Starting the campaign we are 5/2 to gain promotion with Sky Bet. Behind Sunderland who are evens. Nice to start a season without being the bookies' favourite for relegation,.
But in making us favourites for relegation over the years theyve been wrong more often than theyve been right
It's guesswork at this stage and of course the bookies will base their predictions assumptions as much as facts... but I do actually think we've got every chance of doing very well. The team is packed full of players who have either played well at this level before, need to prove their worth to halt stuttering careers, or are young players hoping to develop their game. That's a terrific mix and worlds away from the journey-men we had in 2014. It's all guesswork until next Saturday but I'm very hopeful and yes, being at the right end of the odds table is lovely.
Me personally no, I'm optimistic about our chances this season. Was just making the point that bookies' odds basically mean sod all
It hasn’t had any bearing on anything else. I can’t see that they’ve chipped in more than a quid between them.
Maybe not, unless you count the millions they shelled out to buy the club? Bookies won't be interested in fine detail. Money rules football and our owners have plenty of it. That's all the bookies will see.
We weren’t in the top three favourites to go down at the start of last season. In fact we weren’t amongst the favourites to go down until quite late in the piece. To be fair to the bookies if we’d not given the manager’s job to a cereal box competition winner in February we wouldn’t have gone down - so there was no reason to shorten our relegation odds until he’d shown his ineptitude.
Although Sunderland have been a car crash for two years (and probably a lot longer in reality) new ownership and 27,000 average crowds last season suggest there is still massive potential in the club to be better than this level, and I suspect this will be the year they turn things around. However odds of 3/1 to win and 1/1 to be promoted require punters to take plenty on trust. Barnsley are 8/1 to win the league, which I'd be reluctant to take because of our lack of strength in depth. An injury to Dougall, Bradshaw or Moore would see us very short in those areas, and you can argue that both Bradders and Keiffer will need to rediscover their scoring touch. 11/4 for promotion equates to a 27% chance that we will go up. That is akin to saying that only four teams would have a realistic chance of promotion, and I'm not a player at that price. As we know only too well, only goal difference separated us from Burton last season, and although they had some torrid times, they also posted one or two eye-catching results. They beat Derby and Fulham at home, and away wins were gained at Reading and Sheffield Wednesday as well of course as at Oakwell. If Sordell (27 years old) remains, they have a striker who was thought at one stage to be a future England star (played at U-20 and U-21 levels). 67 career goals in 297 appearances - he could just explode at this level. There is much experience elsewhere in the squad, and Nigel Clough is still at the helm. Burton are 25/1 to win the league and 8/1 for promotion, and that to me represents huge value (without any certainties) particularly in the promotion market, bearing in mind that all three relegated sides achieved promotion from League One last season. Other dark horses for me could just be Doncaster (33/1 to win, 10/1 to be promoted) and Shrewsbury (33/1 to win, 12/1 to be promoted), with the latter racking up 87 points last season (8 more than playoff winners Rotherham). Both are under new management, but have potential for further progress. My feeling is that Charlton, Portsmouth, Peterborough and Scunthorpe must all also be respected in the chase for the playoffs. But all in all, I think Burton are the outstanding value team in the division at the available prices.