Only three Premiership sides – Man Utd, Man City and Arsenal – have reached the magic 40 points mark which guarantees survival.
That leaves the majority of the top flight concentrating on the league with the FA Cup as an unwelcome distraction.
That means value for us punters and let’s start with Doncaster to down Wolves.
Rovers have only lost once at home while Wolves are fairly woeful on their travels and have just had a run of energy-sapping Premiership battles.
Wolves were worthy winners against Chelsea in the week but this has the classic look of down to earth with a bump.
Mick McCarthy will be focusing purely on Premiership survival with the FA Cup as a mere sideshow. That makes the 9/5 on offer from Stan James for a Doncaster win look very attractive so get on.
Next on the giant killing list are West Ham who simply have to be opposed while Avram Grant is still picking the team.
Any man that still thinks Radoslav Kovac and Freddie Sears are Premiership midfielders has no business wearing a manager’s tracksuit.
The Hammers do have a new defensive coach in Wally Downes. But the back four shipped five against Newcastle and consisted of four centre halves and no full-backs.
Barnsley are 5/1 with Paddy Power which is almost an insult to Mark Robins’ men when you consider how bad West ham are playing and their history of cup upsets.
The whole situation at West Ham is becoming sad as the owners continue to back Avram Grant despite his very obvious failings.
Davids Gold and Sullivan don’t like to sack managers and don’t want to admit they made a mistake because Grant was their man.
But the choice is simple now:
A) Keep Grant. Get relegated. Suffer financial meltdown and lose the Olympic Stadium to Spurs.
B) Sack Grant. Find a manager who can pick the right team and motivate the players. Win a few games and stay in the Premiership because it is so tight at the bottom. Secure the Olympic Stadium and go on to become the club the fans deserve.
From where I sit in the West Side lower it’s a fairly obvious choice. But proud men make daft decisions.
The one thing I, and thousands of fans, won’t forgive the owners for is if we go down then watch Spurs get the Olympic stadium by default.
The thought of traveling to another friendly local derby at Millwall while watching Tottenham fans flood into their new east end “home” in Stratford is too depressing to think about.
Running Total for all bets to a £10 stake: +£155.75
