Can Tiger Roar Again?

He’s had a tough time of it in the last couple of years, what with cheating on his wife every spare chance he got, being publicly ridiculed, being dropped from sponsors, getting divorced and generally having his squeaky clean image tarnished in front of the world.

And adding insult to injury, he’s also been playing poorly. But, the Arnold Palmer Invitational may just be the ticket to see Tiger Woods back to his winning ways, he hopes!

All the top guys are going to be there so competition is fierce but Tiger could be about to get his 7th win in the tournament confounding his critics who say he’s just not up to par yet. The tournament, held at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida is in full swing with bookmaker odds changing all the time. Rickie Fowler, Lee Janzen and John Senden lead the pack but odds on Tiger just keep getting shorter. Paddy Power Bookmakers are offering 7/1 on him and seeing as they will pay out on places 1, 2, 3 and 4 this could be a very good each-way bet.

One things for sure though, with the US Masters 2011 only around the corner a lot of guys have a lot to prove if they want to stay in contention for the big prize later this year!

Can Ireland Do It Again?

One of the biggest shocks in sport took place on Indian soil on March 2nd 2011. In fact, history was made. If you’re in any doubt as to what game I’m taking about then read any Irish paper, tune into any Irish radio station or generally just ask as random Irish man, woman or child and they will tell you. Ireland BEAT England in CRICKET!!!!!

OK, so it may not be the prevailing sport on Irish soil but I guarantee there’s going to be about 3 million new fans of the sport this morning and the the name ‘Kevin O’Brien’ is on everybody’s lips. Just when it looked all over for the boys in green, drastic fielding errors from England and a history making century from Ireland had them back in the game and with nothing to lose they went for it.

Not to take away from the brilliance of Kevin O’Brien, but for Ireland to set a new record World Cup run chase, smashing 215 from the last 25 overs, something went very badly wrong for an England bowling and fielding unit who had reigned over the World Twenty20 last year and the Ashes.

O’Brien’s innings will at least have focused English minds, with the team now knowing they need two wins from their final three matches to reach the quarter-finals. Their next game is against South Africa, the tournament’s best team so far, but they need two wins from their final three matches to reach the quarter-finals.

Ireland, on the other hand, are complete underdogs to get out of the group, in fact you can have them at 100/1 but a little luck and a little more magic and they could very well just do it! Bet the guy who backed them in-play with

Do The Champions Have Enough Depth To Lift The Title Again?

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Chelsea have had a fantastic start to the season and there is no doubt that they are very much the title favourites at the moment. They also have an impressive goal difference of 21 from the first 7 games. However with the news that Yossi Benayoun is set for a 6 month stint on the sidelines do Chelsea have enough in their squad to win the title again?

So far this season Chelsea have been without Frank Lampard, John Terry and Alex with Jose Bosingwa also still out. These men have all been consistent performers in Chelsea shirts and although they do have strength in some positions others, particularly central defence, looks weak especially as they didn’t sign a central defender to replace Ricardo Carvalho who moved to Real Madrid in the summer.

It is by no means panic stations for Chelsea at the moment but if they are to compete in both the Premiership and the Champions League this season then their needs to be some squad rotation involved if the players are to last the whole season.

The Chelsea squad is considerably weakened from last year with Joe Cole, Michael Ballack, Deco, Ricardo Carvalho and Juliano Belletti all having left the club and the only summer arrivals being Ramires and Benayoun. Even though all of the players above didn’t play week in week out for Chelsea they were always quality options that they had to bring on that they no longer do.

The hope is that Chelsea are able to bring through some of their younger players to fill the gaps, however there has been very little young talent coming into the Chelsea team over the last few seasons so it s going to be a big step up for the youngsters.

If Chelsea can keep the majority of their first team squad fit then they are still in pole position for the title but with Manchester City in particular not far behind. and with a much larger squad of first team players, Chelsea can not afford to get complacent or pick up too many injuries otherwise they may not be able to retain the title this season. 

Written by Colin Hill, a sports blogger who writes about euro 2012 shirts.

Will 2011 turn out to be the year the Tiger roars again?

Let’s not mince our words; it’s been a horrendous year for Tiger Woods, who is currently preparing to have his world number one ranking snatched away from him by one of Lee Westwood or Martin Kaymer.

After having his private life dragged through the pages of the world’s media and his professional reputation all but ruined by the damning allegations sent in his direction by numerous individuals, Woods has suffered a 2010 to forget.

However, Woods’ caddie, Steve Williams, is one individual who believes that the undoubtedly talented, but troubled, golfer is set for a big year in 2011. Williams reckons that Woods is almost ready to get his golfing career firmly back on track after some improved performances from Tiger recently.

The caddie believes that the Ryder Cup saw Woods show Golf Betting pundits around the world what he is capable of, with some touches that revealed at least glimpses of his old form and it’s difficult to argue with that assessment; although the Americans didn’t leave Wales with the win they so badly wanted, Tiger earned himself some praise on the final day in the singles matches.

With Woods having plenty to prove, both to those who doubt his professional attributes after a miserable year and those who judge him for his private life, Tiger could be a dangerous beast next year as he attempts to prove all his doubters wrong.

Woods will have time after this season ends to recover after the events of the past year and assess what he needs to do to recover his form of old.

Another factor in his favour in 2011 will be the lack of pressure; the usual weight of expectation from the Golf betting odds won’t be placed on his shoulders after recent events, which will enable him to focus solely upon his game.

Despite all the bad press fired in his direction, it would take a very brave man indeed to write off Tiger’s 2011 chances!

           Related PostsIs Tiger set to play a bit part?Woods frustrated by missed puttsCan Europe avoid becoming overburdened by tag of favourites?McDowell a man to watch at Whistling StraitsOn Top Down UnderTags: Add a Comment

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Betfair float to be pushed back again?

The rumours were all saying the company was primed for an October float but lacklustre results from recent flotations may push it back to 2011 or beyond.

A study reported by The Financial Times has shown that more than half of the big "initial public offerings" in Europe this year had shares trading below their issue price, leaving investors sitting on a loss.

Betfair to play waiting game over flotation (subscription)) (free link)

THE prospects of being able to buy shares in Betfair from as soon as next month appear to have taken a knock from the performance of other Stock Market listings in 2010.

In the absence of a commitment from Betfair on its long-mooted Stock Market flotation at a value of as much as £1.5 billion, evidence from other firms appears to show the timing may be wrong.

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Preparing for such a massive sea change in the company's ownership is not without its difficulties, but thoughts that October was the favoured month for a Betfair float may need to be reassessed in the light of the post-float experience of other businesses.
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Ocado, the online service that delivers Waitrose goods, was forced to cut its flotation price from 200p to 180p and, despite that manoeuvre, shares fell by 20 per cent in just over a month.

Of 31 businesses which floated across Europe since January and which raised more than $100m, 16 were trading under issue price last Friday. The FT also reported that the average performance of six launches backed by Goldman Sachs reported to be an adviser to Betfair - was a drop (from the issue price) of 0.7 per cent.

So it could be a while yet for all those early staff members who are still sitting on their company shares....Posted byScott Fergusonat02:11