By AD
September 12 2010

As you may have read earlier, I'm struggling to get any kind of enthusiasm this season. So much so for the first time I considered putting money on the games to see if it really does 'matter more if there's money on it'.

But I thought about how Coventry City tend to do over the course of a season, and frankly they don’t seem to do too well, winning around fifteen games, meaning I’d more than likely end up out of pocket, hardly likely to improve my mood.

So I thought, what about putting the money on the other team? If we lose I’ll get some cash, if we win I’ll have lost some but the three points will soften the blow.

Will I end up cursing a win because I’m out of pocket, or will I be cheering a defeat because I got my dosh back? Or would the two contrasting emotions cancel each other out leaving me on a season long plateau with neither highs nor lows?

So I decided I’d put £10 on every game this season (£7.50 for an opposition win, £2.50 for a draw). Conceivably I could lose over £500 in the Sky Blues won every single game (stop laughing at the back!) but if that happened wouldn’t the euphoria of promotion overturn the financial loss? Time to find out…

PORTSMOUTH (HOME) 

ODDS: PORTSMOUTH WIN 29/10, DRAW 3/1

With a small squad and massive debts Portsmouth are clearly a team in turmoil. But having just been relegated from the Premiership some of the players they do have aren’t too shabby. But Coventry were at home and traditionally start well.

The bookies didn’t seem to be able to decide either, and the odds for a home and away win were pretty much the same on the Saturday morning.

In the end Portsmouth hardly played any of their bigger name players, and those that did looked largely disinterested, leading to a comfortable victory for the Sky Blues.

This of course meant I lost money, which took a bit of a shine off an opening day win, but ultimately I still felt happy – our season was up and running with three points in the bag. 

RETURN: £10.00 down CUMULATIVE RETURN: £10.00

down

MORECAMBE (AWAY) 

ODDS: MORECAMBE WIN 23/10, DRAW 5/2

Going to put the bet on, part of me was thinking that I wouldn’t mind losing this, as I expected to get quite good odds and going out of the Carling Cup wouldn’t be that disastrous.

In the end the odds weren’t that brilliant, with Morecambe at home and clubs renowned for not playing full strength teams in this competition, and thus proving why you don’t see a poor bookmaker.

A much changed side and a bench made up entirely of academy prospects meant City lost this, and despite my initial feelings of being willing to lose to generate some cash I was pretty angry about the defeat. Maybe it was the manager playing a weakened side that did it, but the £22 return really didn’t improve my mood much at all.

RETURN: £22.25 up CUMULATIVE RETURN: £12.25 up

WATFORD (AWAY) 

ODDS: WATFORD WIN 5/4, DRAW 23/10

After the poor showing against Morecambe I expected Watford to be favourites for this match, but with a lot of pundits having Watford down as potential relegation fodder and the local betting shop more likely to get bets on a Sky Blues win, the bookmakers only made them slight favourites despite home advantage.

2-0 down with 2 minutes to go, it looked like I was on my way to another £15, but an amazing last gasp fightback for the draw led to a feeling almost of victory, as well as a small return. Perhaps snatching last gasp draws is the perfect solution for this?

RETURN: £0.75 up CUMULATIVE RETURN: £13.00 up

DERBY (HOME) 

ODDS: DERBY WIN 5/4, DRAW 5/4

Coventry were favourites for this given home advantage and so it proved as they ground out a 2-1 victory. But the performance was poor and it wasn’t particularly enjoyable to watch. Supposedly the wins when you’re not playing well should be the ones most applauded, but the £10 in the bookies coffers didn’t make me feel this way.

Maybe putting the bet on means that Coventry need to win in a reasonably convincing manner (as they did against Portsmouth) to offset the monetary loss?

RETURN: £10.00 down CUMULATIVE RETURN: £3.00 up

MILLWALL (AWAY) 

ODDS: MILLWALL WIN 18/19, DRAW 5/2

Coventry were actually favourites for this one, despite Millwall’s home advantage and both teams making a reasonable start. Millwall losing their previous game and being newly promoted may have helped as well.

The announcement of the teamsheet led to me feeling Coventry would lose, having dispensed with the tactics of the previous games to playing 4-5-1 and dropping first choice keeper Westwood.

But after an hour it was 1-1 and Coventry looked in the ascendancy…until Baker got himself stupidly sent off and Millwall ran out comfortable 3-1 winners.

I made a profit, but again I felt angry about the team selection and tactics. I hope this won’t be a recurring theme under AB…

RETURN: £12.11 up CUMULATIVE RETURN: £15.11 up 

So after the first month of the season, City are 8^th in the league, out of the Carling Cup and I’m £15 up. I’d settle for that come May.