The Not-Quite-Champions League Special...

by Rick Nash

"Which brings me to a crucial point: In football handicapping, sometimes it just isn't your year. I can't get a feel for the 2013 season. Every time I think I have a team figured out, it double-crosses me. Every time I need a break with a late-game cover, I don't get it. It's been a comedy of errors."
- Bill Simmons

I know how he feels. For the past few weeks, as well as being ridiculously busy, I'll admit to being gun shy. Unlike Simmons, I'm not a television personality and chief editor of one of the biggest sports websites on the planet either. I'm a meagre security guard/DJ by trade (well, trades, my job doesn't involve a hybrid combination of rhythmic theft prevention) and, thus, me losing money for the amusement of others isn't as willy-nilly as it is for the likes of Simmons.

Take this weekend, for example, when I got inspired and did a last-minute Twitter acca:

Week 6: Win At All Costs

by Rick Nash

Here's a list of things I've been clinging to, tearfully, since Man Utd's humiliating defeat at Man City last Sunday:

• Jon Jones is still the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, just. 
• Dublin are All-Ireland Champions.
• My NFL and Premier League fantasy teams are finally kicking arse (Aaron Rodgers, Adrian Petersen, LeSean McCoy and Dez Bryant all making up the core of the former...yes, my league absolutely sucks at drafts).
• Speaking of NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles are now revolutionising offence in the league under Chip Kelly and look on course to get back to the playoffs.
• Actually forget that last one.
• I have my health.
• Oh, and United bounced back from their loss with a 1-0 midweek win over Liverpool upon the return of Luis Suarez, continuing Pool's recent, Walter White-like tradition of only meeting devastation when confronted with a possible solution to their ills. Seriously, the people that have brought this once-great club to their knees over the past decade? Rafa Benitez, Fernando Torres, Kenny Dalglish and Luis Suarez...four bonafide 'legends' of the club, like White, talented but ultimately destructive. I guess Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher can serve as Skylar and Marie in this metaphor: well-intentioned but incapable of stopping these monsters, as well as being kind of annoying and - in Marie's case as in Gerrard's - getting on the wrong side of the law on more than one occasion.

This is one of those seasons, though, where I have to take stock in the positives. Because the negatives are alarming. Not only is Lady Luck not on my side, Lady Luck left me at the bar with an empty-wallet, filled with booze that I paid for, laughing in my face for daring to think that I ever had a chance with her. 

I need a pick-me-up. I need a win. Not even a big win, just a win of any kind. As Ian Holloway would put it, "To put it in gentleman's terms if you've been out for a night and you're looking for a young lady and you pull one, some weeks they're good looking and some weeks they're not the best." Quite.

This week we're going to go for blunt and easy bets, just to get some money in the kitty and pride restored. This week we're going to win ugly.

Week 5: Head vs Heart

by Rick Nash

I was really, really happy with this week's picks...until I saw the potential winnings. €5 on these tips can earn you a whopping €324. Given my track record of outsmarting the bookies this season, that doesn't seem likely before you even look at the merits of each tip.

But this website lives for the long odds, so let's give it a whirl nonetheless. At worst, there's some well researched, great value, individual tips to behold here. At best, you feel really confident, put €100 on these bets and win €6,480. But please don't do that. If you're going to waste €100, I'd much rather you installed it directly into my bank account so I can turn a profit on this blog one way or another.

This week, a look at Saturday's UFC main event before we go toe-to-toe with the heavyweight clashes to come on this wonderful sporting Sunday ahead.

Week 4: Where's Your Money on Trap's Replacement?

by Rick Nash

So Trapattoni is finally gone. And, truth be told, for all the column inches he's inspired over the past seven days, there isn't much left to be said that hasn't been mentioned a thousand times already. But before we move on and look at the best value for his potential replacements today, a few final notes on Trap's tenure as Ireland manager:

• It drove us insane...literally insane: Seriously, for the past five years, we've become almost as bad as the English press in taking it upon ourselves to backseat manage the national team. Whereas under Staunton we laughed to hide the tears, it was only under our most experienced and successful manager to-date that we decided we could do a better job. Maintaining this attitude of pressuring players into the national setup will do the successor no good. Regardless of what you may think of Trap's selection policy, he's the man appointed with the task and we need to support our team instead of adding to pre-existing turmoils with unhelpful Twitter hashtags in future.
• Results aren't the only mark of improvement: Following on from what I said on Twitter on Friday, it matters that the players got to work with a manager of the quality of Trapattoni, and will help them for years to come (even if the results didn't necessarily follow all the time). As we saw under Brian Kerr, being a local legend can only take you so far, and even though Trap may have lost some of his Midas touch in his elder years (as Ken Early devastatingly pointed out in comparing his motivational techniques to that of Barcelona), he's still forgotten more about football than most of us will ever know and was no doubt able to contribute priceless nuggets of advice during his time at the helm. Granted, he struggled to put it all together at other times on the field, but under the right tutelage that wisdom could be gleamed into something special in years to come.
• We simply didn't have the players. No, we didn't. No...we didn't. Can we just give up on the delusional argument that we are anywhere near the crazily high standard set by the golden ages of 1990, 94 and 2002? Right now, we're like Belgium in reverse, on the opposite end of a golden generation and ultimately humbled by the constraints of our tiny nation.
• Finally...WE HIRED AN ITALIAN!!! Not only an Italian, the Italian. What did we expect when we were nearly lining the streets in celebration in 2008?!? That boring, play-not-to-lose-and-hope-to-nick-a-goal game is exactly the style that Trapattoni has perfected over the years (only with world class players that actually went and nicked that goal more often than not). It's not Trapattoni's fault that half the country declaring him a legend in 2008 were actually ignorant of what he was legendary for, because they'd only previously encountered him in Champions League round-ups being lauded by Giles and Dunphy. That's what Trapattoni does, that's what Trapattoni did, and until Euro 2012, it worked.

I'm not defending Trapattoni to be contrary. It was the right time for him to go, agreed. But a bit of perspective please.

Anyway, without further adieu, let's take a look at some of the prime candidates for the newly-vacated job. Everyone is talking about who they think should be picked, so instead let's look at who you should put your money on, going from least to most likely. All odds, as always, via Paddy Power.

Week 2: Rooney's Choice

by Rick Nash

Going on outcomes alone, last week I went 4-0. Everton & Norwich drew 2-2, United walked it at Swansea, then Conor McGregor and Daniel Bryan came out on top in their respective clashes (although Bryan was undone moments afterwards by the dreaded Money in the Bank contract, but that's another story for another day). Week one and everything was going to plan.

Except I didn't bet solely on outcomes, did I? I bet for Conor McGregor to win by KO. So, in the fickle world of the accumulator, where you either win and look like a genius or lose (even on a technicality) and look like a bum? I...I don't wanna talk about it.

This week we're going to stick to football alone, and even venture across to Germany and Spain in the hopes of winning some cash. This 5-way accumulator will earn you a cool €119.60 for a €5 stake.

Premier League Darts Quick Picks

by Rick Nash

Ignore the MVG hype, put your money on the unbeatable Barney

I've loved the first two weeks of the new-look Darts Premier League. The shorter format (without a break in play) has given games a new leash of life, as matches are now blink-and-you'll-miss-it and players are punished for poor starts with little chance of recovery. This leaves favourites like Phil Taylor vulnerable and 'The Power' is fortunate to still be second after having to come from behind in Week One to draw with a sickened Michael Van Gerwen.

That said, the league is taking shape and now is the time to start feeling somewhat confident in your accumulators. The short format still leaves upsets likely, but at least we now have a feel as to how the players are finding form (or not) in front of the big crowds.

As for tonight, I didn't have the bottle to pick between Andy Hamilton and Gary Anderson, simply because in this kind of inconsistent form they're essentially the same player: either a mess or unstoppable depending on whether a crucial double goes their way or not. We've no idea what to expect from either from week-to-week, so given that both are paired together tonight I'll take it as a hint to avoid, avoid, avoid. Let's get to brief quick picks before I'm back later with a full column and the weekend's accumulator tips.