IN Harry Redknapp's new book, the bold Sir Harold of Sandbanks claims the Football Association haven't a clue about appointing England managers, an observation he denied had anything to do with the man (Roy Hodgson) who took the job most expected the then Tottenham Hotspur manager to assume after the resignation of Fabio Capello last summer.
When he clarified his criticism of the FA's selection procedure 'Arry said he meant he felt the job should be given to "football men," a claim he then swiftly attributed to those dilettantes at the FA, thus giving the impression it was the FA he was really aiming the barbs at all along, rather than the managers they had appointed.
It was classic Redknapp revisionism. Up there with him telling us some years ago that Gareth Bale would become a better left-back than a winger and, rather than identify the Welshman as a future world-record transfer in waiting, wanted to sell him to Nottingham Forest or Birmingham City because Spurs happened to lose some games when he was in the team.
Come book publishing time, Redknapp was the man whose "tough love had turned Bale into the superstar we see today".
For all the criticism of 'Arry though, there is an undeniable truism: his teams generally win matches. If that appears to be revisionism of Redknapp-esque proportions he can be forgiven for the QPR debacle of last season because the team was in a negative spiral long before his arrival. It helps, too, that they're joint top of the Championship after 10 games. They have arrived there in most un-Redknapp-like fashion, too, by keeping clean sheets and nicking games by the odd goal. For that reason alone, they form a solid base for this week's bet and at a great price.
THE BET
We're using a modified system this weekend and while the version employed in recent weeks has been found wanting the logic remains thus: if a team is scoring goals and not conceding then they will win more than they lose.
QPR have kept a clean sheet in each of their last eight games. Their opponents, Millwall, have failed to score in four matches this season and have kept just four clean sheets. QPR's away form is sound with three wins and a draw so far while Millwall have lost more at home than they have won or drawn. Yes, it is a derby match, but not one between London clubs with a history of ill-feeling. The even money available on QPR should not be ignored.
This weekend's second pick is another side on their travels, Oxford United. They face Accrington Stanley who have failed to record a league win this season. The research team at Oddschecker.com tell me Oxford (evens) have the best away record in League Two and have not lost to today's opponents in eight meetings.
The third team in this week's treble are Dundee. They are 5/6 to beat Queen of the South who have won just once in their last eight visits to Dens Park and haven't won away this season. A strong case can be made for a second treble involving Leyton Orient (evens), Brighton (evens) and Inverness (10/11). The first treble pays 6.32/1 and the second is available at 6.64/1.
SEASON'S TOTAL
And so, the profits continue to fall, like Jose Bosingwa's opinion of a former manager who thought he was "like Sir Alex Ferguson" but without the titles. Hopefully, for my sake, Harry's QPR play more like the team that has started the season in such fine form, rather than the one that his nemesis Bosingwa was a part of. The tally is a depressing -£16.60
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