THE BERNIE THE BOOK COLUMN
ALLEZ LES FRANCE, LES BLEUS ARE ON THE UP AND THE COCKEREL IS
CROWING...COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO
Is there any more stirring sound than a cockerel (preferably French) puffing out her chest in joyous pride (because all French nouns are feminine) and announcing her presence to the world? Not many I feel and the fear that might have once sent tremors down the spines of all Home Nations when the All Blacks were in town and performing the Haka, might easily be substituted for the rallying cry of the French.
SIX NATIONS
Yes its Six Nations time again and this year the title will return to Paris and at a whopping 9/4 it has to be FRANCE. Firstly an apology, keen readers will remember last month I was sweet on Ireland but that was before France announced their squad, and guess who’s back? Not only the greatest scrum half in world rugby, Antoine Dupont, but also the mesmeric fly half, Romain Ntamack!! (that’s numbers 9 and 10 to the rest of us!) Dupont you might recall led France to Sevens Gold at the Olympics after retiring briefly from the 15 man game, and Ntamack is quite simply Messi (esque) and suffered a severe injury on the eve of the World Cup which probably denied France their first World Cup title. So its Les Bleus all the way.
Which leads me on nicely to…
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Well all the overtures are over (I suppose I should say Hors d’oeuvres given the Gallic theme) and we now have the qualifying teams (24) that are to compete in the knockout stage. A reminder... (teams 1-8 in the league table automatically qualify for the last 16 where they will be seeded and drawn against teams 9-24, who have played/play a knockout round leaving a final 16. Obviously it’s a distinct advantage to play one round less and that’s why Liverpool, Barca and Arsenal are at the head of the betting, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t value elsewhere…
I would now advise an interest on PSG (20/1) and INTER MILAN (16/1). There’s something about the way Inter play and I think their steely determination will stand them in good stead.
PHTM FEBRUARY 2025
Similarly, playing PSG over two legs and at the atmospheric Parc des Princes is incredible and not for the faint hearted .
EUROPA LEAGUE
Europe’s second competition has also reached the knockout stage on the same lines as the Champions League and British interest lies with Spurs and Man United. Let’s dismiss their chances now.
My two against the field are ATHLETIC BILBAO (7/1) and LAZIO (8/1) both have the squad, history and nous to compete in the final stages.
FA CUP
Domestically, the FA Cup is warming up with games next week to finalise the last 16; Chelsea, previously advised at 10/1, have a difficult trip to the Amex to overcome, but should they progress, their odds will have shrunk to 6/1 (ish). To complete our staking plan, I would advise a small interest on ASTON VILLA (16/1) with a bit of silverware overdue for a club that dines at the top table, if only allowed a doggy bag.
PREMIER LEAGUE DARTS
Now the darts is back on the telly after the World Championship, we see the return of the Premier League with the (supposedly) best eight players com- peting every week (till May)... but why no Michael Smith, Gary Anderson and Mike de Decker? This should be a shoo in for LUKE THE NUKE as how is anyone going to keep him out of the top four and then beat him over 19 legs? Take the 6/4 now. Word must be mentioned for my alternate, the crowd pleasing STEVEN BUNTING at a whopping 16/1.
And finally on this garlic perfumed edition of my column, to Cheltenham, where I will be sharing my thoughts next month, don’t let IL EST FRANCAIS go unbacked in the Champion Chase or Ryannair, he will serve it up to the opposition.
Until next month Good punting...
Bernie the Book 75
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