The Tenner Bet has been a bit Two Ronnies of late.
There have been yankees, bankies and polka dot hankies; trixies, dixies and even little pixies; patents, latents and don't forget the newsagents. Which just goes to show that you should never ask Ronnie Corbett to help out with football betting strategies.
For a start Ronnie Corbett likes golf and, secondly, he was part of one of the most successful comedy double acts in television history so his views on football bets are not to be trusted. Frankly, I've no idea why I thought he would be versed enough in betting lingo to give advice but there you go. In fairness to Ronnie, there have been late goals, offside goals and even bleedin' flood goals. All of which has had Mrs Tenner Bet reaching for the fork handles before jabbing them in my general direction.
Aside from the observation that the names bookmakers give to certain bets bear little or no relevance to the bet itself, I have learned a valuable (or should that be costly?) lesson. Less, quite often, is more. Perming six or seven teams in rolling accumulators is lucrative when it pays out but getting there is not as simply done as it is written down.
Not that I have advocated such bets in recent columns - I have left such muddled thinking to my extra-curricular activities - in any case the structure of such is irrelevant when those teams comprising the bets are losing or drawing when they are meant to be winning.
Watching Benfica labour to a 1-1 draw in torrential rain on Champions League duty in midweek, thus defeating yet another treble, I was left to reflect on the irony that a result that was largely distorted by the downpour extended my drought into a third week. That said, I feel confident that the run is about to come to an end.
THE BET
Southampton have scored in all but two league matches this season and you have to go all the way back to September 15 for the last time they did not manage to record a goal. In that time they have kept four clean sheets, their run ending at Old Trafford last Saturday when they eked out a point when they looked to have lost all three.
Today, they host a Fulham side who notched up only their second away win of the season at hapless Crystal Palace. Yes, they scored some lustrous goals in the process but while it is possible to imagine Fulham scoring, Mauricio Pochettino has Southampton (8/13 for the win) playing in such a disciplined style at home that they should be too strong for the visitors.
Meanwhile, Derby County (4/5) have been resurgent in the Sky Bet Championship ever since the appointment of Steve McClaren as manager. They have won two on the spin since he succeeded Nigel Clough in the role and were impressive winners at Watford last weekend. Today's opponents Birmingham City have lost four of their five away games in the league, only beating bottom of the table Yeovil Town.
With funds tight, I'm going for a simple treble this weekend and like the look of Reading at home to Millwall. Millwall were the pantomime villains last week at home to Queens Park Rangers when they scuppered one of my trebles but they have won away just once in the league, while Reading have won on the last six occasions the teams have met at the Madjeski Stadium. The latter are a best priced 3/4 with Oddschecker.com. The treble pays: 4.1/1.
SEASON'S TOTAL
-£36.60. And it's goodnight from me.
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