Football Selections

Looking at the contenders for the new season I do like the look of Sheffield United as a team that should be in the mix for the Promotion race throughout the season.

Since Kevin Blackwell has taken over, the Blades have looked a solid outfit and new signings of Darius Henderson, Sun Jihai and David Cotterill should make sure they make a challenge. Current prices are 12-1 to win overall, I also like the look of the 11-10 to be the top Northern Club in the Championship.

Reading are also tempting at the current 10-1 odds and maybe with the fact that QPR and Birmingham are going to be widely considered as the main contenders for promotion. I think ignoring Reading under the excellent steering of Steve Coppell could be a grave mistake . Although they have lost Dave Kitson and Nicky Shorey, generally the squad remains the same from last year and I think the consistency they lacked last season will be there this time.

The each way value in the Championship for me could be Norwich best odds of 33-1, Glenn Roeder a surprise appointment in the first place then went on to perform a miracle to stop the rot and stave off relegation and has now been backed in the summer transfer market. New arrivals of David Bell, and Wes Hoolahan plus some quality loanees add to the squad .The handicap betting on Norwich also looks tempting at +22 at 18-1 with Betfred.

Tough one to decide as the contenders could be many Blackpool will stand out as certs to go down though best price of 15-8 Skybet may not tempt me.

Well I guess I am going to have to put my money where my mouth is, so if I think Sheff Utd and Reading are the teams to follow, then James Beatie 14-1 and Leroy Lita at 25-1 for their respective teams should give us a run for our money.

League 1 Kick Off

Looking at this league this season it would be very easy to get carried away with Leeds to lift the title. Good news this season is that there is no 15 point deduction penalty to deal with. Leeds have kept the side that went so close last season and have signed winger Andy Robinson from Swansea so while we cannot ignore their chances the 3-1 does not really make me want to get too involved .

So who else can we consider , likely that Leicester , Peterborough and MK Dons will all be vying for at least a play –off place and I could not put you off them as possibles ,however the value may lie with Huddersfield .

They have a new Chairman in Dean Hoyle and money has been spent on some good signings , Michael Flynn , Jim Goodwin , Keigan Parker and Gary Roberts to name just four .Their new manager Stan Ternent has gained promotion twice ,alongside the experienced players he has brought in ,he is still in the market to bring more players in . Huddersfield finished strongly last season with clean sheets in their last five games finishing tenth overall.

They are currently available at 16-1 and to me that offers excellent E/W value.

Relegation Battle

Looking at the sides that will face relegation, Yeovil would be my idea of Favourites to go down. They have struggled to score goals and recently lost their goalkeeper, which is going to make a long season for this side. Current odds to go down 5-2.