BILLY BUNTER

Weblog: The football punter

Top quality coupon can help us get over Roo ban

I’M happy to accept that it takes all sorts to become a football pundit.

That in a gantry once graced by the wonderful Bryon Butler you might nowadays find Dean Windass.

“Maradona turns like a little eel and comes away from trouble. Little squat man, he comes inside Butcher and leaves him for dead...” That was Butler, by the way, not Deano.

But where will Garth Crooks fit into the pantheon of football’s media men?

I know he loves to overdramatise but summing up the Rooney saga this week, he was priceless.

Of Rooney’s punishment he opined with his usual pomp: “We expected one, (dramatic pause) two would have represented a hammer blow, three is like a dagger to the heart.”

Dagger to the heart, eh?

Footy’s littered every weekend with an abundance of heroes, tragedies, fatal mistakes and suicidal passes so I suppose a dagger to the heart doesn’t look too out of place.

Rooney’s return for Man United at Anfield should ensure the hype continues to flow from commentators and analysts alike but one thing is certain; United are bankers.

Absolute certs.

At the end of a couple of weeks of largely nonsensical international rubbish it’s great to come home to such a treat as Liverpool/United and congrats to Sky for sticking it on first.

It’s a great coupon this weekend with not only United standing out.

Stoke are a must-bet athome to Fulham, Nottingham Forest will win at Coventry, Shrewsbury are overpriced at Crawley but nowhere near as overpriced as Plymouth are at injury-hit Dagenham.

There are some crazy quotes about Argyle and a win for them could wellbe like a dagger to the heart of the bookmakers.