Bookmakers are seldom poor, because they take emotion out of the equation when laying the odds.
In offering £16 for every one that you stake on Dundee United defeating Rangers, unbeaten in 26 games, I reckon they’re actually being uncharacteristically generous.
Steven Gerrard’s team looks imperious both domestically and in Europe.
Dauntingly, in winning 22 of their matches this season, they’ve conceded just 11 times – and only three times on league business.
United’s defeat at Livingston ahead of this weekend’s fearsomely tough scrap was a poor show and couldn’t have come before a tougher run of fixtures, with Hibs, Celtic and Aberdeen among their next five opponents.
The Tangerines’ fine start to the season could look much less impressive after that lot have been faced.
Rangers have scored 45 league goals in 16 outings, so Micky Mellon’s side faces a torrid afternoon in a game from which they’re unlikely to take any profit.
It’ll require an absolutely heroic afternoon’s graft from every single player in tangerine to emerge with a respectable scoreline.
Backing United to win this one is simply gift wrapping cash for the already rich bookies.
——————————————
Fan power when utilised effectively can force even the strongest club boards to wither.
Celtic are currently facing supporter insurrection as their 10-in-a-row dream turns into a nighmare while Rangers run away with the Premiership.
Nasty scenes, which possibly could’ve been much worse had fans still been attending games, have been witnessed outside Celtic park and shades of the Celts for Change movement, which forced the old Kelly-White dynasties out, and ushered Fergus McCann in, are now in evidence.
Dundee United fans will recall the United for Change organization, which eventually hastened the end of Jim McLean’s lengthy and seemingly unchallengeable tenure at Tannadice, and saw Eddie Thompson take control of the club.
When fans decide enough is enough and there is a serious threat to season ticket and hospitality income, few clubs are strong enough to remain unbowed.
The Celtic board is to meet with the Celtic Trust movement, which is led by smart, intelligent folk, and who will not be brushed aside lightly by the suits that’ve profited well from the good years.
When the fans finally raise their game, savvy directors must pay attention or suffer the consequences.
The evidence is emerging more strongly every week of the causal links between head injuries and dementia in football and rugby.
News that a class action seems likely to be launched against rugby authorities by over 70 players who’ve suffered after effects of concussion will send a shiver down the spine of the governing bodies.
Football must surely be next.
The list of former players now claiming that heading the ball over long careers has affected their health is lengthening.
If the rugby cases go ahead and governing bodies can be proven to have been negligent in their duty of care to properly protect players, then the floodgates will open for football too.
The ramifications for both sports may be profound and smart thinking is now required to address this serious, developing situation.
