it's a physically demanding show, after all - and the stats bear this out. The oldest celebrity ever to win the show was 35 (Kyran Bracken) - and he was a sportsman so you probably need someone even younger from the other professions. This means you can already put a line through a lot of this year's crop - the likes of Nadia Sawalha, Angela Rippon, Vanilla Ice, Craig McLachlan and Denise Welsh are all too old to win (Dominic Cork should also be in here but as a sportsman he cannot be completely ruled out).

A less obvious trend worth mentioning is that actors and actresses tend to perform very well. This is probably because there is a lot of bravado required to impress the Ice Panel and young actors/actresses normally have this in abundance. Bracken aside, every other winner has been either an actor or actress - and proper ones too, having all been regulars in either a soap or in the West End. As a result, this would put me off backing the likes of Chloe Madeley, Dave Vitty (aka 'Comedy Dave'), Elen Rivas, Jeff Brazier, Johnson Beharry, Kerry Katona and Laura Hamilton.

Finally, a quick note to in-running punters - your act MUST get very good scores from the judges in the first week to be worth backing. The last four winners have all scored 19.0 or higher in their first skate, while they all ranked at least second overall at the end of week one. Natural talent normally comes to the fore very early on.

So based on all the trends, I have two main fancies for you - Sam Attwater (4.1) and Jennifer Metcalfe (8.2). The former is a worthy ante-post favourite as he ticks every box - he's young, an actor (who was in a major soap, Eastenders, which is important), looks fit enough to last the distance and of course being a handsome guy is always a bonus. The latter is also young, an established actress on a major soap (Hollyoaks), good-looking, and should have the physical capabilities to go all the way. Both are front-runners in the market, but rightly so.

For an outside wager, you could do worse than throw some loose change at Steven Arnold (32.0), aka Ashley Peacock off Corrie. He is well-liked after his successful stint on the show and his affable demeanour should see him through a few weeks, even if his skating is not up to scratch. And at 39 years of age, Dominic Cork (34.0) is probably not going to pull up any trees but just for being a sportsman he shouldn't be that price.


Recommended Bets:

Back Sam Attwater at 4.1
Back Jennifer Metcalfe at 8.2


By Andrew Gordon

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Only Arsenal have managed an unbeaten Premier League season - in 2003/04 - but the Betfair Contrarian believes that Sir Alex Ferguson's men can emulate that feat in 2010/11.


The Contrarian collected on a long-term investment over the weekend when Kara Tointon justified his call that a woman would win Strictly Come Dancing and he's prepared to play the waiting game once again with a flutter on Manchester United becoming only the second ever Premier League team to go through a whole season unbeaten. Tempting odds of 11.0 are offered - here's why the Contrarian is confident he'll be ten times better off come May...


They're halfway there

Well, give or take a few games. Manchester United are only the second team in the 19-year history of the Premier League to have reached Christmas without tasting defeat, and the other team to achieve the feat - Arsenal's 2003-04 Invincibles - fared pretty well in the second half of the season. The fact that they've escaped without troubling their loss column after facing 16 of the 19 other sides in the division is a hugely promising omen - over the last four seasons, five of the nine clubs that won their second meeting with Manchester United had already beaten them in the first encounter.


There's no shame in drawing

Much has been made of the fact that United have drawn seven of their first 16 matches - as if that discredits the accomplishment of avoiding defeat for such a lengthy period - but if you're going to go a year without losing, you're going to have to accept drawing more than usual. Arsenal racked up 12 draws in their golden year, a tally only once topped by a team that finished as champions. By contrast, each of the last five title winners have drawn six games or fewer, a major reason being that they all lost on at least four occasions.


They've rarely looked like losing

Perhaps the most impressive element of the Red Devils' start to the campaign is that they have only once looked in genuine danger of losing, when they trailed 2-0 at Villa Park before Macheda and Vidic came to the rescue in the 81st and 85th minutes. Sir Alex Ferguson's side have only been behind in two other fixtures, away to Everton and Bolton, yet recovered the deficit within seven minutes both times. Even the Arsenal Invincibles had to fight back from a goal down on five occasions before Christmas.


Nobody's getting caught up in the hype

Arsene Wenger was laughed at in September 2002 when he deemed Arsenal capable of surviving the 38 games unscathed and further mocked when they lost to Everton less than a month later. It was when he opted against talking up their chances 12 months later that they delivered. (Lewis Holtby of Bundesliga side Mainz made the same mistake in October by prophesising a record-breaking campaign - they've lost six in ten since.) The trick is to refuse to even acknowledge the possibility to ensure that complacency doesn't creep in and Manchester United are doing just that, with Ferguson and Rio Ferdinand among those to have played down the prospect.


Manchester United improve after Christmas

It is one of Premier League football's great clichés but it is undeniably true. Last season they rallied in the final 19 matches, picking up 45 points compared to 40 in the first 19, while in their last title-winning season, 2008-09, the difference between form in the second half and first half was even wider, with 49 points collected in addition to the 41 already gained. The potential for improvement is even greater this time as the man largely responsible for their springtime charge in 2010, Wayne Rooney, has still to hit his top form, and has contributed just one goal - from the penalty spot against bottom club West Ham.


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At 9.4 there is some value to be had in opposing the Christmas Day TV ratings standard bearer of the modern era - Eastenders - currently trading at a screaming red hot 1.27 to win again. 'Enders' is no Morecambe and Wise. In the halcyon days of 1977, Eric and Ernie clocked a still unbeaten Christmas Day Record 28.5 million viewers.

These days, you do well to get half that rating figure on Christmas Day. Wallace and Gromit did it in 2008 with A Matter of Loaf and Death which clocked a respectable 14.3 million. Eastenders won the next day rating release in 2009 with 10.9 million which is roundabout its total of addicts and devotees nowadays.

That figure was consolidated to 11.6 million when the complete figures were published a few weeks later - as is the Broadcasters Audience Research Board's way of doing things - and thus in 2009 it was officially pipped for top spot by Caroline Aherne's mercurial The Royle Family whose consolidated figure was rounded up to 11.7 million from an initial next day figure of 10.2 million.

Bets are always settled on the next day figure so you only got paid out on Eastenders last year but the proximity in the numbers last time out suggests the betting this year has got things wrong.

The appeal of The Royle Family is very strange. Documented as being like Han**** Half Hour classic Sunday afternoon in that we laugh at that lampoon of stupid people bored senseless by a life of inert lethargy, I actually think there is a bit more to The Royle Family's appeal than simple comedy. The programme originally grew in 1998 from Aherne's friendship with the poet Henry Normal who co-wrote the first series along with ever present Craig Cash. Henry's poetic fingerprints remain on the programme still in my eyes. He peeled away to work with Steve Coogan after the first series finished but that hangdog,melancholic Romanticism - so prevalent in Normal's poetry - remained. Like the lost wet dog who stands on the corner in the rain looking for someone to love.

The guy who didn't cry at Denise Royle's bathroom pre-wedding bawl in the arms of her useless Dad is not a man to get married to and every woman knows it!

Of course it makes us laugh aswell and that helps the ratings as Eric and Ernie found out. Surely a programme that makes us weak with laughter has to have a better chance of securing the viewers than a secretive soap opera that is desperate not to reveal what is going to happen in case we all say 'so what'?

I watched Eastenders back in the day but can't say I know all the ins and outs of what's going on in Walford these days. Good television though it still is, at 1.27 and up against a cult comedy that edged it last year in the consolidateds, there's only one place for betting value.

And that's working on the principle that the other contenders don't really have a squeak. Coronation Street has been bigging itself up for its fiftieth but its day of having plotlines revealed over the tannoy at Old Trafford are long gone. Its core is down around 8 million now and you can't really see it attracting much in the way of floating voters so that 30.0 is on the short side whilst 9.0 about Doctor Who is shorter than a straw.

The regenerated superman managed 12.2 million when David Tenant and Kylie Minogue teamed up and if Catherine Tate was still on board the Tardis I might give it a chance of increasing its 10 million share of last year.

In 1995, I booked Henry Normal to run a poetry workshop in Salford and he spent the day introducing himself to people by his real name. He was christened Peter Carroll and he tried hard all day to get people to call him Pete and gave us the hangdog eyes every time we laughed and told Henry to knock off being daft.

That quality launched Caroline Aherne's career via the inimitable (What did you Debbie McGee find so attractive about the millionaire Paul Daniels?) Mrs Merton character and has clung about her ever since and is slowly getting The Royle Family into even the doubters' hearts. Its ratings have been on an upward curve now for the twelve years (with six year gap) of its life.

It's not Morecambe and Wise yet, but it's worth a bet!


By Gary Boswell

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There has been much debate amongst golf fans as to when and whether a certain Tiger Eldrick Woods will be the force he once was. Personally, I, somewhat naively, thought he'd be back in the groove pretty much straight away and I've squandered more than a few pounds trying to catch him at a decent price on his return to the winners' enclosure.

If someone had told me a year ago that 2010 would be a completely barren year for the game's greatest exponent I'd have thought they were mad, but here we are on the eve of 2011 and the question remains the same: will he ever be the same again?

A relatively successful Ryder Cup, a decent attempt down under at the JB Were Masters, and a very close shave at his own event (the Chevron World Challenge) all add up to a Tiger on the way back for my money and I'm prepared to go in again and soon.

Torrey Pines was the scene of what was arguably his greatest ever achievement when overcoming a double stress fracture of the left knee for 90 holes to win the 2008 US Open and it's will be the scene of the first of these 2011 bets.

Tiger won the Buick Invitational on four occasions before he got the better of Rocco Mediate in his major success here and you have to go back to 2004 to find the last occasion Woods was beaten at this beautiful San Diego course. Is there a better place for him to get back on track?

The Buick is now known as the Farmers Insurance Open and I will be ploughing into Woods there at the end of January.

Flush with funds after Woods has obliged, the following week I'll be recycling my winnings in Qatar on Alvaro Quiros. He won the Qatar Masters in 2009, at a monster price, and he finished second there in 2010, despite playing poorly for two days. His game was simply not on and yet he still outscored all but Robert Karlsson. This venue fits his game so perfectly that he has to be backed again this year - though whether he'll be anywhere near the 90.0 he was when he won, or even the 30.0 available last year, is quite another matter.

I'm going to skip forward to the spring now and to what is just about my favourite event of the year - the US Masters. No doubt I'll be having my obligatory wager on Phil Mickelson again but the player I'm convinced will also taste success at Augusta, and maybe this year at a bumper price, is Anthony Kim.

In just his second competitive round at Augusta in 2009 he made a remarkable 11 birdies on the way to recording a seven under par 65 - a score he again achieved in the final round last year, on his way to finishing third.

He spent most of the latter part of 2010 out of the game following surgery on a damaged left thumb but a tied 25th on a return to action at the HSBC Champions was far from a disgrace. And there were definitely signs of the old Kim at both the Chevron World Challenge and the recent Shark Shootout, where he and his partner Chris DiMarco finished in a tie for third. I'll be looking to snap up some early value here because if he starts the year well, with his glaringly obvious course form, he'll be plenty short enough come April.

Returning to Royal St George's in July for the Open Championship will bring back painful memories for me and no doubt many others. The number of punters who have never quite recovered from Thomas Bjorn's nightmare in the bunker on the 16th hole must far outweigh those who still glow with fond memories of the then almost unknown Ben Curtis' win.

I'm pretty sure Thomas has never got over 2003 and I'm really not surprised, but that result was a reminder of what a treacherous betting heat the game's most prestigious tournament can be. The year after Ben's win, Todd Hamilton broke many a punter's heart (including mine) when he out-played Ernie Els in a play-off and only last year Louis Oosthuizen romped home at a monster price. There's no doubt about it, the greatest event it may be but it sure is one of the trickiest. Nevertheless we've got to have a go haven't we, and one player I think will go really close is Graeme McDowell.

Having now won a major, answered the sternest of questions at the Ryder Cup and out-battled Tiger - at the Chevron World Challenge - with an already very sound links game and the deadly accurate iron game that Sandwich demands, G-Mac looks like a very strong candidate for the 2011 renewal.

A hangover following such a stellar year wouldn't surprise me in the least and if he does get off to a sluggish start he may well be a decent price come July. So, in contrast to Kim at Augusta, I'm inclined to wait a while, but he's certainly on the radar.

Last but not least, one player who we're all excited about is young Italian sensation, Matteo Manassero. Opinions vary as to whether this immense talent will kick on strongly this year or whether he'll still need time to bed-in comfortably to life on tour, but there's one place I'll be backing him, regardless of how his year pans out, and that's Switzerland.

He showed a real aptitude for the quirky Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club on his debut at the European Masters in September but his inexperience in contention took its toll as he drifted up and down the leaderboard before eventually finishing third. There was enough in that performance to suggest this is a course where success will come though and I'll definitely have him onside in September.


The Bets In Full...

Back Tiger Woods to win the Farmers Insurance Open
Back Alvaro Quiros to win the Qatar Masters
Back Anthony Kim to win the Masters
Back Graeme McDowell to win the Open Championship
Back Matteo Manasesero to win the European Masters


By Steve Rawlings (The Punter)

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Unless you're an England backer or fan, you'll agree that Australia's fight-back in the Third Test was a much-needed one in order to keep this series alive and exciting.

It did of course have another very important consequence: Ricky Ponting will remain as captain until the end of the series. He may miss the next Test through injury but that's a sub-story to the main plot. Whether he takes to the field or not, he's the skipper.

I don't really understand why this issue was up for debate. Even if England had won in Perth, the very least "Punter" deserved would be a chance of redemption in the last two matches. And if England had wrapped up the series before Sydney, Ponting would have resigned or been relieved of his duties at the end of the series and the ACB would then have been in a position to decide whether he was the man to lead them into the World Cup or give someone else a go. To replace him mid-Ashes would have been suicidal - right up there with giving Luke Beer a game or James Anderson inviting Mitchell Johnson to sort out their differences away from umpires and other peacemakers.

A new captain should be given some breathing space to clear his head, talk to selectors and build a strong relationship with the coach. What he doesn't need is to take over mid-series when there is no time to do any of these things and the media won't leave you alone. Especially when the series is already lost. Above all when it's the Ashes.

It's more likely than not that Australia won't lose the series - the home side are 2.62 to win it, England are 3.05 to emerge victorious and the drawn series is 3.25. An Aussie victory or even a drawn series should mean Ponting stays in his role for the World Cup, which the Aussies have won twice under his captaincy, and which he won as a player back in 1999. At 6.0 they're the second-favourites to triumph and whilst they've struggled to come to terms with T20 since its inception, the relative ease with which they won last year's Champions Trophy suggests that they still call the shots in the 50 over format.

My gut instinct is that Ponting will decide he's had enough of international captaincy after the World Cup, irrespective of the result. Whether he stays on as a batsman or not remains to be seen. When Steve Waugh was relieved of his duties he was also retired as an international batsman and this was done with the sort of ruthlessness and lack of sentiment you'd expect from Sir Alan Sugar with an Apprentice who'd just cost him a million. That said, Australia don't have such talent as Damien Martyn, Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds waiting in the wings to fill that middle-order so may think twice before deciding Ponting's runs aren't needed.

Why exactly Clarke was seen as Ponting's natural successor ever since he broke into the team is something I've never really understood. The Aussie selectors like their captains to be uncomplicated, hard-nosed batsmen. Guys who would bite into a can of XXX, drink it in one go and use the remainder of the 'tinnie' alongside some spit and rainwater to have a shave. Clarke, with his arm full of self-indulgent tattoos, endless list of endorsement deals and very public lovelife doesn't fit the profile and the ACB are beginning to realise this. If it's a batsman we're narrowing it down to, who ticks the most boxes?

Shane Watson can be discounted straight up because he has too much on his plate as an opener who also has a job to do with the ball; he's also not popular with the Australian public who consider him brash and vain. Mike Hussey has the experience and the respect of his team-mates but the captaincy isn't for him. Much like Jacques Kallis, Shivnarin Chanderpaul or Graeme Thorpe, Hussey sees his contribution to the team as directly proportional to the runs he contributes. He's there to bat and do so for long periods; fielding changes, diplomacy, team selection and leadership is for others to worry about.

That leaves us with Brad Haddin. Having waited six long years in between making his debut for Australia and being told he was Adam Gilchrist's long-term successor, he's not about to pack it in anytime soon despite being the wrong side of 30. Fit as a fiddle and one of the few players guaranteed his spot when the next Test series comes about, he's the man for the job, not least because he's had experience of leading Australia at Under-19 level and New South Wales. How much of a say 'Punter' will have on the appointment is up for debate but if his opinion is considered, Haddin is the safest and best value bet.


By Jamie Pacheco

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Saturday was not a great day. It began when I woke up early, put on the telly, and saw the cricket score. Having written that Australia couldn't possibly take 20 wickets, and backed my belief with hard cash by laying the Aussies for the Perth Test, Mitchell Johnson had turned the whole Ashes series on its head. What's more, I'd broken one of my normal golden rules of gambling and not "gone green" when I had the opportunity 24 hours earlier.

Next I spent five hours stuck in snow on the M5. I was two miles from the next junction when I heard that Birmingham's game with Newcastle was off, and it took forever before I could get there and turn round to go back home again. The wait wasn't helped, as a boyhood West Ham fan, by listening to them struggling along at Blackburn.

I suppose a 1-1 draw was an ok result, and maybe they were unlucky because they hit the post, and Avram Grant keeps talking about the lovely football they played. But the bottom line is they will now be - well, bottom - on Christmas day and that means only one thing. They are going down.

Ever since Bryan Robson pulled off "The Great Escape" with West Brom in 2005, the old rule that the team which opened its presents on Christmas morning in 20th place being certainties for relegation seems to have been forgotten. Everybody since has talked bravely about Albion showing it's possible.

In fact in five seasons since, the team going into Boxing Day holding up the rest of the table has not only gone down but finished bottom. It happened to Portsmouth last year, and guess who was the boss? Avram Grant again. And don't even think about his attempts to blame that on the nine points deducted for going into administration. Add them back on, and Pompey would still have been two points below Hull and Burnley.

The Hammers' performance at Ewood seemed to be typical of the last two seasons. They have some smashing technical players, but when the pace of a game goes up there aren't enough of them who can shift gears to go with it. Scott Parker will have a bad back before too long if he keeps carrying the team on his own. Relegation battles are won by bravery, whether it's physical courage to make a tackle or mental strength to keep passing the ball under pressure, and there isn't enough of it in the Upton Park squad. Credit them for getting a point with a late Junior Stanislas equaliser, but it is wins they need now and they have only two all season. No wonder they are 1.65 to drop into the Championship.

Incidentally if Blackburn live up to their statement that they will take their time over replacing Sam Allardyce, then backing Steve Kean in the next manager market at 5.3 looks worth a punt. Remember that as per Betfair rules it pays if he is caretaker for ten matches. One down, nine to go - and the Christmas rush of fixtures means - weather permitting - he'd get there on February 12, in just eight weeks time.

Hammers' problems were shown up by the only other game played. Steve Bruce has put into his Sunderland team all the qualities that West Ham were mostly missing. They saw out a 1-0 win over Bolton with commitment and courage, summed up by a fantastic Craig Gordon save. Darren Bent, 3.9 to overhaul Andy Carroll as top English goalscorer, played on despite taking a heavy knock. Danny Welbeck got his fifth goal in six matches.

Sunderland are 4.9 to finish in the top six, and are also value at 6.4 to win the handicap league if Blackpool struggle in the second half of the season. They might also be worth a punt at 38.0 to win the FA Cup. By the way, for those who are old enough to remember, Gordon's performance was a flashback to Jim Montgomery's famous Wembley double save that denied Leeds in 1973.


By Ralph Ellis

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Walking on Broken Glass

The most significant moment of 2010 on the WTA Tour didn't happen on a tennis court. It actually took place in a Munich restaurant shortly after Wimbledon. There, fresh from winning her thirteenth Grand Slam singles crown at the All England Club, Serena Williams trod on broken glass.

At first, the injury to her right foot was not thought to be serious, as Serena played an exhibition in Brussels against Kim Clijsters (currently 3.25 favourite on Betfair to win the 2011 Australian Open) in front of 35, 681 people - a world-record crowd for a tennis match. But soon after it became clear that Serena needed surgery and she was forced out of three events, including the U.S. Open. The American tried in vain to return afterwards and then missed the rest of the season, in the process losing her world number one ranking. We now know that Serena also won't be able to defend her Australian Open title in January. This is devastating for the American, who has owned the event in recent years and is the only player in the Open era to win five Australian Opens. But it is also unwelcome news for the WTA Tour - so much weaker without one of its all-time greats.


Danish Delight

Without doubt, the woman who profited most from Serena's absence was Caroline Wozniacki (6.2 to win in Melbourne.) The Dane may still be a Grand Slam virgin, but she was in superb form in the second half of the season, with a stunning 32/4 record. Wozniacki won consecutive WTA Premier titles in Tokyo and Beijing in October to replace Serena as world number one - just the twentieth woman to reach the summit since computer rankings began in 1975.

Despite defeat to Clijsters in the WTA Championships final, Wozniacki also ended the year on the top of the rankings. Now for that maiden major title to truly silence her critics - January's Australian Open wouldn't be a bad place to do it.


Ana Ascending

Ana Ivanovic (22.0 to win the Australian Open) teased the tennis world with her inconsistent results throughout most of 2010 until she finally caught fire towards the end of the year.

The former world number one equalled her best career U.S. Open performance by reaching the fourth round. But the Serb then improved on that to win her first WTA title in two years at Linz in October - also coincidentally the scene of her previous tournament victory. Ivanovic ended her season by picking up another WTA title at the Tournament of Champions in Bali. Her tennis in the closing weeks of the season was a clear return to the Ivanovic of old - the endearing smile and world class forehand, combined with new and improved movement around the baseline. But now that Heinz Gunthardt will no longer be her full-time coach in 2011, the question is whether Ivanovic's return to form will continue when things start up again in January - watch this space.


Do Svidaniya Dementieva

The best player (male or female) in professional tennis never to have a Slam? That title surely goes to Elena Dementieva. The Russian announced her retirement in November at the season-ending WTA Championships in Doha after more than a decade amongst the sport's elite.

Dementieva's resume doesn't include a major but it does pretty much tick every other box: sixteen WTA Tour singles titles, an incredible 529 consecutive weeks inside the world's top 20, and two Grand Slam singles final appearances. Her standout achievement was Olympic singles gold at the Beijing Olympics. It spoke volumes that all the participants in Doha were present on court to take part in the 29 year old's retirement ceremony. Right up there amongst the most popular players ever in the women's game - Dementieva's poise and personality will be missed.


Another Italian Job

There's always plenty of talk in tennis about the next big thing - but all in all, 2010 was more notable for the achievements of the WTA's older guard. As an example, take Italy's third Fed Cup title in five years, in which they beat the United States in the final for the second straight year.

Specifically, consider 28 year old Flavia Pennetta (21.0 to win in Melbourne) - who was her country's star player throughout 2010. The former girlfriend of Carlos Moya was also the one who won the championship-clinching rubber for the second year in a row, with victory over Coco Vandeweghe in the fourth match.

Add French Open champion Francesca Schiavone (60.0), who at 30 years of age has more Fed Cup wins (24) than any other Italian woman in tennis history and it does seem that many of the WTA veterans are really getting better with age. Will 2011 see more of the same - or can more of the Tour's younger talent finally breakthrough on the stages that matter most?


By Guy McCrea

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The football fraternity was in shock last week when Sam Allardyce was sacked from Blackburn Rovers. The question is: why? I mean, be honest, would you want Big Sam in charge of your club?

Admittedly, Blackburn are not performing as badly as West Ham, Wigan or even Everton just now - and they were unlucky not to squeak at least a point from their match against Bolton last week, but just because Allardyce's departure was unexpected, doesn't mean that it was wrong. The tabloids were just miffed that they didn't get wind of it first.

Don't get me wrong, Big Sam has done a great job at Blackburn, in terms of shepherding them away from the spectre of relegation that was haunting them when he took over two years ago. When Big Sam replaced Paul Ince, his new side beat Stoke 3-0, strung together a nine-match unbeaten run and secured seven league victories to ensure survival. The following season Rovers finished tenth. But isn't that what Allardyce does? He guides sides towards mid-table security through disciplined, direct and effective football?

Like Mr Wolf in Pulp Fiction, if you're in trouble he'll come and sort out your mess for you in double quick time, and if everyone does what they're told and doesn't mind having to take on 'brain detail' every once in a while everything will be ok. Rovers are now as long as 8.0 to get relegated this year. Indeed, West Ham, who are 1.61 for the drop, could do a lot worse than lure Big Sam to Upton Park. It wouldn't be pretty, but he'd probably save them from themselves. Everything would be ok.

But does that make him the next Alex Ferguson? Look at it this way, if you had just bought a modest, mid-table football club and had high hopes of taking it to the next level, would you want Allardyce in charge? I didn't see Roman Abramovich swoop for the former Bolton supremo when Claudio Ranieri was given his marching orders. And did Manchester City decide that Allardyce was the man to shake it up at Middle Eastlands.

Harry Redknapp, rallied to Big Sam's defence, by claiming that he is a victim of circumstance, forever misconceived as a guileless northerner, always straitjacketed by mean-fisted chairmen and small clubs. "He's top class at his job," said the Tottenham manager. "People who don't know him see this big northern ex-centre-half who they think is a big hammer thrower; well he's the brightest guy you could ever wish to meet. He is so far in advance in all the sports science and technology and preparing his teams, he is just amazing."

If he is so intelligent and ahead of his time, then his devotion to route one football is all the more criminal. This, after all, is a man who said, after England's 2-0 defeat to Spain last year, that the Three Lions would "never" produce players with the technical ability of David Villa, Fernando Torres or Xabi Alonso.

Sir Alex Ferguson also cried foul at his good friend's treatment, describing the decision to sack him as "absolutely ridiculous". "I've never heard of such a stupid decision in all my life," said the Manchester United manager, who doubtless enjoyed a nice glass of claret with Allardyce after his side - who are now in to 2.48 to win the Premier League, walloped Rovers 7-1 two weeks ago. "I don't know what they're doing up there, but, deary me, it confounds common sense."

Actually, I think it makes perfect sense. In an interview with Radio Five Live last week Blackburn's owner Anuradha Derai said: "We have a long-term vision. We want to take the club up to higher heights in terms of position, in terms of overall betterment of the club, in terms of development of younger players - the future.

"In that, Sam definitely didn't fit in. We don't want to be, all the time, in danger of being relegated - three points away, five points away. I don't think this team deserves that. This team has a lot of potential and we can see that."

In other words, they want Rovers to be more than just ok. As well showing a desire for attractive football, the new owners, the Venky's Group, also deserve credit for not rushing a new man in. They have decided that Allardyce is not for them and, while they window shop for an alternative, entrusted the short-term and possibly long-term future of the club to an ambitious coach, Steve Kean, who knows the players well and who, presumably, will not see free-kicks and corners as his side's sole source of goalscoring.

And those who believe that it is not possible for a smaller club to survive in the English top-flight while playing attractive football, should look no further than Blackpool, who have the same number of points as Rovers and are (2.962/1 to avoid relegation) or, better still, Bolton, who are four points better off and 4.9 to finish in the top six. Wanderers unquestionably owe a huge debt to Big Sam for what he achieved in his eight years at the club, but you won't find many Trotters fans eager to swap Owen Coyle for their former manager. They want their football to be OC not OK.


By Richard Aikman

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