BILLY BUNTER

Weblog: The football punter

Doubts are creeping in as jollies continue to fail

Okay, it's starting to get a bit serious now.

I took the failings of Man United and Arsenal in my stride on Saturday. These things happen. The odd flopping jolly isn't a disaster.

But Rangers cock-up at Kilmarnock and Man City hanging on at Anfield made it a dismal weekend all round. I couldn't have been more miserable had I been Steve Bruce.

And now suddenly the doubts are creeping in. I had the outcomes of the first three Carling Cup quarter-finals clear in my mind. City are vastly superior to Arsenal, Chelsea are vastly superior to Liverpool, everybody's vastly superior to Blackburn. It should have beena licence to print cash.

But City, so everyone seems to be saying, are tired after two games in a week while Liverpool under Kenny Dalglish are top-three candidates having won at Stamford Bridge last week and held off City.

As for Blackburn. Okay, forget Blackburn. They may be kidding themselves they're half decent but Cardiff will have them, no bother.

Luckily there's a Championship card to savour so that should produce one or two short-priced certainties to enable me to forget my weekend woes.

But look at the fixtures. Boro v West Ham, Forest-Leeds, Burnley at home to Ipswich, Derby against Brighton. I'm not even sure I fancy Southampton at 4-6 at home to Hull, notafter Saturday's mare at Bristol City.

Maybe I should simply ignore previous punting strategies and just lay the favs. Tricky eh? I could, of course, simply not have a bet. A bit like Luis Suarez, go to ground for a while.

Who am I kidding? I'll do the Chelsea, Cardiff, Soton, Bristol City four-fold and have done with it.