BILLY BUNTER

Weblog: The football punter

Stand firm in the face of more flopping favourites

SUDDENLY the footy world’s gone mad and I’m not quitesure what the end game is.

Flopping favouritism has turned from a mild sniffle into a chronic epidemic with Man United, Chelsea and Spurs all throwing in midweek howlers to add to the misery of last weekend.

Even Steve Kean, despite his very best efforts – and boy he did try, didn’t he? – couldn’t oblige in the Sack Race.

So now we’ve got Premier League and Championship action, punctuated with round two of the FA Cup, and suddenly a coupon I usually look forward to all year is staring back at me with the kind of slightly mocking sadistic menace that has only ever been perfected by Neil Lennon.

First up it’s Fleetwood against Yeovil and as soon as the draw was made I’d marked this down as a home banker.

I know there are two divisions between them, but Fleetwood are massively on the up, heading for League Two, and Yeovil are surely there for the taking.

Now, of course, the punting landscape’s been changed by the likes of Crystal Palace and those pesky Salonikans and I’m beginning to wonder if Yeovil aren’t going to get away with it up on the Lancy coast.

Still, patience is a virtue – as anyone who ever tipped Darron Gibson for greatness knows only too well – and this isn’t a weekend for forgetting the bigger picture.

I want twiglets and cheese footballs adorning the Bunter mantelpiece this Christmas, not an Asda savoury snacks multipack, so keep the faith is the advice.

Fleetwood it is.