I can only put it down to start-of-season madness and misplaced hope that somehow the Hammers would change the habits of a lifetime.

Everything was set-up for a perfect day. A traditional East End curry lunch followed by a light stroll to my local in Whitechapel to watch the game on a dodgy foreign satellite channel.

A few pints of Kronenbourg settled any pre-match nerves. And then the match kicked-off. And everything went wrong.

My emotions whizzed through optimism, dismay, disappointment, anger then that crushing feeling of clarity when you realise that your team just isn’t very good.

The locals had turned even uglier after Villa’s third goal so I decided to make a swift exit rather than deconstruct the finer points of our “tactics” with the angry cockney hordes.

But enough of West Ham’s woes. Let’s look at this weekend’s matches and see where we can get some of our cash back.

The bookies make Spurs favourites to win at Stoke but the Potters have an impresive record at the Britannia Stadium and look value at 13/5 with Ladbrokes.

Tottenham had a torrid time against the Young Boys of Switzerland during the week and that match could leave them ripe to be turned over by Tony Pullis and his men.

Dropping down a division and Forest look a tasty price at 12/5 with Betfred to bag all three points from their trip to Reading.

To keep tabs on how my tips are doing I’ll update a running total each week to a £10 bet on every bet settled so far.

The running total since the first column in May is: +£90