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Saturday 16 December 2023 - Ho, Ho, Ho-Hum

Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash

I’ve added Notts County to Santa’s naughty list.  But more of that in a moment.


I was treating myself to a taste of what Christmas might be like, post-apocalypse, by taking a stroll around the Four Seasons Shopping Centre in Mansfield when I chanced across the Canadian singer and songwriter Michael Bublé who was buying this year’s Viz annual in The Works.  He told me, rather predictably, that it was "beginning to look a lot like Christmas", but I said "hardly" as we were in the Four Seasons Shopping Centre in Mansfield.  I saw him later in HMV hiding Jamie Cullum’s Christmas album behind a pair of Skullcandy headphones.  Tragic.


Equally tragic was last Saturday’s recommended double, although in the end it was only a single on Notts County as Wrexham’s game against Forest Green Rovers was called off due to a waterlogged pitch.  In fairness to Sky Bet I could have cashed out for my full stake immediately prior to kick off, but I was happy to let the bet ride for the reduced return as there was NO WAY Notts could lose to Walsall at fortress Meadow Lane, and this confidence was franked when the Magpies went 1-0 up in the first half.  Job done. Having left Notts to get on with it, imagine my surprise, nay horror, to come back and find them losing 1-2 with only minutes left to play.  Walsall couldn’t even beat Alfreton Town of the National League NORTH in the FA Cup the week before - and only beat them 1-0 in the replay on Tuesday night - but here they were turning over one of the League Two favourites.  I am through with Notts now, betting-wise at least, and they will be lucky to survive relegation if they carry on defending the way they are.

Derby County (1/2) are currently unbeaten in five League One matches and are now in the play off places.  On Saturday at three pm the Rams welcome Wycombe Wanderers to Pride Park who are on a run of four straight defeats.  The selection almost picks itself as the first leg of this weekend’s double, but so did Notts against Walsall.  Everton (21/20) appear to be on a mission with three Premier League wins on the bounce against Nottingham Forest (a previous winning tip), Newcastle and Chelsea.  At five-thirty pm on Saturday they are away to Burnley, who are second from bottom on eight points.  Although Everton only have thirteen points, if you add back on the ten points they recently had deducted for breaking financial rules they should actually be sitting tenth in the league on twenty-three points.  You would hope that they view Saturday’s fixture as an ideal opportunity to claw back another three points and put more distance between themselves and the relegation zone they were temporarily demoted to.  My “hypothetical” £20 win double on Derby and Everton currently returns £61.50 with Sky Bet at combined odds of 2.08/1 for a profit of £41.50 after deduction of stake.  You never know.

I hope to see you next week for the last blog of 2023 - it’s going to be a Christmas Cracker!
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