Coca-Cola Championship 5th August - The Punters Lounge

aliando · 30-07-2006, 17:48

Saturday 5 August 2006
	Home	Draw	Away	BPP
Barnsley v Cardiff (15:00 BST)	2.54	3.30	2.75	107%
Birmingham v Colchester (15:00 BST)	1.53	3.75	7.00	107%
Burnley v QPR (15:00 BST)	2.00	3.30	3.80	107%
Coventry v Sunderland (15:00 BST)	2.50	3.25	3.00	105%
Derby v Southampton (15:00 BST)	2.50	3.25	2.75	108%
Ipswich v Crystal Palace (15:00 BST)	2.50	3.30	2.78	107%
Leeds v Norwich (15:00 BST)	2.04	3.35	3.75	106%
Luton v Leicester (15:00 BST)	2.37	3.30	2.86	108%
Plymouth v Wolves (15:00 BST)	2.62	3.25	2.64	107%
Preston v Sheffield Wed (15:00 BST)	1.75	3.40	5.30	106%
Southend v Stoke (15:00 BST)	2.37	3.30	3.25	104%
West Brom v Hull (15:00 BST)	1.61	3.50	6.40	107%

football is back!!!

nastro 1888 · 31-07-2006, 00:41

3 games look good at a 1st viewing and obviously with no form to go on :

derby v southampton - looking for a big season for saints this term, burley is a good manager whos sole job was to consolidate saints in the league last season, dont know of any activity at derby but saints bought skacel from hearts for £1.6 m - very good player who burley got the very best from when in scotland.

plymouth v wolves - wolves appear to be in complete disaray close season having lost players who where 1st team regulars last year, plymouth are strong at home and should fancy 3 points right away.

preston v sheff wed - again preston are a strong home team against what is now parental strugglers in wed.

very early to fully justify these picks, but stand-outs for me.

aliando · 01-08-2006, 15:02

Barnsley v Cardiff

not sure what to make of the opening game - city have a habit of not doing what is expected from them. Negatives include having brought in several players likely to start in the first team (? how quickly they will gel) and they have not long returned from the western coast of America/Canada, so

that jetlag has not been too much of an effect. Also, Barnsley will be playing their first game after promotion on home turf AND against a 'traitor' in their eyes (Stephen McPhail), so their energy and motivation is likley to be extremely strong.

Personally a no bet for me, but I would probably be looking at laying the city, draw may be most likely outcome.

steve1966 · 01-08-2006, 19:06

Birmingham for me only because last season they were 2 divisions apart from Colchester and if there going to bounce back this year surely this is one of those must win games.

kevshat · 02-08-2006, 03:53

1st bet of the season for me involves my own team!

3pts Luton to beat Leicester 2.62 Betfair

Luton's record on the opening day is good, they've won in each of the last 3 seasons whereas opponents Leicester haven't won in any of the last 3 seasons on the opening day.

Luton's record at Kenilworth Rd under Mike Newell is very impressive. It tailed off towards the end of last season it must be said but it must also be said injuries had kicked in bigtime at that stage. Luton have had a promising pre-season despite it being interrupted by the sales of key men Kevin Nicholls and Steve Howard. Adam Boyd has come in from Hartlepool to replace Howie and word is he's fitted in well.

Leicester are a side I expect to go well this season but they may have their work cut out in this match. They've had a good pre-season too and have lots of experience in their side but Luton can be a tough place to go to.

This is easily a standout price here and with the stats and Luton's home record on our side such a good price I think is worth taking this early.

bluebird in exile · 02-08-2006, 16:53

A few speculative picks for the first day:

Coventry v Sunderland

I think Micky Adams is a pretty consistent manager at this level and there were signs towards the end of last season that he had the Sky Blues improving. Sunderland by contrast come down as the weakest team in the history of the Premiership, and with a rookie like Niall Quinn in charge and the same lacklustre squad as last year, I think this will be too tough a start for them.

WBA v Hull

I find it quite incredible that Bryan Robson is still in charge of West Brom. I think he's just an awful manager and, like Sunderland, I fancy Albion will struggle to adjust to life back at this level. Hull are a team going in the opposite direction, with a manager whose track record is the opposite of Robson's, and I just think 6.4 is outstanding.

Barnsley v Cardiff

Possibly a case of getting carried away by my team's chances at the start of a new season, but City have made some good signings and have been on decent pre-season form. Barnsley only sneaked into the playoffs in a poor League One, were lucky to get past a nervous (and vastly superior) Swansea side in the final, and, so far as I know, they haven't strengthened their squad to any significant extent. I think they're going to have a hard time at this level and I'm going with the Bluebirds for this one.

theoldmaster · 04-08-2006, 13:12

Luton v Leicester, got to look at the figures for corner kicks here! i know it's early season but figures from last term are very convincing and i'm going to have a go, last season Lutons figures were
Home for-7.2, against 4.5 these made Luton the highest rated home corner winners.
AWAY- for 6.1 against 5.4 , again impressive the second highest winners on the road.

the wat the win and concede corners are something to bear in mind!
look at Lutons home games last term 13 of thier games went OVER 11, look at the stats for that 13 games in question,
16,16,15,16,14,13,14,12,15,13,22,13,17. so when they burst the 11 mark they do it in style!
On 12 occasions they forced 6 or more corners inc 18 against Sheff Wed a didsion high last term.

Leicesters figures are
HOME for- 6.6 against 4.4 a good solid performer at home.
AWAY for- 4.7 against 5.8 indeed in the foxes 23 away games the cornesr total was over 11, on eleven occasions, and they conceded more than 6 on twelve occasions vey consistent couple thes gigure with Lutons and you have a very appealing case for over 11, here a saver on exactly 10 or 11, and BUY Lutons multi corners on the spreads

hope you find this of interest happy punting.

kevster · 04-08-2006, 15:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve1966

Birmingham for me only because last season they were 2 divisions apart from Colchester and if there going to bounce back this year surely this is one of those must win games.

I'm with Steve here all the way. Birmingham have made some shrewd signings whilst holding on to most of their Prem squad. Colchester will struggle in this division and Birmingham will win this comfortably. I also think 1.5 with Coral is good value.

DJ SOSNA · 04-08-2006, 15:29

who is gonna play in B'gham attack tommorrow?

kevster · 04-08-2006, 16:00

I'm pretty certain that Cameron Jerome will (3 Million signing from Cardiff).

DJ SOSNA · 04-08-2006, 16:30

thx mate,
So it seems that Steve Bruce could hand debuts to Bruno N'Gotty, Neil Danns, Stephen Kelly and Cameron Jerome

What about Colchester, any absences for their tommorrow's "Big Game"?

Alan Brazil · 04-08-2006, 18:33

Hello everybody, unfortunately typing this from work and my home computer needing a new monitor I haven't much time to put much
information behind my selections today. But I plan to do that next
time having spent hours and days putting together squad stats and everything on the championship teams this summer.

So let's just say these are based on those stats where my basic idea is to
follow how strong a team a club is able to play when they start a match.

I have placed these as an opening bet for Stan James as 3/7 system to
get my £25 = 35 euros back at least.

TREBLES
Luton v Leicester
Match Betting 90 Minutes Leicester 2.75
Leeds v Norwich
Match Betting 90 Minutes Norwich 3.40
Ipswich v Crystal Palace
Match Betting 90 Minutes Crystal Palace 2.88
Southend v Stoke
Match Betting 90 Minutes Southend 2.38
Derby v Southampton
Match Betting 90 Minutes Southampton 2.50
Burnley v QPR
Match Betting 90 Minutes Burnley 2.00
Plymouth v Wolves
Match Betting 90 Minutes Plymouth 2.50

tonysoprano · 04-08-2006, 18:42

Barnsley v Cardiff

I think Cardiff will do well this season and have a lot of new players who
will want to get off to a good start. Gilbert,McNaughton,Flood,McPhail and
Chopra should all make their debuts.

Cardiff 10/10 @ 2.85 mansion

Birmingham v Colchester

Birmingham will want to get off to a good start following their relegation
from the Premiership. They have made some quality signings in Cameron Jerome
and Bruno N'Gotty.

Birmingham 10/10 @ 1.54 mansion

Plymouth v Wolves

I think Wolves might struggle in this one, they have a few injuries and come
up against a solid Plymouth side.

Plymouth 5/10 @ 2.61 mansion

Southend v Stoke

Southend won League 1 last season and I think they will get off to the
perfect start to this campaign.

Southend 5/10 @ 2.4 premierbet

West Brom v Hull

I think West Brom will win this division, they have managed to hang on to
their best players and signed some very good ones aswell. They will want to
get off to a good start and the new signings will want to make a good
impression. Hartson and Perry should make their debuts.

West Brom 10/10 @ 1.62 mansion

Alan Brazil · 04-08-2006, 18:44

About Hull. I think they will be the surprise package this season. But I had to leave them out my selections for this opening weekend because they
are still like last season haunted by injuries. They might be strong enough even tomorrow to open up few eyes.

My own club has been Ipswich Town since 1971 as you probably can work
out from my user name. With Owen Garwan out and Forster and Bowditch
touch and go I had to go for Palace in this match.

If interested how I think Championship will finish this season you can find my prediction( a work hypothesis so far) here in Finnish - but It will change when the loans from premiership are over etc...

http://foorumi.paitsio.com/showthread.php?t=1366

zoolander · 04-08-2006, 22:06

Sport	Football (Eng - Champ)
Event	Birmingham Vs Colchester United
Selection	Birmingham HT/FT
Strength	10/10
Date	05/08/2006
Bookmaker/Price	Betfair @ 2.34 (Back)
Reasoning	Birmingham have managed to keep a strong squad following relegation last season and they have also freshened things up to get promoted at the 1st time of asking. Radhi Jaidi will not be registered in time but the young Arsenal players signed on loan will be available. Birmingham have some top players and its about time they delivered and give the home fans something to cheer about after the disaser last season. Birmingham will want a good start and with new striker cameron Jerome, Forsell and 2 or 3 other top strikers they need an early goal to settle the nerves. Colchester were impressive in promotion but have lst their manager to Hull City. Main striker Chris Iwelumo has been declared fit but i question is fitness as he has been out for most of pre-season. Big test for Colchester and i suppose they have nothing to loose but Birmingham should have too much quality particularily up front for colchester to cope.

hornet_18 · 04-08-2006, 22:34

Southend to beat Stoke @ 2.38 1-0 (probably) @ 8 - with Pulis in charge at Stoke again they will be hard to break down. However, I expect Southend to keep winning until they lose momentum from last seasons Championship winning campaign. It will also be interesting to see how Freddie Eastwood fairs in this division so a first scorer bet on him might be worthwhile @ 6 after he has scored over 20 in both of the last two seasons.

Burnley to beat QPR @ 2 - QPR are rubbish with a poor, young manager. IMO they are going down, fast. They ended up with about 4points in the last 11 games last season (I think) and turned from mid table mediocrity to lucky they had points in the bank before they sacked Holloway. Not only that but they seem to be losing their best player in Danny Shittu and their key player according to BBC text will be a youngster who Ive never heard of! Burnley are nothing special but will be organised and ready.

Norwich over Leeds @ 3.4 - Norwich underachieved last year, thats for sure but they have managed to keep their current squad while Leeds have lost players to injury and selling people and have been chopping and changing their squad all over the summer. With Earnshaw and Huckerby up front I still feel Norwich could be value here. However, with Green still injured I dont know how good theyll be in defence although Leeds will be relatively weak up front.

Leicester over Luton @ 2.75 - Leicester finished the season well under Rob Kelly and will continue to build on that while Luton have had a few of their main players sold in the summer and not really replaced them. They also had a horrific second half of the season and if I remember correctly were quite poor at home.

Cardiff over Barnsley @ 2.6 w/Michael Chopra to score anytime @ 2.62 - Barnsley were promoted via the playoffs so should be on a roll, however, Cardiff were strong last season and have strengthened themselves with the signings of players such as Chopra (who I personally think will be among the top scorers - definitely better than Jerome), Kevin Campbell, Kevin McNaughton and Kirrea Gilbert. This should be a good victory for Cardiff and an early awakening to the task at hand for Barnsley.

Coventry over Sunderland @ 2.5 - when a team is used to losing, theyre used to losing. Sunderland will lose. Coventry finished the season extremely strongly turning a relegation battle into a top half finish in the last 1/3 of the season. They have kept hold of McSheffrey who will be key and their home form last season was awesome even when they were doing badly.

I wont be playing with any of these tomorrow I doubt just because I want to wait and see how they all pan out, however, these look the stand out bets. I may put a small wager on Chopra and Eastwood because Ive heard Chopra has been on fire in preseason and to I think Eastwood will continue to score with this step up.

GL

bluebird in exile · 04-08-2006, 22:43

I agree with virtually everything Hornet says. The majority of Cardiff fans seem to think Chopra is an improvement on Jerome. I think WBA and Sunderland will struggle this year, and if Birmingham's hopes all hang on Jerome, maybe they're not as strong as I thought they'd be.

bowles10 · 04-08-2006, 22:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by hornet_18

Burnley to beat QPR @ 2 - QPR are rubbish with a poor, young manager. IMO they are going down, fast. They ended up with about 4points in the last 11 games last season (I think) and turned from mid table mediocrity to lucky they had points in the bank before they sacked Holloway. Not only that but they seem to be losing their best player in Danny Shittu and their key player according to BBC text will be a youngster who Ive never heard of! Burnley are nothing special but will be organised and ready.

take this from me Hornet, Holloway was taking us down. At the time he left, we were sinking fast & he had lost the dressing room. From what i heard, the senior pro's refused to play for him as he was playing so many players out of position & only wanted to be famous for his sayings which were getting on everyones nerves. Waddock, yes is unproven but tomorrow is his 1st game in charge as permanent manager. He is not poor as you say as he has no track record to speak of. He steadied the ship & we got the points on the board & could not go down mathematically, & yes we havent won for something like 10 games, but we lost 7 of those all by 1 goals after leading in most of them. Ollie left him a bare squad, full of injuries & players Ollie signed who were stealing their wages from the club. Waddock rightly said Judge me when i am able to bring in the players i want. I dont expect much tomorrow especially with Shittu leaving the club today however what you dont know is that Shittu only played 20 minutes preseason & didnt go on the tour to Italy, so waddock was a bit clever there thinking about the burnley game. It looks like we may be without Rowlands & Gallen tomorrow which will be a blow.

Hope you eat your words old son! See you in 2007-8 season.

BillyHills · 04-08-2006, 23:42

Just 3 bets in this division for me this week;

Birmingham to beat Colchester 1.50 Skybet
Fancy Birmingham this season to bounce straight back so must start with a home win against a team who could struggle at the other end of the table.

West Brom to beat Hull 1.61 Betfred
The baggies are a strong team retaining many of the squad from last year and although Hull are a decent side i expect WBA to start with a win.

Cardiff or Draw 1.46 bet365

Barnsley will do well to hold their own this season and start with atough game against a battling Cardiff team who finished just off the pace last season and will look to reach the play offs this time around. Could be tight game but i dont expect Cardiff to lose so will back both results.

BH

hornet_18 · 05-08-2006, 00:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by bowles10

Hope you eat your words old son! See you in 2007-8 season.

Trust me, I hope I eat my words too. I like going to QPR, we have a good record against you and its another local match. Although the bottle throwing last time wasnt nice.

Thing is at the end of last season you started tanking and it didnt look pretty. Hopefully things'll turn around for you because its nice to see the local clubs (apart from the scum) doing relatively well. You're giving a young, inexperienced manager a chance, we did that and it hasnt gone too badly. Maybe lightening can strike twice? But if you want to do well you've got to get rid of that curry-eating, diving, cheating, scummy, selfish, overrated, floppy haired left winger of yours

01-08-2006, 19:06	#4 (permalink)
steve1966 Legendary Punter Join Date: 27 Oct 2004 Posts: 1,333	Re: Coca-Cola Championship 5th August Birmingham for me only because last season they were 2 divisions apart from Colchester and if there going to bounce back this year surely this is one of those must win games.

02-08-2006, 03:53	#5 (permalink)
kevshat God Punter Join Date: 06 Oct 2005 Location: Luton Age: 26 Posts: 7,723 Awards Showcase Total Awards: 3	Re: Coca-Cola Championship 5th August 1st bet of the season for me involves my own team! 3pts Luton to beat Leicester 2.62 Betfair Luton's record on the opening day is good, they've won in each of the last 3 seasons whereas opponents Leicester haven't won in any of the last 3 seasons on the opening day. Luton's record at Kenilworth Rd under Mike Newell is very impressive. It tailed off towards the end of last season it must be said but it must also be said injuries had kicked in bigtime at that stage. Luton have had a promising pre-season despite it being interrupted by the sales of key men Kevin Nicholls and Steve Howard. Adam Boyd has come in from Hartlepool to replace Howie and word is he's fitted in well. Leicester are a side I expect to go well this season but they may have their work cut out in this match. They've had a good pre-season too and have lots of experience in their side but Luton can be a tough place to go to. This is easily a standout price here and with the stats and Luton's home record on our side such a good price I think is worth taking this early.

02-08-2006, 16:53	#6 (permalink)
bluebird in exile Welsh Punter Join Date: 30 Oct 2004 Location: Cardiff Posts: 114	Re: Coca-Cola Championship 5th August A few speculative picks for the first day: Coventry v Sunderland I think Micky Adams is a pretty consistent manager at this level and there were signs towards the end of last season that he had the Sky Blues improving. Sunderland by contrast come down as the weakest team in the history of the Premiership, and with a rookie like Niall Quinn in charge and the same lacklustre squad as last year, I think this will be too tough a start for them. WBA v Hull I find it quite incredible that Bryan Robson is still in charge of West Brom. I think he's just an awful manager and, like Sunderland, I fancy Albion will struggle to adjust to life back at this level. Hull are a team going in the opposite direction, with a manager whose track record is the opposite of Robson's, and I just think 6.4 is outstanding. Barnsley v Cardiff Possibly a case of getting carried away by my team's chances at the start of a new season, but City have made some good signings and have been on decent pre-season form. Barnsley only sneaked into the playoffs in a poor League One, were lucky to get past a nervous (and vastly superior) Swansea side in the final, and, so far as I know, they haven't strengthened their squad to any significant extent. I think they're going to have a hard time at this level and I'm going with the Bluebirds for this one.

04-08-2006, 13:12	#7 (permalink)
theoldmaster Senior Punter Join Date: 29 Jun 2006 Age: 35 Posts: 146	Re: Coca-Cola Championship 5th August Luton v Leicester, got to look at the figures for corner kicks here! i know it's early season but figures from last term are very convincing and i'm going to have a go, last season Lutons figures were Home for-7.2, against 4.5 these made Luton the highest rated home corner winners. AWAY- for 6.1 against 5.4 , again impressive the second highest winners on the road. the wat the win and concede corners are something to bear in mind! look at Lutons home games last term 13 of thier games went OVER 11, look at the stats for that 13 games in question, 16,16,15,16,14,13,14,12,15,13,22,13,17. so when they burst the 11 mark they do it in style! On 12 occasions they forced 6 or more corners inc 18 against Sheff Wed a didsion high last term. Leicesters figures are HOME for- 6.6 against 4.4 a good solid performer at home. AWAY for- 4.7 against 5.8 indeed in the foxes 23 away games the cornesr total was over 11, on eleven occasions, and they conceded more than 6 on twelve occasions vey consistent couple thes gigure with Lutons and you have a very appealing case for over 11, here a saver on exactly 10 or 11, and BUY Lutons multi corners on the spreads hope you find this of interest happy punting.

04-08-2006, 15:29	#9 (permalink)
DJ SOSNA The Beast from the East Join Date: 26 Oct 2004 Posts: 262	Re: Coca-Cola Championship 5th August who is gonna play in B'gham attack tommorrow?

04-08-2006, 16:00	#10 (permalink)
kevster Newbie Punter Join Date: 15 Feb 2006 Age: 34 Posts: 44	Re: Coca-Cola Championship 5th August I'm pretty certain that Cameron Jerome will (3 Million signing from Cardiff).

04-08-2006, 16:30	#11 (permalink)
DJ SOSNA The Beast from the East Join Date: 26 Oct 2004 Posts: 262	Re: Coca-Cola Championship 5th August thx mate, So it seems that Steve Bruce could hand debuts to Bruno N'Gotty, Neil Danns, Stephen Kelly and Cameron Jerome What about Colchester, any absences for their tommorrow's "Big Game"?

04-08-2006, 18:33	#12 (permalink)
Alan Brazil Sweet Water Pools Punter Join Date: 20 Nov 2004 Location: Helsinki,Finland Posts: 63	Re: Coca-Cola Championship 5th August Hello everybody, unfortunately typing this from work and my home computer needing a new monitor I haven't much time to put much information behind my selections today. But I plan to do that next time having spent hours and days putting together squad stats and everything on the championship teams this summer. So let's just say these are based on those stats where my basic idea is to follow how strong a team a club is able to play when they start a match. I have placed these as an opening bet for Stan James as 3/7 system to get my £25 = 35 euros back at least. TREBLES Luton v Leicester Match Betting 90 Minutes Leicester 2.75 Leeds v Norwich Match Betting 90 Minutes Norwich 3.40 Ipswich v Crystal Palace Match Betting 90 Minutes Crystal Palace 2.88 Southend v Stoke Match Betting 90 Minutes Southend 2.38 Derby v Southampton Match Betting 90 Minutes Southampton 2.50 Burnley v QPR Match Betting 90 Minutes Burnley 2.00 Plymouth v Wolves Match Betting 90 Minutes Plymouth 2.50

04-08-2006, 18:42	#13 (permalink)
tonysoprano Seasoned Punter Join Date: 15 Mar 2005 Posts: 331	Re: Coca-Cola Championship 5th August Barnsley v Cardiff I think Cardiff will do well this season and have a lot of new players who will want to get off to a good start. Gilbert,McNaughton,Flood,McPhail and Chopra should all make their debuts. Cardiff 10/10 @ 2.85 mansion Birmingham v Colchester Birmingham will want to get off to a good start following their relegation from the Premiership. They have made some quality signings in Cameron Jerome and Bruno N'Gotty. Birmingham 10/10 @ 1.54 mansion Plymouth v Wolves I think Wolves might struggle in this one, they have a few injuries and come up against a solid Plymouth side. Plymouth 5/10 @ 2.61 mansion Southend v Stoke Southend won League 1 last season and I think they will get off to the perfect start to this campaign. Southend 5/10 @ 2.4 premierbet West Brom v Hull I think West Brom will win this division, they have managed to hang on to their best players and signed some very good ones aswell. They will want to get off to a good start and the new signings will want to make a good impression. Hartson and Perry should make their debuts. West Brom 10/10 @ 1.62 mansion

04-08-2006, 18:44	#14 (permalink)
Alan Brazil Sweet Water Pools Punter Join Date: 20 Nov 2004 Location: Helsinki,Finland Posts: 63	Re: Coca-Cola Championship 5th August About Hull. I think they will be the surprise package this season. But I had to leave them out my selections for this opening weekend because they are still like last season haunted by injuries. They might be strong enough even tomorrow to open up few eyes. My own club has been Ipswich Town since 1971 as you probably can work out from my user name. With Owen Garwan out and Forster and Bowditch touch and go I had to go for Palace in this match. If interested how I think Championship will finish this season you can find my prediction( a work hypothesis so far) here in Finnish - but It will change when the loans from premiership are over etc... http://foorumi.paitsio.com/showthread.php?t=1366

04-08-2006, 22:34	#16 (permalink)
hornet_18 Dedicated Punter Join Date: 31 Mar 2006 Age: 21 Posts: 244	Re: Coca-Cola Championship 5th August Southend to beat Stoke @ 2.38 1-0 (probably) @ 8 - with Pulis in charge at Stoke again they will be hard to break down. However, I expect Southend to keep winning until they lose momentum from last seasons Championship winning campaign. It will also be interesting to see how Freddie Eastwood fairs in this division so a first scorer bet on him might be worthwhile @ 6 after he has scored over 20 in both of the last two seasons. Burnley to beat QPR @ 2 - QPR are rubbish with a poor, young manager. IMO they are going down, fast. They ended up with about 4points in the last 11 games last season (I think) and turned from mid table mediocrity to lucky they had points in the bank before they sacked Holloway. Not only that but they seem to be losing their best player in Danny Shittu and their key player according to BBC text will be a youngster who Ive never heard of! Burnley are nothing special but will be organised and ready. Norwich over Leeds @ 3.4 - Norwich underachieved last year, thats for sure but they have managed to keep their current squad while Leeds have lost players to injury and selling people and have been chopping and changing their squad all over the summer. With Earnshaw and Huckerby up front I still feel Norwich could be value here. However, with Green still injured I dont know how good theyll be in defence although Leeds will be relatively weak up front. Leicester over Luton @ 2.75 - Leicester finished the season well under Rob Kelly and will continue to build on that while Luton have had a few of their main players sold in the summer and not really replaced them. They also had a horrific second half of the season and if I remember correctly were quite poor at home. Cardiff over Barnsley @ 2.6 w/Michael Chopra to score anytime @ 2.62 - Barnsley were promoted via the playoffs so should be on a roll, however, Cardiff were strong last season and have strengthened themselves with the signings of players such as Chopra (who I personally think will be among the top scorers - definitely better than Jerome), Kevin Campbell, Kevin McNaughton and Kirrea Gilbert. This should be a good victory for Cardiff and an early awakening to the task at hand for Barnsley. Coventry over Sunderland @ 2.5 - when a team is used to losing, theyre used to losing. Sunderland will lose. Coventry finished the season extremely strongly turning a relegation battle into a top half finish in the last 1/3 of the season. They have kept hold of McSheffrey who will be key and their home form last season was awesome even when they were doing badly. I wont be playing with any of these tomorrow I doubt just because I want to wait and see how they all pan out, however, these look the stand out bets. I may put a small wager on Chopra and Eastwood because Ive heard Chopra has been on fire in preseason and to I think Eastwood will continue to score with this step up. GL

04-08-2006, 22:43	#17 (permalink)
bluebird in exile Welsh Punter Join Date: 30 Oct 2004 Location: Cardiff Posts: 114	Re: Coca-Cola Championship 5th August I agree with virtually everything Hornet says. The majority of Cardiff fans seem to think Chopra is an improvement on Jerome. I think WBA and Sunderland will struggle this year, and if Birmingham's hopes all hang on Jerome, maybe they're not as strong as I thought they'd be.

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