Rooney: ' Top Dog' At United - Betting News with Betfred

Wayne Rooney continues to develop as a footballer and according to his manager Sir Alex Ferguson, he is the man who can fire the goals that will bring silverware to Old Trafford this season.

The England striker has scored 20 goals in 28 games this season and his manager is convinced that no forward in the country can currently match his number 10.

Ferguson claims Rooney is highly likely to break the 30-goal barrier this season and he is "happy" with the player's form.

"The main reason he is scoring more goals is because he is in the right place at the right time. That's what goalscorers do," said the Scotsman.

"Wayne has become more aware of the penalty box, too. Playing him in that direct role gives him an appetite."

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti recently claimed that Manchester United would be a completely different team without Rooney, and the The Blues' gaffer added the England striker is carrying his side.

United travel to rivals Arsenal on Sunday knowing the result could have a huge impact on their Premier League title odds.

The Red Devils are 19/10 to win at The Emirates this Sunday.

Rooney is certainly on fire for United at the moment, and is priced at 6/1 to be the outright first goalscorer on Sunday.
However their defence has looked leaky in recent weeks and punters may see this and home advantage as the reason why an Arsenal win at 7/5 might represent the value bet.

However, given that neither side will want to lose, the tip of the weekend is the 1-1 draw which is currently at 11/2 in the football betting.


My Tip Of The Weekend:
A 1-1 draw priced @ 11/2 with Betfred - Sunday 31st January, kick-off at 4pm, live on Sky.

By Drew Swainston
(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

Crystal Palace Football Club Go Into Administration - 26th January 2010. Which Club Will Be Next?

OFFICIAL CLUB STATEMENT:

Following a 5pm meeting at the club the following statement was released.

Brendan Guilfoyle, Chris White and John Russell of the P & A Partnership have today been appointed administrators of Crystal Palace Football Club.

The administrators have been appointed to rescue the club and reconstruct its finances and will be urgently seeking buyers.

Brendan Guilfoyle said: "This club has been in the spotlight for some months with creditors pressing for payments and players anxious about their wages.

"Our role now is to find a buyer quickly to provide certainty for the employees, players and fans for the future. We are hoping our appointment will be short-lived as we understand there are many interested buyers."

"Our role now is to find a buyer quickly to provide certainty for the employees, players and fans for the future. We are hoping our appointment will be short-lived as we understand there are many interested buyers," he added in the statement.

Palace are ninth in the table, having been on the fringes of the promotion playoff places most of the season as they attempt to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2005.

However, administration leads to an automatic 10-point penalty which would leave them battling to avoid relegation.

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SKY SPORTS NEWS:

Crystal Palace have gone into administration and are facing an immediate 10-point deduction as a result.

The Football League is still to confirm the penalty as they are awaiting legal paperwork, but administrators have been appointed in a bid to rescue the Championship club.

The Selhurst Park outfit have been struggling financially for some time with chairman Simon Jordan actively seeking new investment.

Palace's players have seen their wages delayed this season, while the club have been forced to operate under a transfer embargo due to their plight.

The South London side have now been left with no option but to place the club into administration in the face of mounting debts.

Their 10-point deduction will see them plunge from ninth in the table and on the fringes of the play-off race to 20th, just four points above the drop zone.

Rescue.

A statement released to Sky Sports News read: "Brendan Guilfoyle, Chris White and John Russell of the P & A Partnership have today been appointed administrators of Crystal Palace Football Club.

"The administrators have been appointed to rescue the club and reconstruct its finances and will be urgently seeking buyers."

The administrators remain confident that they will soon be able to find a new buyer to save the ailing Eagles.

Guilfoyle said: "This club has been in the spotlight for some months with creditors pressing for payments and players anxious about their wages.

"Our role now is to find a buyer quickly to provide certainty for the employees, players and fans for the future.

"We are hoping our appointment will be short-lived as we understand there are many interested buyers."

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THIS IS CROYDON TODAY.CO.UK - FROM A PALACE PLAYER'S PERSPECTIVE - MATT LAWRENCE

Palace defender Matt Lawrence says the Eagles playing staff will be "bitterly disappointed" at the news that the club have been placed into administration.

Most of the club's players and coaching staff were in the air on a flight to Newcastle for tomorrow night's clash with the Championship league leaders as the news broke.

Lawrence, who had got the train up to the North East, was waiting for his team mates at the hotel as he spoke with the Advertiser.

"I think they are on the way here now so I'm sure most will have heard the news, I'm sure the texts will have been flying around," he said. "I would imagine that some of the staff and possibly Shaun [Derry - Palace's captain] may have been told before they got on the flight, but I don't know for sure.

"It's just bitterly disappointing that all the hard work done by the players and the manager so far this season to get us where we are in the league has disappeared.

"We were two points off the play-offs but now we are just four points above the relegation zone. So obviously the focus has changed."

Lawrence, who was been a peripheral figure at Palace for the majority of the campaign, insists the team will simply have to roll up their sleeves and get on with their job - just as they have done all season.

"We're in a relegation scrap now and rather than tomorrow night's game being a six pointer in terms of the play-offs, the games with Peterborough and Scunthorpe in the next two weeks are the six-pointers.

"I think the lads have shown that during these hard times they have been focussed on the football and I'm sure they will keep on doing the same thing now. The games we have got remaining have just taken on even more significance."

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BBC SPORT:

Championship side Crystal Palace have gone into administration, according to administrators P&A Partnership.
The Eagles twice failed to pay players this season and chairman Simon Jordan had been searching for new investors.

Clubs entering administration are automatically docked 10 points, which would see Palace drop from ninth place to two spots above the drop zone.
But the Football League has yet to receive formal confirmation from either the club or the administrators.

The Football League would need to see official documentation before applying the penalty.
"Our role is to find a buyer quickly to provide certainty for the future," said administrator Brendan Guilfoyle.

"This club has been in the spotlight with creditors pressing for payments and players anxious about wages.
"We are hoping our appointment will be short-lived as we understand there are many interested buyers."
Palace have reported debts of approximately £30m and are due in court on Wednesday to face a winding-up order from HM Revenue and Customs.

Despite their financial constraints - Warnock has at times not been able to name seven substitutes this season - Palace were lying two points off the play-offs ahead of Wednesday's trip to Newcastle.

Warnock will instead have a relegation fight on his hands, while the sale of his star players, such as teenage striker Victor Moses, now seems inevitable.
Jordan, who saved Palace from administration in 2000, last year announced his intention to sell the club.

The club has twice since been subject to a transfer embargo, with the Palace players first informed that Jordan had "cashflow" problems at the end of November.

A History of Idiosyncratic Events in Football – Part One

----Five penalties awarded in less than half an hour----

Crystal Palace took on Brighton & Hove Albion at Selhurst Park in a Second Division game in March 1989, referee Kelvin Morton made history by awarding five penalties in the space of just 27 minutes.
To this day this bizarre record still stands.

The penalties ran as follows:

Palace are 1-0 up, Brighton are reduced to ten men and Mark Bright scores the first penalty of the match to make it 2-0.

Minutes later Palace win another spot-kick, but this time Mark Bright sees his effort saved by Brighton keeper John Keeley.

Palace win a third penalty in five minutes. Bright passes responsibility onto fellow striker Ian Wright, who in turn misses.

After a ten-minute period either side of half time without incident, Morton breaks the monotony by awarding another penalty.

This time he awards it to Brighton, who score courtesy of Alan Curbishely.
The score is now 2-1 to Palace.

The fifth and final penalty goes to Palace, who miss again, this time through defender John Pemberton.

The game ended: Crystal Palace 2 Brighton 1

Congratulations to Victor Moses - Winner of the Coca-Cola Football League Young Player of the Month Award

VICTOR MOSES has been named the inaugural winner of the 'Coca-Cola Football League Player of the Month' award for for his performances in December 2009.

The Coca-Cola Football League Young Player of the Month award is given to the player aged 21 or under who, in its words, "has made the most significant contribution and impact in first-team football".

Phil Stant, a youth development monitor for the League, said:

"We looked at stats and performances, and the Crystal Palace striker was chosen out of the 266 players under the age of 21 who ply their trade outside of the Premier League."

Here is Victor and his manager Neil Warnock being interviewed by Sky Sports on his award.

Moses scored four goals throughout the month including an eye catching double at Reading and a spectacular over-head kick at home to Barnsley just before Christmas.

Here is the link to see Victor's cracking goal against Barnsley on the 19th December 2009.

The 19-year-old also scored a fine winner against Plymouth Argyle on Saturday — his sixth league goal in his past eight matches. "That might be his last game for us," Neil Warnock, the Palace manager, said.

Palace’s financial troubles are forcing them to part with their most valuable asset and his fantastic form has drawn attention from the giants of the game, including Barcelona, Real Madrid Arsenal and Liverpool, with a move to the Premier League or abroad almost certain before the end of the transfer window.

Born in Nigeria on 12th December 1990, he was sent to live in England aged eleven, a week after his parents were murdered.

Victor's father Austin Moses was a Christian minister in Kaduna at a time when religious violence between the Muslim majority and Christian minority was rife. Despite this and with the help of his wife, Josephine, he continued with his missionary work.

Austin did not have time for football, but Victor played every day, in the streets or on a dusty concrete pitch surrounded by houses.

But in 2002, there were more religious riots. The family knew that because Victor's father had his own church, he would be a target.

Victor, the couple's only child, was playing football in the streets with a ball made up of sticky tape bound tightly together when his uncle came to find him.

He told him rioters had set upon his parents in their home and murdered them. He said Victor's life was in danger, too. The little boy, an orphan at 11, was hidden at a friend's house.

They got me out as quickly as they could for my safety.

Victor did not know anyone in England. He had never even been outside Kaduna before. He was placed with foster parents in Croydon and classified as an asylum seeker.

Since making his debut in November 2007, he has made 68 first team appearances, scoring 11 goals. Moses has also represented England at various levels and picked up the Golden Boot in the 2007 European Under-17 Championships.

The Football League's Chief Operating Officer Andy Williamson said:
"Victor Moses is an outstanding example of the high calibre young footballers being developed by Football League clubs. His eye-catching performances during the month of December have shown just why he is regarded as one of the finest young talents in English football."

After receiving his award from Palace manager Neil Warnock, Moses said:
"I am delighted to receive this award. This is one of the greatest days of my life to be winning something like this in the Championship."

Neil Warnock presents Victor with his award.

Coyle Facing Tricky Task On Return To Bolton - Betting News with Betfred

Cesc Fabregas could return to inspire Arsenal at the weekend and rain all over the parade that is Owen Coyle's first match in charge of Bolton.

The Scottish manager officially took the reins at Bolton earlier this week after the club agreed a compensation package with Burnley, allowing Coyle to return to the club he played for between 1993 and 1995.

It is common that new managers inspire their new teams to victory in their first game in charge, but Coyle's Bolton team faces a tricky home tie against Premier League title chasers Arsenal on Sunday, and so The Trotters are as big as 4/1 with to win the match.

Arsenal are currently in third place in the Premier League and they could be boosted for the trip to the Reebok Stadium by the return of influential midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

The Spanish midfielder has missed the last three games with the hamstring injury which he aggravated in his match-winning substitute appearance against Aston Villa on the 27th December.

He claims to have been working hard to regain his fitness, and is now optimistic of playing a part in the Bolton clash.

Fabregas said: "My hamstring feels 100 per cent now. The snow may have disrupted the football, but it hasn't interrupted my rehab."

Arsenal are well-fancied at 4/7 to ruin Coyle's homecoming party at the Reebok Stadium. Bolton's defensive problems this season could hint at an Arsenal win, but Bolton could raise their game to impress their new manager so 13/5 with Betfred for the match to be drawn may be the best Premier League bet of the weekend.


My Tip Of The Weekend:
A 1-1 draw priced @ 6/1 with Betfred - Sunday 17th January, kick-off at 4pm, live on Sky.

By Drew Swainston
(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

New Business Partnership with 'Palace Echobet' - Helping Crystal Palace Football Club's Youth Academy

Beer Footy and Birds is pleased to announce an official new partnership with palace ECHO*BET, a way to have a punt AND benefit the Crystal Palace Youth Academy at the sametime.

In association with Echobet Ltd, who have carefully selected a number of online bookmaker affiliates, it means even if you lose your wager, you can take heart in the fact that C.P.F.C will benefit.

As part of their commitment to raise funds for the Club's developing stars Echobet are proud to be 19 year old Sean Scannell's shirt sponsor for the 2009/10 season.

A proportion of the profits earned by the Echobet affiliate scheme will be donated to Crystal Palace's Youth Academy, initially, in the form of player sponsorship for young players who have graduated - such as Sean Scannell (below).

To mark their inagural sponsorship, Echobet are putting up a signed Sean Scannell home shirt as a prize in our Winter draw. Click here to see how you can enter the competition.

After-Dinner Sports Tales - Chris Kamara

Here is my is my first of 2010 but my sixth installment so far on the subject of light hearted after-dinner sporting tales, as told by current or ex-professional sportsman.

In previous articles on the subject of 'After-Dinner Sports Tales,' I have chosen humorous anecdotes as told by the likes of Rodney Marsh Gareth Southgate and Chris Coleman from the world of football, Phil Tufnell from cricket, and rugby union's Wade Dooley.

Today I have chosen another former footballer, but one who despite having retired from the game in 1998, can still be seen on a Saturday afternoon......but on your TV screens, usually as a Sky Sports TV reporter/analyst - the one and only, the charismatic Chris Kamara.

Chris Kamara was born in Middlesbrough on Christmas Day in 1957. After serving with the British Royal Navy he joined Portsmouth in 1975, beginning a professional footballing career that saw him move between nine clubs, scoring 71 goals in 641 league appearances. He was also manager of Bradford City and Stoke City before retiring from the game.

Here is an amusing excerpt from a speech made by Chris at a sporting dinner.

"I enjoyed a long career as a football player, signing for Portsmouth (twice), Swindon (twice), Brentford, Stoke, Leeds, Luton, Middlesbrough, Sheffield Utd and Bradford. I then made the transition into management, the highlight being taking Bradford into the First Division via a Wembley play-off final.

I became somewhat of an unlucky mascot to several teams during my playing days. In early 1992, I played my last game for Leeds, which took them to the top of the table. Manager Howard Wilkinson wanted to make sure they stayed there - so he sold me to Luton the very next day! Sure enough, Leeds won the Championship, without me.

David Pleat, the Luton boss, signed me to change things. Luton had been in the top division for ten years - the old First Division, now the Premier League. I certainly did help to change things - Luton were relegated!

I then went to my hometown club Middlesbrough, signing for Lennie Lawrence. It was their first season in the Premier League, and even though Lennie had previously saved Charlton from going down for five years in the late 80's and early 90's, without me, I was a part of the Middlesbrough team he managed that were relegated in the inaugural Premier League season in 1992-93!

Then there was the greatest escapologist since Harry Houdini - Dave 'Harry' Bassett, manager of Sheffield United. He was the boss who could get out of anything. But in the 1993-94 season he signed me, the fateful unlucky mascot - you've probably guessed it by now - Sheffield United went down.

During this period struggling Coventry City were actually paying teams to sign me!"

Babes Of The Month - Beer, Footy and Birds would like to wish all its readers a very Happy 2010 'World Cup' Year.